Another new feather on the cap! Instagram has been integrated into ThinkOwl, the AI-powered helpdesk software that facilitates multichannel digital communication.
If your Instagram business account is connected to the software, ThinkOwl can now create cases from various Instagram entities, such as Posts, Stories, Comments, and Direct Messages (DM).
From a customer service point of view, this integration is very crucial. Here is why!
More and more clients use social media to interact with their favorite brands, leaving their queries directly on the platform. They might also have common concerns, questions, or objections. Whatever the scenario, to help them connect with your brand without leaving the application and to help your support agents address customer inquiries from a single software console, Instagram’s integration with ThinkOwl will be instrumental in providing a seamless experience both to the clients as well as the support agents. It implies addressing your customers on their preferred channel, essential for quality service.
Earlier this year, ThinkOwl successfully integrated Facebook, a landmark achievement. Now, ThinkOwl is also equipped with Instagram, enabling service centers to provide all-around support across social media.
Also Read: Digital Customer Service via Facebook Channel
Keep pace with client expectations
Businesses initially used Instagram only to showcase their products and attract new customers. But, the scenario has changed drastically over the past few years.
Social media platforms have become a popular tool for customer support where millions of users share their experiences and interact with brands. This trend has driven businesses to adapt to the digital consumer lifestyle, encouraging CX professionals to use social media to engage clients adequately.
Providing customer service via social media platforms is an increasingly popular strategy, as channels like Facebook and Instagram can instantly boost customer engagement, improving the brand's reputation. That is why businesses are keen to establish their presence on social media.
However, they often struggle to deliver quality service and experience difficulties managing thousands of customer inquiries on Facebook or Instagram. But there is a solution to these challenges: a powerful multichannel helpdesk that can ease the management of customer inquiries, ensuring faster response time.
The Insta chronicle – Reasons why CX experts must focus on social media
The first decade of the 21st century experienced a boom in social networking, fuelled by the human impulse to communicate and advance in digital technology.
In less than a generation, social media has evolved from a platform for nurturing personal connections to a retail platform, a business communication hub, and a vital 21st-century marketing tool.
Now, many companies utilize social media to address customer issues or queries—Instagram is one of them!
Instagram was launched in the year 2010. With constant innovations and the introduction of exciting features, it has stood the test of time, and today, it is one of the top social media platforms. According to a report by Statista, Instagram had at least 1.452 billion users worldwide as of July 2022. The same report further defined the distribution of Insta-users across countries, where the European Union had about 206.75 million Insta-users. By combining the USA and Canada, the count went up to 178 million. Most interestingly, these numbers are soaring quite fast and certainly will exceed the previous record, given the rising popularity of Instagram.
You can reasonably imagine how valuable the Instagram channel is for the support centers to initiate, handle, and track customer conversations, especially when Instagrammers want to convey something to a brand via this channel.
Also Read: Power of Artificial Intelligence — Transforming Customer Service at Scale
How does ThinkOwl facilitate customer service via Instagram?
ThinkOwl creates cases from customer messages on Instagram, allowing agents to converse directly with customers from your helpdesk. To do so, a brand must use an Instagram business page.
1. Add Instagram Business Page to ThinkOwl: First, account administrators must connect an Instagram business page by following Instagram's verification and authentication process. Then, they can further manage the configuration by editing, deleting, activating, or deactivating the Instagram account in ThinkOwl.
2. Create Cases from Instagram Entities: Once an Instagram business page is added to ThinkOwl, cases can be created from several Instagram entities. For example, ThinkOwl will create cases from:
- Posts and Comments on a Post
- Stories and Replies to a Story
- Direct Messages (DM)
3. Address Customer Inquiries: Once the cases are created in ThinkOwl from the Instagram entities, support agents can manage them from the case view interface of ThinkOwl. For example, they can reply to customer comments, view them on Instagram, respond to direct messages (DM), and more.
When customers or Instagrammers post an inquiry on your business page, comment on a post, or message directly, the messages will no longer be buried. Instead, you will get an instant notification, and a case will be instantly created in your ThinkOwl helpdesk. Subsequently, your support agents can address those cases based on the priority or service level agreements (SLA) configured in the ThinkOwl helpdesk.
Also Read: 10 Salient Features of a Premium Helpdesk Software
Social media customer service is the need of the hour
With the advent of social media, consumers now have a new way to interact with brands or complain when they fail to meet their expectations. So, it is essential to formulate a well-organized strategy concerning customer service on social media.
For example, if clients complain about your brand on social media, take measures to address those instantly. Do not make them wait for hours. If clients want to get serviced via social media or communicate with your brand on this platform, always help them with adequate information.
Here is the bottom line: the more you add channels to your helpdesk platform, the better your digital communication endeavors will be.
So, our journey doesn't end here! For a five-star customer experience, ThinkOwl’s pursuit of enhancing and improving its capabilities will continue as we aim to facilitate seamless interaction between customers and support staff across all channels.
If you want to learn more about ThinkOwl's digital communication channels, feel free to sign up for a 30-day free trial.