Best Practices: Instagram Conversation Starters
Written by Fara Rosenzweig
July 8, 2021
A recent survey from Facebook revealed that Instagram helped 81% of respondents research new products and services. This information may not be surprising to some, given that thousands of brands use Instagram (IG) as a platform to collaborate with influencers, promote their products, and share their services.
According to Facebook, the top two reasons customers message a business on Instagram are product inquiries or customer support. If your business is on Instagram, you probably see this daily: customers ask you common questions about your products or services. They might even ask the same four or five questions over and over again!
Answering all these questions manually can take up valuable time you could be spending on more strategic activities. It’s also a fantastic opportunity to implement automation that frees you up while giving customers what they need. To accomplish this, Instagram Automation by ManyChat offers a feature called Conversation Starters.
Conversation Starters are pre-filled, customizable buttons that appear to Instagram users who have never chatted with your business. Users don’t even have to send a message; they just need to open the message window, and the buttons appear. Then they can simply tap one of the buttons to receive your predefined response.
Because they only appear to new customers, Conversation Starters are great for answering frequently asked questions (FAQs) and giving customers answers right away.
So, how do you know which Conversations Starters to create? Here are three steps to get your first ones ready for use.
Research Your Instagram Comments and DMs
Do quick research. Look at your IG Messages from the previous month or so and review support emails to identify recurrent questions. (For example, if you’re an eCommerce company, customers might frequently ask if you offer free shipping. In this case, you’d create a Conversation Starter that outlines your shipping policy.)
Outline Your Customer Questions
Write down four or five of the most common questions that crop up in your research.
Create Your Conversation Starters
Go into your ManyChat dashboard and create these questions.
After you’ve answered the customer inquiry with the Conversation Starter, you can continue the conversation by showcasing products on sale or offering a discount.
With Instagram Automation by ManyChat, it’s super easy to build an entire personalized conversation that kicks off with … Conversation Starters!
Check out our video course to learn how to create a Conversation Starter. Or, go to our Facebook community to learn more ways people use this convenient feature.