Last Updated: November 2024
Over 35% of Instagram users are expected to make a purchase on the platform in 2024, so tapping into its potential, with the help of chatbots, has become critical.
Enter Chatbots for Instagram– the new digital marketing and customer service game-changers. These intelligent automated assistants are revolutionizing the way you interact with your followers. Instagram chatbots enable you to provide instant responses, personalized recommendations, and seamless shopping experiences.
Thus, in today’s article, we’ll learn more about chatbots for Instagram, explore what they are, their benefits, and most importantly, how you can create one to leverage this powerful tool for your own business.
Say hello to the future of Instagram marketing with chatbots, and discover how this cutting-edge technology can take your online presence to unprecedented heights.
What is Instagram Chatbot?
An Instagram chatbot is an AI-driven application created to automate interactions and conversations with your customers on the Instagram platform. It operates exclusively within Instagram’s messaging features, like Instagram Direct or swipe-up messages in Instagram Stories.
These chatbots utilize natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning algorithms to comprehend and reply to user messages, mimicking human-like conversations.
They offer the ability to engage with your audience on a large scale, deliver immediate responses, and optimize various tasks to improve customer experiences.
Recommended: A comprehensive guide to Instagram chatbots
Why you should use an Instagram chatbot?
With 80% of Instagram users making purchase decisions on the platform, using an Instagram chatbot is crucial for your business.
Here are some reasons why you should consider using an Instagram chatbot:
- Instant and 24/7 availability: Instagram chatbots operate round-the-clock, providing instant responses to your customers’ inquiries and messages.
- Improved customer support: Chatbots can efficiently handle common and repetitive customer support queries, such as product information, shipping details, or order status. 3. Personalized interactions: AI-powered Instagram chatbots can collect and analyze user data. This enables you to deliver personalized recommendations and content based on your customers’ preferences.
- Scalability: As your business grows and attracts more customers, an Instagram chatbot can efficiently manage the increased workload without compromising on the quality of interactions.
- Lead generation and qualification: By engaging your customers in interactive conversations, chatbots can identify potential leads and capture valuable data.
- E-commerce and sales: Instagram chatbots can guide your customers through the purchasing process, showcase products, and offer personalized recommendations.
- Time and cost savings: By automating routine tasks, Instagram chatbots reduce the workload on your customer support and sales teams.
Who can create an Instagram chatbot?
Instagram chatbots can be created by two types of accounts:
- Instagram Business accounts, regardless of their follower count.
- Instagram Creator Accounts with fewer than 500K followers.
Also read: 6 Best Sell on Instagram apps for Shopify
How to create an Instagram chatbot with ManyChat?
Here are some simple steps you need to follow to create an Instagram chatbot with ManyChat:
Connect your Facebook account to your Instagram account
Before building your Instagram chatbot, ensure your Instagram account is a business/creator account linked to a Facebook Business account.
Go to one of your Facebook pages, click on “Settings”, then navigate to Instagram.
Click “Connect account” to link the two accounts.
Connect ManyChat to your Instagram
To build the chatbot, we’ll utilize ManyChat, one of the top chatbot builders for Instagram.
If you don’t have an account, simply click the button below and set up your ManyChat account.
Once you’ve set up your ManyChat account, navigate to Settings, then select Instagram, and click on the “Connect” option.
Afterward, you can choose one of your Facebook Pages that is already connected to your Instagram account and simply click on it.
With the successful connection between ManyChat and Instagram, let’s dive into utilizing an Instagram chatbot to automate responses to potential customers’ questions for our company.
To configure Conversation Starters on Instagram, these prompts will automatically appear to users when initiating a chat with your Instagram account.
Setting up conversation starters
This feature proves highly beneficial as it allows you to steer the user’s interaction in a specific direction.
To set this up, head to Settings, then Instagram, and select Conversation Starters.
Click on “Edit” to proceed.
In this section, you can easily input a Conversation Starter, such as “What are your opening times?” for instance.
Afterward, simply click on “Create New Message,” and ManyChat will automatically generate a new flow for you.
Feel free to click on the initial message and edit its content to your desired response.
