Customer service on Instagram: 10 examples of successful brands

Instagram is a great channel for businesses to improve their reach and customer engagement via Reels, Stories and Feed posts. The API for Instagram offers interesting opportunities for companies to conduct customer service through direct messaging. In the following, we’ll show how companies like H&M, Ford, Sephora and Shein are successfully using the messenger API to take care of customer service on Instagram.

With the launch of the messenger API for Instagram at the beginning of June 2021, Instagram gave companies with business accounts some interesting new options for communicating with customers.

The API for Instagram essentially brought all Meta messaging services together onto one platform. Businesses can now manage their messages from Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram Direct all in one place.

With our API, businesses can simplify their customer communication workflow by using the same engagement platform they use for other channels to reply to people on Instagram.

Instagram

The API also allows businesses to integrate third party tools that they are using to manage their messages, such as Sinch Engage. For instance, it’s possible to use Sinch Engage for Instagram to manage their messages. For example, it now makes answering messages on Instagram faster and more convenient.

The API opens up new opportunities for communicating with customers, especially in regards to customer service, and some companies are already putting the service to good use. In the following, we’ll showcase ten companies that are using the Instagram API for customer service in particularly effective ways.

10 examples of companies successfully using Instagram in customer service:

1. Kiehl’s Malaysia turns customer inquiries into sales

The luxury brand Kiehl’s is part of the L’Oréal Group and specializes in high-quality natural skin care products. Kiehl’s Malaysian branch Kiehl’s receives a particularly large number of inquiries on Instagram. The team was finding it increasingly difficult to respond to all of their customers’ requests.

So, Kiehl’s set up an automated solution through Instagram’s messenger API. Frequent questions thus receive automated answers. In addition, Kiehl’s established a hand off protocol. This allows bots to seamlessly pass along more complex queries to employees.

The company was thus able to use the messenger API for Instagram in their customer service to answer inquiries faster, and in a way that was more tailored to the customers’ individual needs. Through this, they were able to build closer relationships with their customers, and they ended up converting more inquiries into sales.

⭐ Results: After only two months Kiehl’s Malaysia had:

• 30% more qualified leads on Instagram compared to other channels.
• A 20% conversion rate from consultations to sales
• Reduced time it took new customers to book a beauty consultation to two day

By implementing messenger API for Instagram, we have not only scaled our conversations through different entry points such as Instagram Feed, Instagram Stories, mentions, and direct messages, but have also improved our response time to customer inquiries.

Eda Lim, Head Of Digital, Luxury & Professional Division, Kiehl’s Malaysia

2. H&M makes its customers happier

As a global fashion brand with numerous social media channels and millions of followers, H&M’s customer service staff was facing two challenges: keeping track of requests on different channels, and providing personalized responses.

With the integration of the messenger API for Instagram, the company was able to solve both problems at once. With the new messenger solution, H&M has not only been able to consolidate requests on one platform, but also sort them by categories. This allowed employees to not only respond to customers faster but also to make their responses more personal.

⭐ Results:

• Improving customer satisfaction by 9.5 points
• Increasing net sentiment score by 8.7 points
• Reducing response time by 20 percent

Now, we can connect better with our customers by assisting them in their fashion journey with dedicated, one-on-one support and interactions

Sanne Busschots, Global Communications Specialist, H&M

3. European Wax Center advises customers online

European Wax Center is one of the leading companies in the field of hair removal. With the lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, the Wax Center had to cancel a large number of previously booked appointments at once. As a result, the company had four times as many customer requests as usual.

So, they used the messenger API service for Instagram to merge customer queries from Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct.

Using automated workflows that categorized, labeled, and prioritized requests, employees were able to respond very quickly to concerned customers, and also provide them with useful beauty tips!

This provided customers with additional value, which is a great advantage when it comes to retaining customers. In addition, the automated messenger API helped the European Wax Center customer service team to save four hours per week.

⭐ Results:

Fortunately, we were able to bring customer messages to one platform, which helped us utilize our customer care team for additional support, decrease agent workload, have more meaningful conversations and boost overall productivity

Auburn Berry, Social Media, PR and Guest Relations Director, European Wax Center

💡 Conversational Commerce: How to sell more with messaging apps

4. Avon generates interest in skin care products

The example of Avon Poland shows that Instagram’s messenger API can do much more than help manage customer inquiries. The beauty brand Avon used its integrated messenger platform to get to know potential Instagram shoppers better and thus generate interest in its products.

In a special marketing campaign, Avon Poland’s messenger API used an automated bot solution to guide users through a questionnaire. After users answered the questions, they were automatically redirected to a landing page with personalized skincare tips.

From there, interested users could buy the recommended products with just a few clicks. The results show how successful the combination of messenger, bots, and personalization can be on Instagram.

⭐ Results:

• 88% of new customers on the Avon.pl website came via Messenger.
• 9% of customers visited the website more than once
• Avon Poland received nearly three times as many product views

With the array of Facebook products and solutions, we were able to create a unique skincare product discovery experience where customers could receive personalized recommendations and fall in love with our products.

Katarzyna Michalak, Social Performance Analyst, Avon

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5. Luuna uses artificial intelligence to identify customers’ needs more quickly

Luuna, a mattress company based in Mexico, also used the messenger API for Instagram, both to offer more in terms of customer service and to identify its customers’ needs more quickly.

To do so, Luuna focused on “conversational commerce.” The goal was to generate qualified leads starting from the first customer conversation. Automated messenger solutions are ideal for this type of goal. In Luuna’s case, customers automatically received further questions after their first message. This allowed the company to quickly identify customer needs and address them more quickly.

Customer inquiries could either be answered directly via the messenger bot, or in more complex cases, they were forwarded to employees. This approach reduced waiting times for users and the workload for employees, and it also led to customer problems being solved much more quickly.

