How to reply to a message in Direct

You often miss the pop-up message that someone has written to you, and the question arises of how to reply to a message in Direct, where to find it, etc.

Instagram Direct is a private messaging feature on the Instagram platform. It is a useful tool for communicating not only with friends and acquaintances, but also with clients if you use Instagram for business purposes. In this article, we will discuss how to reply to messages in Instagram Direct.

How to reply to a message in Direct

• Open the Instagram app on your mobile device or the web version of Instagram on your computer.
• Click on the “Direct” icon (the paper airplane icon) in the top right corner.
• You will see a list of all your current conversations. Select the one you want to write in.
• Enter your message in the input field at the bottom of the screen.
• Click “Send”.

General recommendations for replying to clients in Direct

If you run a business on Instagram, the following tips will help you.

• Don’t forget the greeting. People often perceive the absence of words like “good afternoon” or “hello” in the first reply as rudeness.
• Try not to move the conversation to another channel, like “ask this question in our Telegram chat.” The person has ALREADY come to you and is already asking the question where it is convenient for them. Just answer them.
• If a person is interested in something you don’t have, try not to reply in the style of “no, and that’s it”. Try to offer the client alternatives from what you do have. Often people are looking for a solution to a problem, not a specific thing. Maybe they just didn’t think that their problem could be solved the way you suggest. Even if it doesn’t work out—you still conveyed useful information to a potential client. That is worth a lot!

Believe me! A LOT depends on the tone of communication. In the dialogue “How much is the stroller — 12,000 — Do you deliver by SDEK? — No” there is not a drop of friendliness or good attitude towards the client, and people feel it, even though all the answers are “to the point” and correct in essence.

How to reply to a message in Direct using a chatbot

Chatbots can automate and simplify the communication process in Direct. This is especially important if you run a commercial account—sell something, communicate with clients.

The thing is, clients do not like and will not wait two hours for a reply. Your phone may be in your pocket or bag, and you may not notice for a long time that a new message has appeared.

Instead of replying to every message yourself, you can set up a bot that will automatically answer frequently asked questions or offer users a choice of replies using buttons.

Automatic replies to frequently asked questions

One of the most useful ways to use chatbots in Instagram Direct is to automatically reply to frequently asked questions.

For example, if you are a business owner, you can set up a bot so that it automatically answers questions about opening hours, prices, or product availability.

This can significantly save you time and increase the level of customer service.

Useful lifehack: according to our statistics, on average about 20% of the text is taken up by the greeting reply. Even just making the simplest bot that replies to greetings with some kind of greeting (you can make up to 10 different ones) will already save you up to 20% of the time you spend communicating with clients. Setting up such a bot in the Chotam.ru service literally takes 2 minutes, and it can actually cost 0—there is a free plan for small volumes.

Using buttons to reply in Direct

Another way to improve communication in Direct is to use reply buttons. Instead of users typing their reply, they can simply click on a button with the appropriate option. This simplifies the communication process for users and reduces the likelihood of misunderstandings or mistakes.

In chatbots, you can set up where to lead the user through which message chains when certain buttons are pressed.

However, as a regular user you cannot send a button to another person. This is only done through a chatbot builder.

Users love buttons) they click them much more willingly than options like “send the number 1 to…”

In general, most modern chatbot builders offer a fairly easy way to connect a chatbot. For example, in Chotam.ru it literally takes a couple of minutes.

In conclusion, Instagram Direct is an excellent communication tool that can be made even better with a chatbot. With its help, you can automate and improve communication with users, saving time and improving the level of service. In addition, chatbot platforms usually provide additional convenient features—for example, exporting correspondence to Excel for subsequent statistical analysis.