We all know how great Instagram is for generating leads and driving sales. It’s also an important tool for social media customer service! Instagram has business-specific features like group conversations in DMs, an Instagram story question sticker, clickable links, push notifications, and many others.

Did you know:

• 80 percent of customer inquiries on social media go unanswered? The truth is that responding to customer inquiries on social isn’t just about good manners. It’s about growing your business as well.
• 65 percent of people feel greater brand loyalty when they receive a response over social media. According to studies, customers whose questions are answered on social media end up spending 20 to 40 percent more money with the company.

So how can you start using Instagram for your customer service?

Switch to an instagram business profile

Along with Instagram Insights and the ability to promote posts within the app, when you switch to a Business Profile you can add a “Contact” button near the top of your profile. With the contact button, you have the option to include directions, a phone number, and/or and email address.  This makes it easy for your followers to get in touch with you!

SPEED IS OF THE ESSENCE – handle inquiries quickly

According to researchers, 32% of social media users who contact a brand expect a response within 30 minutes. 42% expect a response within 60 minutes.

It’s best to manage your comments and DMs from within the mobile Instagram app. The reason is that you can’t access DMs from the desktop version of Instagram so it’s easy to miss notifications.

If you don’t check posts or actively check your desktop notifications, then you won’t see comments and they will go unanswered. You may also want to considering linking your Instagram DMs to your Facebook Messenger inbox.

adhere to the best social media practices

Social media is easier and faster to share so you need to be extra careful and use the utmost discretion, because whatever you post can be shared with others.

It’s better to be careful when addressing mistakes you’ve made. Rather than making excuses, accept responsibility and lay out your plan to make things right.

When a customer shares critical feedback, don’t get defensive. Let them know you’ve heard it and that you appreciate it.

know when to take complaints to a private channel

When you reply to a customer complaint on Instagram, you’ll often want to take this conversation to a private channel for resolution. When customers need to provide personal data (email addresses, order numbers, etc.) for you to resolve their issue, it’s critical to protect their data.

The fact is that 96% of unhappy customers won’t complain — and 91% will simply leave. So thank your customer for giving you the chance to turn things around!

The idea of providing social customer service isn’t new.  The number of social media users continues to grow and people crave brand communication on the platforms they use most often. With good procedures in place and an understanding of these best practices, customer service on Instagram can meaningfully contribute to your business goals. Start now to increase loyalty, improve your customer retention rate, and solidify a reputation as a business that cares about its customers.

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