Instagram Client Management: From Leads to Loyalty with an Automated Tool

Are you a business owner or IG account manager? In this guide you will learn:

• Effective social CRM and client management models for IG.
• Ready-made Instagram adjustments from A to Z that will skyrocket your IG sales by 50%.
• Basics and practical tips to employ Direct chat as part of your social customer relationship management – you will master time-management and save the efforts of your support team.
• Social listening techniques to engage with non-following clientele.
• Templates and guidelines to deal with requests with 100% effectiveness – from orders to negative feedback or negative comments.

Chapter 1 uncovers major theoretical highlights that can improve your business model. If you are more action-oriented, scroll to Chapter 2 where you can find the practical settings, templates, and scripts.

Chapter 1 – Client management basics: this knowledge will boost your customer satisfaction

Social CRM – why your business will benefit from it in 2021

Many brands successfully present their goods and services only on Instagram. They don’t have a website, and they handle clients’ requests only through Instagram DM - and they make a fortune. (Find win-win business ideas in this ultimate guide to Instagram business.)

The fact is, Instagram is a platform where the customer experience on every level takes place – from customer acquisition to customer support and upsales.

CRM is an acronym that refers to customer relationship management. Business processes involve many stages and a huge amount of data about each client – contacts, preferences, order history, etc. A CRM system aims to effectively manage this information.

Social Customer Relationship Management, or social CRM, refers to the methods and deployment of customer relationship management tools over social networks. The goal of social CRM is assisting brands to achieve a high level of customer satisfaction through social networks.

The biggest challenge of social CRM on Instagram is the amount of unstructured data presented in the app. You can’t categorize clients until you check the history of your Direct chat.

Good news – Inflact has solved the majority of the CRM issues you face on Instagram, so that you can manage orders, requests, sales, and feedback right on your PC - even if the account is managed by several employees. See how the Inflact Direct solution meets the challenges of social CRM in the table below.

You can try all the features now and test them in the Inflact Demo chat. But I advise that you read this guide to the end to master your skills in customer relations first.With the Inflact Direct CRM you benefit in the following ways:

1. Deliver great customer support right on Instagram.
2. Interact and engage with clients in real-time thanks to automation.
3. Resolve issues speedily by using shortcuts and Quick replies.
4. Find and reward brand advocates and customers who help others.
5. Increase engagement and deepen relationships with customers.

Social CRM strategy that improves your clients’ satisfaction

Starting as a platform for sharing memories with friends, Instagram has now grown into a fully-fledged customer support service. If you organize it right, that is.

Customers in 2021 love buying on Instagram, writing fair testimonials, and sharing their experience with products. Even if the communication between a brand and a client is indirect, Instagram is a primary source of interaction, latest news, and brand updates. According to surveys, social media, including Instagram, uncovers unfair treatment. This leads to higher expectations from client support on Instagram. The question is:

What do clients expect from IG customer support in 2021? What are their values and needs?

Business accounts get 4x more impressions and engagement than personal accounts. When following a company on IG, a potential client is expecting 3 main things:

1. Communication with the brand. Over 83% of IG users follow a minimum of one business account on Instagram. This means that keeping your customers and potential clients updated and engaged is goal #1 of your customer support.
2. Expressing complaints. Over 56% of respondents address companies on Instagram to get their issues/complaints solved. Also, more than 69% will share their bad experience to warn other people on Instagram. This means that goal #2 is being proactive with customers’ testimonials and, especially, bad experiences.

3. Getting service. Over 40% of millennials consider social media as a place they can get support with their service-related needs. This stat means that goal #3 of your client management on IG is guiding customers towards the use of your product/service. This means you should be ready to process orders and provide customer support via IG despite the fact you run a website for these purposes. Even though you manage traditional customer support outside social media, the issues have to be processed on IG or redirected from there to a technical support specialist.

Well, now you get the needs and goals of social client relationship management on IG.

Let’s review the strategy based on the classical CRM model.

Remember, well-managed customer relations on Instagram will:

• Improve customer experience – CRM will boost positive interactions with a brand.
• Grow customer retention rates – well-organized CRM will grow retention and result in more brand evangelists.
• Increase customer satisfaction – when the expectations of your clients are met, they will become active members of your community and encourage like-minded people to join.

So, let’s move on to the practice ASAP.

Chapter 2 – Instagram settings for improving client management

In this chapter, we will learn the practical implementation of the CRM model described above:

• Account optimization for successful client management.
• DM tactics before sales, during sales and after-sales + examples.
• Templates to deal with negative feedback.
• Best ways to deal with comments on your profile and in ads.

