Messenger API For Instagram: A Game-Changer For Brands

With more than 1.15 billion active users, Instagram has become one of the fastest-growing social media apps. Since its launch, the platform has become the favourite channel to connect with friends, family, celebrities, influencers and brands. Here are some statistics that show just how mainstream Instagram for Business is.

• 90% of people on Instagram today follow at least one business
• Approximately 150 million interact with brands on Instagram
• 83% of Instagram users discover new products and services on the platform
• 50% of people are more interested in a brand when they see ads on Instagram
• 59% of micro-influencers believe that they get the best engagement on Instagram
• Over 130 million users engage with shopping posts on a monthly basis
• 81% of users have used Instagram to research a brand’s products and services

These stats prove that Instagram is a customer engagement powerhouse, and users are more than willing to engage with brands here compared to other social platforms.

And with the introduction of Messenger API for Instagram, businesses will be able to make their conversations richer, more contextual and personalised. With this change, Instagram Messaging will also serve as a new monetisation channel for businesses, celebrities and influencers with business accounts.

So, what is the Messenger API for Instagram and why is it important for businesses?

Messenger API for Instagram and its importance

Messenger API for Instagram is designed primarily for managing a brand’s presence on Instagram. It enables businesses to use third-party apps to manage their Instagram Direct Messages (DMs), which means businesses will be able to automate the process of sending and receiving messages from users at scale.

Social media isn’t a one-way street. To drive more engagement from followers, businesses need to interact with their audience, instantly reply to mentions, add a link to their Instagram stories, use actionable Instagram hashtags to boost engagement, automatically reply to Instagram DMs and provide personalization at a scale.

With Instagram API, brands will be able to indulge in better two-way conversations with their followers, increase customer satisfaction, and grow sales. In order to do so, brands need to ensure that their users reach out to them and take the first step to initiate the conversation. There are some unique features associated with the Messenger API for Instagram that will help brands engage with their followers:

• The API enables businesses to respond to basic customer queries faster using automation, while a human agent will handle more complex queries via live support.
• It helps brands generate more views and diversify market offerings while engaging with users using a chatbot.
• It will effectively scale messaging workflows to better user experience, build more authentic relationships and monetise its follower base.

Now that we have a better understanding of the Messenger API for Instagram and how it will help brands better engage with their users let’s look at some of its benefits.

Benefits of Messenger API for Instagram

Boost reach and visibility

Around 200 million Instagram users reportedly visit at least one business daily. The Messenger API for Instagram will help businesses tap into potential customers. It helps them leverage the feature to drive organic sales and build a community of followers that will help expand a brand’s social reach and increase its visibility.

Faster response rate

Instagram API helps businesses/merchants/celebrities/influencers respond to basic queries faster using automation.

Monetise followers

Instagram has emerged as a highly engaging social media platform that has attracted several businesses, celebrities and influencers. It helps businesses to provide exceptional customer service to earn their loyalty. Instagram API enables businesses to increase their engagement, reach, enable better product placements, increase product knowledge and create more demand for your products.

Improve user experience

By integrating the Messenger API for Instagram, businesses, celebrities and influencers with business accounts will be able to effectively scale messaging workflows to better their user experience, build more authentic relationships and monetise their follower base.

Provide personalised offers/deals

Messenger API for Instagram helps businesses to provide personalised deals and offers to the users based on business logic and requirements. It also enables a user to send a product image based on a third-party or the brand’s in-built image-based searching, and the bot can provide product recommendations to the users.

Increase views and likes

Instagram API helps businesses generate more views and markets for the company while engaging more with users on the platform using a chatbot.

Conclusion

Messenger API for Instagram is a real game-changer for brands, merchants and influencers. Conversational messaging on Instagram will dramatically transform brands, merchants, and influencers’ ability to engage their followers and enable all kinds of use cases across the key business functions, i.e., marketing, commerce, and support. Now brands, merchants and influencers can ensure a conversational experience for users and a solid reason to choose them over their competitors.

Instagram is a channel among the 30+ channels that businesses, celebrities and influencers can leverage through Gupshup Messaging API, which forms the core of the Gupshup Conversational Messaging platform. With Messenger API for Instagram, brands with a business account can effectively scale messaging workflow to build more authentic relationships with users, better their customer experience and monetize their follower base. If you would like to use Messenger API for Instagram to delight your customers, partner with us!

Get Messenger API for Instagram for your business today. #LetsGupshup to know more.