Here’s how to set up a Business account.

1. Go to your Instagram profile
2. Click on the menu button
3. Go to Settings
4. Scroll to find the option ‘Switch to Professional account.’
5. You will be asked to add the relevant details.
6. You’re ready to go!

Accessing a Business profile allows you to become an Instagram Business, which gives you additional insights about your audience, promotional options, and contact buttons.

Set Up an Engagement Plan

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The best way to help customers on Instagram is to set up an engagement plan. Work with your customer support team on the best way to approach the incoming comments, brand mentions, direct messages.

How is your customer support strategy different from other channels?

What can make you stand out?

Set up a monitoring workflow that will help marketing and customer support be productive without missing any inbound requests.

Decide on your priorities and make sure that you maintain an engaging brand.

Aim For an Average Response Time

Social media is all about speed. You don’t want to leave a customer waiting for a response for months.

You don’t necessarily need to respond to all requests within five minutes, but it’s still good to agree with your team on the average waiting time.

Aiming to respond within a few hours can help you boost your loyalty. It can also serve as a competitive advantage over other brands that may be slower in their responses.

Work on Default Replies When Needed

A good way to save time and address common concerns is with the use of pre-populated responses.

Are there set questions that you keep receiving? What if you write down a series of default replies that you can adjust based on each customer’s message?

Create a document that would serve as your customer service FAQ and write down the answers to the most popular questions.

Set Up a Crisis Plan With Your Team

You never know when a brand/PR crisis may hit. One message can backfire into a big social media crisis affecting your reputation and potentially your sales.

There’s no need to panic!

All you need is a crisis comms plan to address such cases.

Start with ‘risk evaluation’ and think of the possible ways that things can go wrong for your brand. Now it’s time to come up with potential solutions for each scenario.

For example, what if an unhappy client starts bombarding you with negative comments?

What if a new campaign leads to negative PR that goes beyond Instagram?

Or how about the case that several unhappy customers request refunds all at the same time?

The more prepared you are, the easier it becomes to deal with an actual crisis.

Tips to Get a Successful Customer Service on Instagram

Whether you already have a successful customer service strategy on Instagram or not, there are always new things to learn.

Let’s look at practical tips to help you improve your customer service on Instagram.

Connect Facebook and Instagram

A good way to stay on top of your DMs is to link your Instagram account to your Facebook page.

It can help you combine all the incoming messages to speed up your response rate.

For example, it makes it faster to use pre-populated messages for questions that may be common on your Instagram and Facebook Pages.

Just like that, you’re improving your customer service while keeping your customers happy.

It’s easy to access your Instagram DMs on Facebook. Just go to your Facebook Page’s Inbox and click on the Instagram Direct.

You can also access your Instagram comments to simplify your monitoring.

Think Like Your Instagram Followers

The best way to make the most out of your customer service on Instagram is to think like your followers.

What do they expect from you?

What level of support would make them happy with your brand?

Draft your strategy based on the best tactics that would bring you closer to your audience.

For example, if you are managing an ecommerce brand, you know that a good response rate is important across all social media platforms.

Your followers are your potential customers, so you want to maintain a healthy engagement to boost your sales.

Be Approachable and Engaging

Every detail matters in a successful customer experience.

It’s important to be helpful but also engaging.

What does your brand’s tone of voice say about your customer service?

Or is your brand easy to reach?

You need to be willing to go beyond your customers’ way to make them feel at ease.

For example, if you want to boost your customer service on Instagram, make sure that you monitor all comments and DMs.

If you cannot do so, make sure you redirect your customers to the best ways to reach you on other channels.

This way, you are not risking losing your customers, and you’re still able to lead them to the best point of contact.

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