Instagram Direct is a service for sending messages to the social network. That’s how simple the definition sounds, but without this feature, it’s far from convenient to do business in Insta.
The social network is the second most downloaded app on the App Store and, according to site statistics, – more than 80% of accounts follow at least one business.
“800 million people visit Instagram each month for news about their hobbies and to follow them, but more and more people are using it to connect with their favorite businesses. In fact, more than 80 percent of Instagram accounts follow businesses, and 200 million Instagram users visit a company’s profile daily and actively. As a result, the Instagram community does a lot to help drive small business growth.”
“Two-thirds of company profile visits come from people who don’t follow that business.” Instagram data.
Here you’ll learn the features of the Direct to Instagram service, how to use it to maximum effect, and some useful tiphacks.
Why do you need Direct in Instagram?
Direct on Instagram is an easy way to connect with a person on a more personal level. For example, it’s a way to share cute pictures of cats with cat lovers and no one else. In other words – personalization.
“Personalization drives impulse purchases: 49% of customers bought products they didn’t intend to because of a personalized brand recommendation.” Forbes
Personalization is one of the most important ways to engage with consumers. Epsilon’s research says that 80% of users will prefer a brand that is attentive to its customers, which isn’t surprising.
For example, you can personally congratulate the right person on a holiday, make them a personalized offer or invite them to a game on your page.
You can learn more about games in Insta in the article about legal and interesting ways to involve subscribers.
The main thing is not to turn into a spam bot, attacking random accounts with the same text. For this, Instagram will punish you with a ban.
If the recipient is interested in the message, he will visit your Instagram profile to find out who you are.
What’s good about that? Yes the fact that people on Instagram like to share their lives. A person will like or comment on something they like, and their followers will know about you.
In Direct, you can share:
- Hashtags, location and text messages.
- Photos or videos from your device.
- Temporary photos and videos that will disappear after the recipient views them.
- Postings to a feed.
- User profiles.
Now let’s understand where to find the options you need and figure out how to use correspondence in Direct.
Where to find Direct in Instagram
Since April 10, 2020, messaging in Instagram Direct has become available from personal computers and laptops without any additional tambourine dancing. Now there’s no need to install an emulator or make changes through the page element code.
On Android phones, iOS devices, and the desktop version of Instagram Direct is indicated by a paper airplane icon . It is located in the upper right corner of the screen
Correspondence in Instagram Direct
To write to a person or group of people, go to Direct. If you haven’t had time to update your Instagram messaging, you’ll probably see an image like this.
Then, in the upper right corner, click on the pencil icon. In the window that opens, select one or more people you want to message.
You can also attach files from your device’s library here. Or take a photo or video, which will disappear after viewing.
Another option is to send a message from the recipient’s personal page. There is a link in the header of the profile called “Send”.
Quick answers in Instagram Direct
When you use Instagram for business, you often get the same questions from followers. For example, “What time do you open?”, “When will it be in stock?” or “Are prices still current?”
In Instagram Direct, the situation was solved simply and efficiently by implementing the “Quick answers” function. It helps you easily answer repetitive questions, speeding up the process. It is only available to commercial accounts, “Company” or “Author”.
You can find it like this.
Open your profile, click the button with three horizontal lines. A sidebar menu will appear, where you have access to Instagram settings.
Here, click the settings button (the gear icon at the bottom of the screen) and select “Company” or “Author”. This is where you’ll find the “Quick replies” option.
Click on the plus sign at the top right of the screen and create a message. To use it quickly in your correspondence, paste any word you like into the line below the message. It can be the first word of your reply or any set of letters you don’t forget. In the conversation, you’ll be able to insert the prepared text by writing a given word or set of letters.
Now save the text. You can edit the message and add actual information to it whenever you want.
Look at the settings in the screenshots below.
Tip. Sometimes there are questions that need to be discussed with the team or researched before answering.
Don’t let such messages get lost in the mailbox. And don’t forget to respond later, when you’re ready.
Write something like, “Thank you for contacting us! We’ll check the details (stock availability, delivery dates, etc.) and get back to you before the end of the day.” This will show subscribers that you are working on their request.
Then back it up. The “Mark the Message” feature will emphasize that the email needs your attention.