Checklist for optimizing IG account for customer service

PRACTICAL EXERCISE #1 – ACCOUNT SETTINGS FOR CONDUCTING CUSTOMER SUPPORT

Regardless of your business niche, your clients will have general concerns and doubts when following your business profile. Let’s start a perfect customer experience right from your profile:

• Essential information in bio

Your bio is your business card. The space of the bio section is limited, so be sure to mention these five touchpoints:

• Who your business helps.
• What your products help clients to achieve.
• Credibility. For example, you may mention over 300K downloads to prove that your app and the link below is trusted.
• Branded hashtags. Use hashtags that help to navigate through your content.
• CTA+link. Encourage IG viewers to engage or download.

• Highlights

Add to your Highlight common business issues: delivery options and destinations, price list, current sales, testimonials, FAQ. This info will decrease incoming requests in your IG customer support.

Read our ultimate guide about Highlights to make the most of this feature.

• Add contact buttons

Help your clients to get connected to your business without leaving the app – use contact buttons. You facilitate communication management with address, phone, website.

Moreover, redirecting clients to your customer support pages will unclog your DMs and will connect issues to the right employees.

1. Edit ProfilePublic Business InformationContact OptionsAdd action button.
2. You can choose the Actions buttons connected to other services like Booksy, GoDaddy, etc. so that clients can take action without the need to leave the app.

Now your profile is perfect for managing clients’ requests and getting orders right from the IG application.

PRACTICAL EXERCISE #2 – ENABLE NOTIFICATIONS

Millennials and Generation Z want to get an immediate response to their questions and comments.

If your brand ignores DMs, Stories, Live, and IGTV comments, your engagement will suffer. I recommend that you turn on the notifications for all activities to improve reactions:

1. SettingsNotifications.
2. Go to each section and choose On.

Now your customer service response time will be decreased to the minimum time.

How to manage DM requests for several business accounts:

You can operate multiple business profiles from the desktop by using the Inflact Direct module. Here are several perks of using it as a customer support service:

1. All DMs in one place grouped by colors. You can see threads and requests from customers texting to all your accounts on one dashboard so that they won’t be buried in your inbox.

2. Automated replies for requests. Do you receive the same questions in DM requests? Set up auto-replies by trigger words (e.g. “price, delivery, sizes,” etc.) and the requests will be answered automatically.

3. Welcome messages for new followers. Answer the most popular requests as soon as a potential client starts following you, even before they ask, in a welcome message.

Try the Demo chat and don’t miss any request from potential clients. Find the exact Direct settings in the next part of this guide.

PRACTICAL EXERCISE #3 – MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENTS

1. Try desktop services and automated tools. Client management will become more effective when you use the desktop Direct messager. Yes, you can answer the requests using the Facebook messenger free, but Inflact gives you the full benefits of a CRM service.
2. Organize IG Direct workflow. Regardless of whether you have a team of support agents or you run the whole business by yourself, I advise you to hire a moderator or a community manager for Instagram This person will monitor and react to comments and DMs.

3. Organize communication between your Instagram manager and other specialists on your team.

Some questions can be too intricate to be answered by a social media manager on Instagram. If a customer needs a specialized answer, a more experienced person should be on hand to resolve it. Use team chats to solve even the most sophisticated issues on time.

Tactics to deal with Instagram orders and requests using DM + templates

Let me introduce key Inflact DM functions that will help you to improve the quality and speed of customer relations. Further, I will provide several techniques for using these features for the most common issues a business owner faces on IG.

Strategies for 5 common issues

Customers ask for a price/conditions in comments

Reply to a comment Send a prefab Quick reply in DM Label as a “Potential client”

1. Hello. Answered in DM. Reply to a comment is a must, other followers will see you are responsive and supportive. This will encourage more action.
2. Save Quick replies to common issues you get in comments.

• Go to the Inflact Direct module Direct chat
• Tap on 3 dots.
• Tap on the + icon. Input the text of a message and a shortcut.

3. Label this thread so that you will know this person is interested. You can continue the conversation if the deal is not closed according to your sales funnel strategy.

Customers want more information in DM

Adjust auto-reply by trigger words Check threads Ensure the issue is solved Label as Interested person

1. To answer repetitive questions for the issues that don’t vary, use automatic answers:

• Go to the Inflact Direct moduleAuto-replies Reply to Keyword
• Mention all the possible trigger words, separating them with commas
• Input the text of a reply to these questions

• Tap on Add message and add a follow-up question to clarify: “Is your issue solved?” You can add more auto-messages to the thread, they will be sent after the main message. A question after explanation guarantees that a client got a valid response. If they answer “no,” check on this issue manually.