⭐ Results:

• 2 times reduction in response time
• 10% increase in conversion rate
• 50% decrease in negative public reviews

We were able to respond to people’s messages faster and provide them with swift and excellent service, which in turn drove greater customer satisfaction and sales.

Esmeralda Reyes, Head D2C Ecommerce Sales , Luuna

6. Ford Argentina doubles its leads on Instagram

Ford Argentina has also recognized the value of nurturing conversations with their customers and focusing on quick and valuable customer interactions.

Ford Argentina uses the new messenger API solution under the name “FORDi” for Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. FORDi displays automated questions to direct customer inquiries that arrive on the messenger API to where they are most likely to be resolved more quickly.

Then, the inquiries are handed over to the sales team. Customers thus experience fast, personalized customer service without ever having to switch from one messenger to the other, as they had to in the past. FORDi also provides users with information about various payment systems, subscription offers, vehicles, and the closest sales outlets.

⭐ Results:

• 90% of messenger conversations were resolved via automation.
• A 50% increase in lead generation from February 2021 to March 2021.
• 5 times increase in messenger session

With FORDi, Ford Argentina became the first car manufacturer in the region to introduce digital assistants on Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram Direct and operate them at the same time.

Pablo Dorado, Sales Manager Lateinamerika, Botmaker

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7. Amaro reduces workload for its customer service team on Instagram

Amaro is a lifestyle brand for beauty, fashion, and wellness products that has a focus on e-commerce. Consequently, Amaro has a strong social media presence and the company has always striven to provide customers with the smoothest digital experience possible. But with Instagram, this proved difficult at times.

Since requests had to be handled individually on Instagram, they took up a lot of time for employees. Messages could not always be answered promptly or in sufficient detail, so many inquiries had to be transferred to the hotline. Being transferred from one channel to the next was time-consuming for customers.

With the integration of Instagram into the messenger API, Amaro has now been able to streamline its customer service to use just one platform. Thanks to automated responses, customers now receive immediate feedback and inquiries can be resolved much faster.

⭐ Results:

• 93% customer satisfaction rate since the launch of the new messenger API for Instagram.
• 58% reduction in hotline costs
• 92% of customer inquiries are resolved after initial contact

Amaro has thus managed not only to improve customer satisfaction but also reduce the workload of its employees.

We decided to offer them a personalized space via Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. As a result, the customers can access our services 24/7, on the go

Wellington José, Head of Digital Product, Amaro

8. Shein improves the shopping experience of its clients

Shein is a fashion e-commerce brand, and its products are particularly popular on Instagram. However, with a growing volume of requests from Instagram, it became increasingly difficult for Shein’s customer service team to accommodate all requests.

Now, since Shein started using the messenger API for its customer service, things have improved significantly. With an AI-based solution, Shein can now send automated responses and resolve issues faster. In addition, every customer is issued an info ticket.

Through this ticket, customer service employees receive valuable background information about customers’ interests, preferences, and complaints. This allows them to resolve inquiries much more quickly and in a more personalized way.

⭐ Results:

• 73% reduction in response time
• 50% more service employees who respond within one hour.
• 18% improvement in the service level agreement

With messenger API for Instagram, our team has been able to organize and respond to customer responses more accurately, and in a shorter period of time, creating a more pleasant overall shopping experience for our customers.”

Jade Wu, Customer Service Channel Manager, Shein

9. 4ocean leaves no customer inquiry unanswered

The sustainable jewelry brand 4ocean was looking for a way to respond faster to the numerous customer inquiries and comments the company was receiving through Instagram Stories.

To do this, 4ocean implemented a solution that integrated all its messengers on one platform. This allowed the service team to categorize messages and sort them by importance, and thus respond to messages faster and resolve issues more expeditiously.

⭐ Results:

• 76% of all customers received a response within 10 minutes (previously it was 24 hours).
• 100% response rate to all relevant daily messages
• 30% increase in daily response rate

Instead of natively using Messenger and Instagram to respond to people, our customer service and social media teams could access and respond to messages in a single, consolidated platform.

Patrick Carney, Director of Customer Experience, 4ocean

10. Sephora strengthens its relationship with its customers

Sephora is currently one of the most popular beauty brands. The brand owes this success in particular to the close relationship it has forged with customers on Instagram. Accordingly, Sephora’s followers are very engaged with the brand on Instagram. Fans like to comment on and share the company’s posts, and they frequently tag the brand.

The challenge for Sephora: with this much engagement, customers also began using the public comment functions on stories and under posts to ask questions about products, orders, and deliveries. But customers had to wait a long time for a response since their inquiries had to be forwarded to the appropriate customer service department.

With the messenger API for Instagram, Sephora can now manage all these requests directly on the platform and forward them much faster to the relevant employees. Since Sephora can now answer Instagram queries directly on Instagram, customers no longer have to switch communication channels and send emails or call to get help faster.

⭐ Results:

• 100% of customers who contact Sephora on Instagram now receive a response on Instagram
• On average, 15% fewer responses are needed per conversation to resolve a query.

The messenger API for Instagram has enabled our team to easily resolve queries received via Instagram messaging, comments and story mentions within the platform, providing a seamless experience for the client.

Hilary Lin, Social Media Supervisor, Client Services. Sephora

Using Instagram successfully in customer service: examples showcase possibilities for businesses

The new messenger API for Instagram offers businesses many opportunities to improve their customer service. These range from a more personalized service to higher customer retention and generating more qualified leads.

The aforementioned examples show: especially in combination with automated bot solutions, a lot of time can be saved in customer service, both for employees and customers. Customers can also be tended to in a more personalized way and receive help 24/7.

This leads to better productivity, more satisfied customers, and higher revenue for companies.

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