Responding to messages quickly is a huge part of social media customer service—and it’s no different whether you’re dealing with messages on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram. Luckily, Instagram has an easy-to-use option that can cut down on your team’s time responding to questions.
With Instagram auto reply, you can easily set auto-responses to common questions and messages. This feature cuts down on the time your social media support team needs to spend monitoring and replying to customers.
In this article, we’ll talk more about the Instagram auto reply feature, how it can be used, and a few message examples for inspiration.
Bonus: Get a free, easy-to-use Customer Service Report Template that helps you track and calculate your monthly customer service efforts all in one place.
What is Instagram auto reply?
Instagram auto reply is a feature available in your Instagram message settings that allows you to send automatic responses to frequently asked questions.
For example, if you regularly get a question like, “Do you offer free shipping?” your team can set up an auto reply that will answer the question instantly rather than forcing the customer to wait for a real person to respond.
There are a few different ways you can do this:
* Instagram tools: Set automatic responses for frequently asked questions or craft canned messages that your team can easily send out via Instagram DM.
* Meta Business Suite: Set up messaging automations for both Instagram and Facebook.
* Third-party inboxes: Use tools like Hootsuite Inbox to easily monitor and manage your Instagram direct messages and comments.
Learn more about how a social inbox like Hootsuite’s can help streamline your social media communication in this video:
What can you use Instagram auto replies for?
There are several ways to take advantage of Instagram’s auto reply feature. Here are just a few types of automated responses you might consider setting up:
* Welcome messages
* Away messages
* Frequently asked questions
* Share contact information
* Share business hours of operation
* Provide shipment and payment details
* Offer discounts
* Explain wholesale pricing information
* Tell customers how to handle issues with their orders
* Share links to additional resources
Pros and cons of using Instagram auto reply
So why use Instagram auto reply? Is it the best option for creating automated responses and freeing up your team’s time? As always, it depends on your needs.
Let’s cover some basic pros and cons to help you decide.
Pros
* Make a good impression. Instagram shows your followers how quick your team is to respond. A faster response time is a better look for your business.
* Answer questions before they’re asked. Create an auto-responder that gives your customers a clear idea of when they can expect to hear from a real person—unless your auto replies can give their answer immediately.
* Save your team time. Stop writing the same reply over and over again. Automated messages give your team more time for escalated messages and other customer support issues.
* Never miss a message. You don’t have to worry about time zones when you enlist auto reply. Even when your team isn’t working, customers can get answers as soon as they send a message.
Cons
* Only for Instagram and Facebook. Instagram/Meta’s built-in features only work for these two platforms. You’ll have to enlist the help of external tools for other social media platforms—don’t worry, we’ve got more on that below.
* You have to connect your Facebook and Instagram pages. In order to access some of the more advanced tools, you must use Meta Business Suite, so you’ll have to connect your Facebook and Instagram pages.
Reduce response time (and your workload)
http://dlvr.it/SwSF0V
No comments