3. Label this person as Interested or leave a Note for other managers. If you couldn’t answer the request, mark it with the label “Not solved” so that you will return to it when you get the information.

Customers want to order on IG

Use this process for the incoming requests:

Reply to a request in DM Indicate the details in Notes Label this person as Customer reach out to get feedback via Quick replies

1. Open a thread and find the section with information about the customer.
2. Fill in the details of the purchase.
3. Assign a label.
4. Use Filters and search to find this person in the future. Type a keyword from Notes. Add a Quick reply with an exclusive deal for customers according to your sales funnel strategy.

Happy birthday [name], here’s a gift from us to you!

You want to reach out to a certain customer group

Use this strategy for keeping in touch with existing clients:

Filter chats by the label Customer (Loyal client) Add a Quick reply and save shortcut Paste the message into each thread, adjust it by inserting the client’s name mark the outcome of conversation in Notes

1. Input your offer in the text field.

2. When a client replies that they are interested, leave a Note - “Interested.”
3. Find these threads later by indicating the word “interested” in the search field.

You can use the same strategy when reaching out to influencers on IG.

Reasons to keep in touch with existing clients:

1. Ask for feedback.
2. Invite to an event.
3. Notify of important updates.
4. Offer exclusive content, courses, discounts.
5. Notify when goods are in stock (if requested).

Customers leave feedback on IG

When clients mention your brand on IG, they may still not be your followers – they might have ordered from a website or visited your offline store. You can add this person to your Instagram CRM:

Reach out in DM Label on DM Ask to revise the feedback (if negative)

1. If your account was mentioned, you may text this person in DM:

• If the experience is positive, ask to use this on your account.

Hey [name], I saw your post. I’d love to feature it on my feed, would that be okay?

• If the experience is negative, offer help.

Hi [name], I saw that you’re having issues with our product. I’d love to help you out with that if you have a moment to give me a few more details.

2. Label it “Unpleasant feedback” (for example) to find this thread again in a week if feedback was negative. If it was positive, you can mark the user as a Client.
3. When the negative issue is solved and the client is satisfied, ask them kindly to clear this up on their page:

We are happy that the issue is solved and you are satisfied with our service. We would be glad to see the positive outcome of this situation reflected on your account. Best regards.

When thinking over a new DM campaign, ask yourself this question:

Will this message bring value to my audience? Or do I just want to push up sales?

DMs are a secondary feature and your sales strategy shouldn’t be based on them. Use DM for legitimate communication, influencer outreach, and solving incoming issues.

I hope your business never gets negative feedback from clients. But it happens to the best of us. I want to keep you prepared. Let’s learn the ways to handle unpleasant reviews on IG in the next section.

Insta-zen: how to manage negative comments

Despite your great content, speedy customer service, and high-quality products, satisfying all your customers is still a utopian dream. Instagram is a great place to address unpleasant feedback and interact with these clients. Your goal is to showcase genuine concern and provide them with the way out.

Here are some methods to put into practice to make this daunting process easier:

1. Be prepared for potential issues in advance. While handling objections during the process, track the issues and complaints you receive from your clientele. Write down common objections and share this document among your employees so that they deal with negative feedback professionally and quickly.
2. Never offend your fans and avoid arguing in comments. Although having numerous comments can lead your post to the top of Explore, bypass any negativity that will damage your brand image. Your tone of voice should be neutral and helpful.
3. If a negative comment offends other community members, block this user. Your clients should feel comfortable on your account. You can mention in your account rules, that you will block those people who disrespect your loyal audience.

DM templates to respond to negative feedback:

1. B2B

Dear @nickname,

2. Retail

3. E-commerce

Social listening: PRO customer management that grows income

Your clients are not always your followers. How can you monitor and manage requests outside your community? Try these exercises to perform professional client management.

PRACTICAL EXERCISE #4 – CHECK THE MENTIONS OF YOUR BRAND

In 2021, people love to talk about brands on their personal IG accounts, even if they are not influencers. They share experiences with a narrow group of their followers but this experience can change the brand image in any way. Moreover, you will learn who is your customer and can get more free shoutouts.

1. Use tools to monitor the mentions of your brand by customers:

• Brandwatch. A free app for brands that tracks your mentions across 95 million sources, including Instagram. You will be informed about what people are saying about your company and can react to their comments even if they don’t tag you.

2. Respond to comments and feedback. Plan your reply like this:

• Greet and thank a customer for feedback.

• Express your apology if a customer claims a negative experience.

• Provide solutions/answers to a question. You can send a solution in private messages if it’s not for public eyes. But you should show that this issue has been solved in the comments.

• Provide an apology in the form of a discount or free product. Actionable solutions are the most client-oriented ways to mitigate the issue.

