This is not a new trend anymore to provide social services to customers, as usual, people love to be in touch with their favorite brands on the platforms they use the most, and the number of social media users keeps growing. So you don’t even have to buy Instagram followers. If it still doesn’t make sense for you, here are three top reasons to try using Instagram for social media customer service.
First of all, users want and love to communicate with brands on social media. According to Instagram, 90% of users follow at least one brand on the app, and 150 million people communicate with company representatives every month. Secondly, Instagram has 1 billion monthly active users, and 37% of the US population uses the platform.
Finally, Instagram has business-specific features such as Instagram story question stickers, DM group conversations, push notifications, clickable links, and much more.
One could say that Instagram is a photo-sharing tool and not the best social media customer service channel for businesses. In 2021, you should have an Instagram presence, promote your business on the platform, and consequently, you should be prepared to handle Instagram support requests.
1. Add customer support contact information to your Instagram bio
Consumers will lose trust or interest in a business if their questions are ignored, so be sure to let them know you’re providing customer service on an Instagram app. Post this information on your Instagram bio because this is the first thing visitors will see on your profile.
If your business doesn’t serve Instagram customers, it’s important to inform Instagram users and provide them with alternatives. This is how Ryanair does it in its Instagram bio.
Most customers want to get the answers on the platform where they ask their questions. However, only a few companies provide customer service on Instagram to take people hours, days, or even weeks to get a response from them. Not all customers are ready to wait for a response and therefore, will look for other communication options. To meet your customers’ needs and provide a multi-channel engagement with them, it is recommended that you provide multiple communication options on Instagram.
With an Instagram business account, you can add Instagram action buttons to your profile so people can connect with you. These buttons appear right below the biography section.
J.Crew allows Instagram users to send direct messages (DM) and offers their email address and phone number as alternate communication options.
2. Provide answers to the most common questions on Instagram Stories Highlights
Not all customers will contact support when they have a problem. Many will prefer to find a solution on their own. This is why it is useful to provide options for a kind of self-service.
One option is to create Instagram Stories and submit them to the Highlights section. Due to the short lifespan, stories do not clog your channel, and the ability to transfer them to saved ones allows you to form whole guides from answers to questions by category. Users are already accustomed to the format of saved stories, where companies put prices, terms of cooperation, video and photo reviews, and much more.
Tattoo artist Kate Memphis regularly gets questions about her work, which is why she created an FAQ album dedicated to the stories in question. She draws attention to this album of highlights in her bio so that users can resolve service issues on their own if they wish.
If you sell various products, you can create multiple FAQ albums for your best sellers, as BaliBody did.
Instagram Stories Highlights appear below the bios section of your profile.
3. Customize Instagram quick replies to DM’s
When consumers contact customer support via Instagram private messages, they’re likely answering the same questions repeatedly. It can take a long time for each customer to enter the same answer, so it’s helpful to set up quick Instagram responses to your most frequently asked questions.
Once you know your customers’ pain points, make a list of quick answers for your account. Then, when you get a DM’s FAQ on Instagram, just pick the quick answer you want to answer that customer. It can take quite a lot of time, but once you do this work, you will save a lot of energy in the future.
4. Turn on Instagram notifications to track brand mentions
By sharing clients’ reviews on Instagram, not all customers will visit your business profile to share their experiences, and many probably won’t even follow you. Since you are not getting notified of these mentions, you can skip these conversations. You don’t know about getting negative reviews can damage your brand’s reputation and make it less likely that customers will trust you.
If you’re using Instagram for social customer service, it’s important to track brand mentions, so you know what your clients are telling their followers about your products or services. If you need to manage many mentions, you may need to turn to third-party tools for help. There are many social media monitoring tools on the market, so every company can find a solution that suits their budget.
Remember, customer response time matters. If your Instagram audience doesn’t receive timely responses from you, they might switch to a competitor for their next purchase. This is why you’ll also want to set up push notifications to be notified of all comments, DM’s, and brand mentions you receive.
You can set this up in your account settings. Go to your profile and tap the three-line icon in the upper right corner. Then choose Settings from the pop-up menu.
On the Settings screen, tap Notifications to choose from a variety of push notification options. Review these settings to enable the notifications you want to receive for your Instagram account.
5. Create an Instagram customer support ebook
Whether you are a large brand with a customer service team or a small business with a single moderator, you need to have Instagram customer engagement guidelines to ensure that every response is consistent.
Consider creating an Instagram customer support ebook with the information about your products and services, as well as other areas of your business. This guide will help educate your customer support team and enable them to respond faster and more accurately to customer needs.
A pro tip: When consumers reach out to businesses on social media, they expect to get a response in less than 30 minutes. If you don’t have much staff, consider hiring a social media moderator to track your Instagram comments, private messages, and brand mentions.
Social Media Customer Service Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay