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Not many social media apps can compete with Instagram. The app has over 2.35 billion monthly active users, and is projected to reach over 2.5 billion users by the end of this year, making it the fourth most popular social media platform in the world.

Most users are Gen Zs, who are constantly searching for authenticity and content that can help them better themselves and build online communities of things they love, be it art, poetry, or even brands. About 90% of Instagram users follow one or more business accounts, which means that they are constantly open to engaging with their favourite brands. 

This makes Instagram a great playground for brands that want to deepen their relationship with customers. Brands can make the most out of it with a partner like CM.com, which lets them have personalised conversations at scale on Instagram Messaging.

Launched in 1999, CM.com has been leveraging cloud software for conversational commerce, enabling businesses to deliver a superior customer experience. Keeping current Instagram trends in mind, the team has been working to ensure that brands get to use Instagram’s unique features for better business gains. These include Instagram’s new Marketing Messages feature, Messenger API for Instagram, and more.

Hitting the sweet spot

Instagram’s users – Gen Z and millennials – don’t respond well to aggressive sales tactics. They want a seamless experience with their favourite brands. Conversational marketing on Instagram lets brands upsell without the sales pitch, subtly promoting additional products or services without bombarding customers with sales messaging. 

There are many ways to do this: Brands can reach out to customers through usual methods such as engaging Instagram stories, advertisements on the app, shortened URLs or ig.me links redirecting them to the brand, and informative feed posts.

Instagram’s latest feature – Marketing Messages – allows brands to send daily regular messages or notifications to users and drive re-engagement. When a customer sends a DM to a business (opt-in), a 24-hour window opens in which the business is allowed to send non-promotional messages to that customer. This window lets brands connect with the Instagram community, have meaningful conversations, boost satisfaction, and drive sales. 

The Marketing Messages feature lets brands meet customers at their favourite platform, boosting conversion rates. The conversations are personal and instant, allowing deeper engagement. It allows brands to create additional touchpoints to speed up the customer (buying) journey, and the feature is personal and instant. 

However, the question remains: How do you leverage this unique feature, along with the existing ones on Instagram? An experienced partner like CM.com has all the answers. 

The CM.com impact

CM.com offers a host of solutions that lets brands engage with more than one billion active users, enhance their marketing efforts, and maximise customer expectations. 

With a partner like CM.com, brands can automate conversations to optimise customer service resources, drive traffic through ads, boost sales through one-to-one conversations, and convert conversations by providing customers with information when they need it instantly. 

Alongside, CM.com also helps brands boost customer engagement with Instagram’s automated business-initiated messages. This gives customers the chance to hear from their favourite brands in innovative ways. 

Their new-feature enriched Messenger API for Instagram lets brands connect with 150 million people on Instagram. It helps businesses integrate Instagram Messaging within their workflows and tools, and helps them bring convenience to their customers via personalised responses. 

What brands get with CM.com

1. Access to all channels: Brands get access to all messaging channels available through the CM.com platform.

2. One dashboard: CM.com lets just one interface deliver multiple superior experiences.

3. One API: Brands can use CM.com’s Business Messaging API to integrate Instagram into their own software. 

4. Built-in features: Brands can benefit from built-in features like quick replies, chatbots, and send rich media.

5. Channel fallback: CM.com can guarantee the delivery of a brand’s message with a fallback to SMS.

The benefits of Instagram messages

Gen Z is all about personal and immediate, which is what Instagram messages promise. They let brands create a closer bond with customers by optimising engagement on a platform that new-age customers are already familiar with. They can give customers a glimpse of what to expect, be it newsletters, announcements, product launches, sales, and deals. They can leverage messages to create additional touchpoints in the customer journey.

Instagram is the best tool for brands to strengthen the bond with existing customers and connect with new ones. From re-engagement and connections to retention, the platform holds the key to many challenges. All brands have to do is take the first step – connect with CM.com.

Brands can get access to CM.com’s Instagram Messaging tools through their API or software. This includes their Business Messaging API, Mobile Service Cloud, and Mobile Marketing Cloud.