Next, click on the “Publish” button located in the upper right corner to make the flow live and active.
After that, return to your Conversation Starters section, where you must Activate the Conversation Starters by clicking on “Update.”
Setting up automatic replies for Instagram DM
In ManyChat, you can configure automated responses to specific phrases by setting up keywords for Instagram DM.
To implement this, return to the opening times flow, and simply add a trigger by clicking on “Add trigger.”
Next, search for “keyword” and choose the “Keyword Instagram” option.
In this step, set the trigger to “message contains” and enter “opening times” in the field.
What this does is, when a user sends a message containing “opening times” to your Instagram account, your chatbot will instantly respond with the automated message: “We are open every day from 09:00 to 17:00.”
Addressing unanswered questions (Default Reply):
What if your chatbot encounters a question it can’t answer?
That’s where the ‘Default Reply’ in ManyChat comes into play.
The Default Reply is the flow that responds to users when your chatbot is unsure of the answer to a question. This flow is critical for your chatbot because if it fails to provide a suitable response, it could leave potential customers dissatisfied.
To access the Default Reply, return to Settings, then Instagram, and click on “Edit” next to Default Reply.
Next, click on “Edit flow” located in the upper right corner, and configure the first step of the flow as an Instagram Message.
Afterward, we’ll proceed by apologizing for not providing an answer and inquire if the question should be directed to a human.
To achieve this, select the “User Input“ element and pose the question to the user.
Next, you should configure the Reply Type to be “Multiple Choice”, enabling users to respond using buttons. Additionally, generate a fresh custom field named “Forward to human.”
Simply retain the custom field’s name as it is and designate the “Type as Text.”
Next, scroll down until you locate the “Skip button text” and remove the “Skip” text from the field
This ensures users cannot skip this question. Finally, add two buttons for “Yes” and “No” by clicking on “+ Quick Reply.“
Now, the user’s response to the question will be stored in the custom field “Forward to human.”
The next step involves checking the answer provided by the user. To do this, we will add a condition to the flow.
Fill in the name of the custom field, “Forward to human,” and check if it contains the response “Yes.”
Afterward, we can generate two messages – one for the “Yes” option and another for the “No” option.
We are nearly finished. The last step is to set the conversation to “Open” so that we can reply using the live chat feature of ManyChat.
To achieve this, we can add an action that marks the conversation as open.
And there you have it! Simply click the Publish button, and your Instagram chatbot is ready to go.
Now, if your chatbot encounters an unanswered question, it will inquire whether the user would like to speak to a human. If they opt for that, a human agent can seamlessly take over the conversation using ManyChat’s Live chat feature.
If you find these steps complex and are looking for a chatbot for your Instagram, consider Saufter.
Meet Saufter – The Best Instagram Chatbot provider
Explore Saufter – the top-notch Instagram chatbot provider that can elevate your customer experience to new heights.
Saufter’s AI-powered chatbot offers real-time customer assistance, efficiently resolving queries using knowledge base articles. The bot also sends notifications to customers for crucial updates like order placement, transit status, and return requests.
Key features
- Omnichannel support: Seamlessly link various communication channels, encompassing live chat, email, and SMS, in addition to popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and more.
- Automate e-commerce workflows: Effortlessly automate essential e-commerce tasks, such as returns/exchanges, order modifications, warranty issue requests, order monitoring, order scanning, and more.
- Unified customer history: Access a comprehensive customer history on a single screen, encompassing every order and interaction.
- Self-service portal: Empower your customers to independently handle returns, exchanges, or modifications to their orders.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, Instagram chatbots are a game-changing solution that enables you to enhance customer engagement, support, and overall presence on the platform. By leveraging AI technology, these chatbots can provide instant responses, and streamline various processes.
To create an Instagram chatbot, one can easily employ platforms like ManyChat, which provide user-friendly interfaces and powerful automation tools.
However, if you seek a comprehensive e-commerce solution, consider giving Saufter a try. With its AI-powered chatbot, Saufter ensures real-time customer assistance, knowledge base article support, and order management.
Don’t miss out! Start your 15-day free trial today!