When people write their review on their own pages social listening tools are really helpful. Apart from this method, you can also uncover customer experiences through hashtags.

PRACTICAL EXERCISE #5 – REACT TO CLIENTS’ FEEDBACK THROUGH HASHTAGS

A well-planned hashtag analysis will help you to discover more brand mentions. You can use your brand name to uncover hashtags originally created by users to share their experiences about your product:

1. Go to the Inflact Hashtag Generator and type your brand name or a branded hashtag.
2. Scroll to the Related organic hashtags and check each hashtag by tapping on it.
3. Find the Latest and Top post on your hashtags. Check what people are saying about your brand and provide feedback. Connect to loyal fans and clients – offer them collaborations.

How can you get connected to your TOP clients:

1. Monitor your top followers using the hashtags research described above.
2. Send them a DM. Example:

We adore your dedication to our page; thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Or...offer something more tangible:

As a compliment for being one of our top followers, here’s a [coupon/gift/code] for you exclusively!

3. Label them as “Loyal fans” for your future activities. Use the Inflact filter by labels to notify these people first about exclusive events, giveaways, etc.

Also, you can reach out beyond conversations about your company and find potential new customers on Instagram by using industry keywords. Moreover, you are free to track keywords tied to your competitors to offer better deals in comments under their posts.

Example:

Users misspelling Reebok in the posts with hashtags:

PRACTICAL EXERCISE #6 – HOP INTO CONVERSATIONS

People are concerned about themselves when they post on Instagram – they share their values that might be beneficial for your brand improving. Master your client management and relations with customers by showing real interest in the lives of your clients – even a small comment will bring tractions and help to build trust.

Look at the example of Starbucks showcasing authentic interest to their fans:

Check your tagged posts and use social listening and hashtag research to keep in touch and participate in conversations.

PRACTICAL EXERCISE #7 – ASK FOR FEEDBACK

When you ask users to provide their honest opinion you fulfill two objectives – you showcase that you care about your customers and you collect UGC. You can use these materials to grow your client base and sales.

Get inspired by the following example by Sephora:

1. Create a hashtag to manage and respond to clients’ feedback.
2. Encourage users to post feedback in their Stories and mention you.
3. Reply to every comment a user posts under a poll.
4. Label these users in your Inflact DM as “Engaged clients.” Mark in the Notes the product they like. You can even Paste the entire comment in the Notes.
5. Reach out to this group of customers with new products when you launch them. Suggest exclusive access to events, content, discount programs.

Using these 4 exercises for social listening on Instagram can really help you to master brand loyalty. In the next section, you will learn detailed techniques for replying to customer’s comments under IG posts.

5 IG comments and ways to react to them for brands

If you respond to comments from a desktop, it’s a win-win idea to create a document with pre-written replies to popular moments. This measure will help keep your responses well-planned and save time and keystrokes.

PRACTICAL EXERCISE #8 – REPLY TO INSTAGRAM COMMENTS LIKE A PRO

• One word or emoji

How do you answer a comment that contains just a single emoji? You can simply like this comment. But if you want to get more attention, answer even to emoji comments. You can send back other emojis, icons and smiles.

• A positive review

Thankfully, people are getting more generous with words in 2021 – captions and comments tend to be lengthy. Your brand needs to be kind to such commentators since they start conversations that boost post reach organically. Thank a client for pleasant feedback and try to encourage discussion. Ask about more details and use this review in Stories, Highlights, or on your website. Ask for permission before taking a screenshot and re-using it.

• A negative review / spam

If the hate review is not tied to your service, you can report this comment or restrict it. Spammy comments can be dealt with in the same way. Instagram will take care of it. If the criticism is connected with your mistake, answer it and provide the details in DM. Refer to the previous section, “Insta-zen: how to manage negative feedback.” Be polite and professional, but don’t engage much with negativity.

• Questions

You need to post answers in comments – even though they may repeat. If more details are needed to assist, private message or even call a person back. Also, you can ask for an email so that your technical support can privately send instructions.

There is no general blueprint. Every question should be considered separately. But it is always a good idea to hold a Q&A Live or series of Stories if questions repeat. You can ask a member of your staff to clear up solutions for the audience. This content is likely to boost engagement organically.

Read our Content section to master client management with insightful Lives, videos, Stories, captions.

• Comments on IG ads

If you start a campaign with a Facebook manager, you need to open it to deal with comments. Otherwise, you won’t see them in the IG app. People love to ask questions under ads so that you need to be responsive to attract new clients and followers.

• Go to the FB ad manager.
• Click on Edit Campaign.
• Choose Manage IG comments. The ad you need and comments will appear.
• Post replies and comments to address users’ issues.