To do this, open the message you want to highlight and tap the check mark icon in the upper right corner of the screen.
How to delete and clear your Direct messages
If you often use Direct in Instagram, the mailbox will be full of old conversations that have lost relevance. It is desirable to get rid of them as from unnecessary things – to put in order. Order on the desktop is order in the head, as the thinker said to me (and Google and Yandex as well) a long time ago.
Get rid of all the dialogs at once will not work, only selectively.
Go to the direct. On the conversation page, find the outdated messages and swipe to the left (iOS) to open the “Delete” option. For Android, tap and hold the conversation you want to trash.
There are times when you only want to delete the last message you sent, but the correspondence needs to be saved. This can be arranged.
Open the conversation and with a long press on the message bring up a pop-up window. Select the option you want.
Restore messages in Direct Instagram
There’s no such feature in Instagram’s settings. Still, you can try it.
Simple and quick – contact the addressee, the conversation with whom you accidentally deleted. This will not restore the correspondence in Direct. You will see the dialogue in the photo, as the interlocutor will only be able to send screenshots of communication with you.
Another option is to contact Instagram support. This method will take more time, but if successfully resolved, it will return the conversation to the Direct. Technical support helps to solve the problem not in 100% of cases, but you won’t know if you try, right?
Automated response in Direct
When you’re not online and a question comes from a user – an autoresponder will help. It will send a pre-prepared text in response to the message.
Of course, an autoresponder will not be able to conduct a full-fledged correspondence – it will simply inform you that you are busy now, but have seen the letter. Still, the instant response to the message will help the person to be calm about the delayed response.
To connect the function, the business account in Instagram must be linked to the Facebook page.
Now take action:
- Go to your profile, select “Inbox” on the side menu on the left.
- Then open the “Automated Responses” tab.
- Enable the “Instant Response” option.
- Edit the default message.
There are 500 characters available for editing the default message. Don’t forget to check the box next to Instagram – initially only Messenger is connected
How to send a photo, video or document in Direct
Open the correspondence with the user in Direct or mark the recipient group. In the message entry field, select the desired icon. There will be a camera on the left, a microphone on the right, a picture symbol and a plus sign. If you click on it, additional icons will open – a gifka, quick replies, and a heart for sending likes to Direct.
So, in order.
- Tapping the camera icon will start taking photos and videos. The file made in the application is called temporary for a reason.
- It will disappear from the correspondence as soon as the addressee gets acquainted with it. Good to use for sending confidential information, for example – passwords or bank details.
- A long press on the microphone icon will record a voice message. Release the icon – the recording will be interrupted.
- The picture icon will open the gallery on the device. Here you can select a photo or video file to send to the other party.
- Clicking on the GIF will help you select the appropriate gif on the Internet to send – from the suggested ones or using the search box.
- The message icon will bring up a window with quick answers to standard questions.
You can’t exchange documents in Direct. But you can send a link to cloud storage or any other external source where the file is stored.
Read how to publish videos and gif files to all social networks, including Instagram, using SMMplanner from your computer.
How to disable Direct in Instagram
Completely disable Direct in Instagram is possible only by unsubscribing from all users. But then the feed will be empty and the meaning of the social network will be lost.
It makes more sense to prohibit messages from certain users, such as those who attack your account with spam. Or limit the correspondence to your followers.
In the first case, go to Direct. Open the message from the user you want to block. In the right corner of the screen, click on the icon with the letter i.
Select “Block”. The recipient won’t receive a blocking notification, but they’ll understand when they can’t send you messages.
In order to limit who can write to you, go to the account settings.
Look under the “Privacy” tab. Select Messages.
In this screen, you can select which groups of users will be able to message you. Checking “Do not receive requests” will prevent you from receiving messages.
To build stronger relationships with your subscribers, Direct Instagram is a powerful tool.
But in addition to knowing the tool, it takes time to correspond with clients, which is often in short supply. After all, you still need to make posts, Stories, communicate in the comments every day to remind your audience.
SMMplanner service will help to publish content automatically, without your constant participation. For example, the “Schedule” option will select the nearest free window for posting the planned post, saving a precious resource – time.