Episode 009: Engage Better on Instagram with Instagram Messenger API

Conversational Messaging Podcast by Gupshup

In today’s episode of the Gupshup Conversational Messaging Podcast, Beerud and Srini discuss how the Instagram messenger API can be the game-changer for everyone involved—for the brands, consumers, influencers, etc. Tune in to learn about how to make use of Instagram for your brands marketing, commerce, and support.

The Instagram We Love

Instagram is a powerful social media platform that has hundreds of millions of users. It enables its messenger API to present countless opportunities not only for brands but also for consumers. Automated chats through Instagram direct message (DM) gave way for businesses to increase their interaction with consumers and for influencers with their followers. The converging of social media (public) and conversational messaging (private), according to Beerud, made a lot of impact on how brands operate.

“There are things you want to say publicly, and there are things that have to be done privately. If you can do both in a seamless manner, I think that can have some dramatic impact.” - Beerud Sheth

Making the Experience Personal

Beerud thinks that this automation, if done right, could be a rich experience for consumers, brands, and influencers. For example, through trained AI or smart bot, consumers can DM their favorite influencers/celebrities and get an "authentic" response. Influencers, which are on the other end of the spectrum, can monetize from increased engagement, partnership with brands, or by simply using the feature however they like.

"You can ask what you're interested in, and they will answer. It really changes the whole thing, it gives a very personal, intimate experience.” - Beerud Sheth

Everything in One Go

The Instagram messenger API is an all-encompassing capability that can help with brands’ marketing, selling, and support. The platform can now be used to cater to all concerns, starting from the announcement, deals, launches to the selling itself, up until resolving customer issues such as cancellations, returns, etc.
However, Beerud notes that aside from Instagram, there are other channels (WhatsApp, etc,) that brands can use aside from Instagram, so make sure to check those for consumers to have as many options as possible when connecting to brands.

“It just dramatically transforms a brand, a business or an influencer's ability to engage their fans, followers, and customers.” - Beerud Sheth

Bio:
Beerud is the co-founder and CEO of Gupshup, the world's leading platform for cloud messaging and conversational experiences. It is used by over 100K+ customers and developers and handles over 6 billion messages per month. He previously founded and led Elance (now Upwork, a publicly listed company), the pioneer of online freelancing and the gig economy.

Prior to founding Elance, he worked in the financial services industry – modeling, structuring, and trading fixed income securities and derivatives at Merrill Lynch and Citicorp Securities. His graduate research, at the MIT Media Lab, involved developing autonomous learning agents for personalized news filtering. Beerud earned an M.S. in Computer Science from MIT & a B.Tech. in Computer Science from IIT Bombay, where he was awarded the Institute Silver Medal.

Srinivas has over 2 decades of experience in running marketing for high-growth technology companies and managing corporate marketing, product marketing and demand generation. Prior to Gupshup, he held marketing leadership positions with Qubole, Pluralsight, Mobileum and Tejas Networks.

Resources:

Gupshup.io