It’s no exaggeration that Instagram is the hottest platform right now. It helps that Instagram is owned by Facebook and that it has copied features used by Snapchat. It now boasts 700 million users and its growth rate is speeding up. In the last four months it has added 100 million users! How then, can you easily manage Instagram messages?
There is a new Inbox feature for Facebook pages which allows you to now get messages on messanger, Facebook and Instagram all in one place. You can find the feature on your Facebook page in the banner at the top of the page. On your mobile you will find you have the feature when your toolbar with your analytics, inbox and notifications icon has moved to the bottom of the screen. Once you have the feature, here’s how you can start using it to manage your Instagram account.
1 Connect Your Facebook and Instagram Accounts
If you have an Instagram account that has a business profile and have connected it to your Facebook page, when you open the Facebook Inbox you will automatically get a notification that you can read and reply to comments on your Instagram posts. If you’ve not already connected the two accounts you can easily do this when you open your inbox and click on the Instagram tab. You will be prompted to log into your Instagram account and can complete the setup process from there.
2 Respond to Instagram Comments in the Facebook Inbox
When you’ve connected the two accounts you will see all your Instagram comment notifications in your Facebook Inbox. When using this function on your mobile, just click on the ‘All’ tab and you will be able to see all of your notifications from messanger, Faceboook and Instagram.
You will be able to see the image of the post that has received a comment together with the first line of the caption. You will also be able to see the username of who has recently left a comment together with the most recent comment left. You just need to tap on the post notification to open the post and thread. Once at this point you will be able to see all comments on the post you’ve opened. The same process applies when using this feature on your desktop. Not all Instagram engagement features are available using the Facebook Inbox tool. For instance, you are unable to reply to comments left without first manually typing in a person’s username to respond to then directly.
There is no Reply feature to the comments left on your post when using your inbox. Instead, you have to manually type a person’s username to respond to them directly. However you can slide a comment to the left, where you will uncover a reply button on the right hand side. Click on the reply button to populate the person’s username in the comment field. You can use the same function to get to the delete option, if you want to delete a thread. You will not be able to view their profiles from using the Facebook Inbox feature. Messages that are new and unread will appear in Bold. Once read they will return to normal text, but will stay in your inbox until you actually move it and file it away.
Advantages of Using the Facebook Inbox for Instagram Comments
The advantage of using the Facebook Inbox for your Instagram account is efficiency. If you’re regularly on your desktop computer and have Facebook open in a browser, you can quickly see Instagram notifications and reply quickly, without having to keep swopping to your mobile and opening Instagram from there. If more than one person works on your Instagram account this new Inbox feature will streamline account access. Anyone who is an editor, admin or moderator will be able to respond on behalf of your business without having to directly access your Instagram account. If you utalise push notifications, you and your team will receive Facebook page notifications every time a comment is posted to your Instagram account, useful so no one misses anything.
3 Edit Instagram Account Details From Your Facebook Page
You will also be able to edit some of your Instagram account details from your Facebook page, by accessing Instagram using the settings tab on the top right hand of your page. By clicking on ‘Instagram’ from the left hand menu you can edit your account name, username, website URL, bio description and contact information by using the Edit button. Make sure you save any changes for them to take effect. Be aware that any formatting or spacing you use in your bio using your Facebook page to edit your Instagram account, will not transfer over to the Instagram layout. This feature is really on really useful if you change your website URL or bio on a frequent basis.
This change has come about simply because Facebook own Instagram and they have streamlined their platforms to do what they can to keep you using them.
If you need any further help or advice on the use of Instagram or Facebook, please get in touch with MarkNorthall.com who will be more than happy to help you.