You can add your business Instagram account to Zendesk so incoming Instagram direct messages, story replies, and story mentions become tickets. Tickets are not created for comments or replies on posts, reels, or other Instagram content.
Your agents can see and respond to these tickets in Zendesk like any other ticket. Agents must reply directly to the ticket in Support for replies to appear on both Zendesk and Instagram. Agent replies made directly within Instagram are not added to the Support ticket. See Receiving and sending messages in the Zendesk Agent Workspace.
This article contains the following topics:
Adding the Instagram Direct channel
The first step is to add Instagram Direct to your channels. Read on or watch the video below to learn more about the setup process.
Instagram setup flow (1:29)
To add an Instagram Direct channel
- In the Instagram app, go to Settings > Messages and story replies > Message controls > Connected tools > Allow access to messages.
- Under Connected Tools, toggle on Allow access to
messages.Note: This step must be performed in the Instagram mobile app. It cannot be performed via Instagram Web.
- Open your Zendesk admin account.
- In Admin Center, click
Channels in the sidebar, then select Messaging and social > Messaging.
- Click Add channel and select Instagram Direct from the drop-down.
- Click Continue with Instagram to open the Instagram set-up
flow. The set-up flow will ask you for the following information. Follow the instructions in the flow to add this information.
Action Description Authenticate to your Facebook profile This is the admin profile linked to your company's Facebook Business Manager. You can Continue with the existing profile or sign in to another account. Provide permission to share your Instagram Account with Zendesk. Zendesk needs this permission to connect your Instagram Professional Business Account to the Agent Workspace. Provide permission to share your Facebook Page(s) with Zendesk. Zendesk needs this permission to connect your Instagram Professional Business Account to the Agent Workspace. We recommend that you select all pages. Accept the selected permissions These permissions are needed to send and receive messages from Agent Workspace. - When you've finished the set-up flow, click Done.
- Select the Instagram channel you wish to connect from the drop-down, then click Next.
- Assign a name to the new Instagram channel you are connecting, then click Add
channel. Note that agents need to add comments to an Instagram message from
within the Zendesk Agent Workspace.Note: Replies made directly in Instagram will not add a comment to the related ticket.
As with Facebook Messenger, Instagram Direct allows a business only seven days to respond to the end user before the messaging window closes. To prevent messages from being sent but not delivered, the composer will be blocked after the messaging window is closed. The only way to re-open is if the end user sends a new message.
Additionally, Instagram requires that you respond to an end user’s initial message within 24 hours, either by agent engagement, or with an automated message using the auto-responder or chatbot.
Configuring the Instagram Direct channel
After you’ve added Instagram to your social messaging channels, you can configure how it appears and functions.
To configure the Instagram Direct channel
- In Admin Center, click
Channels in the sidebar, then select Messaging and social > Messaging.
- Click the Instagram channel you want to configure to open its Edit page.
- Update the information in the Basics, Auto-responder, and Message Us button tabs, as described in the sections below.
- Click Save after updating the information in each tab.
The Basics tab
The Basics tab is populated with the channel and Instagram profile names.
To edit the Basics tab
- Click in each text box to edit these names.
- Click Save when you’re done.
If multiple brands are attached to your Zendesk account, you’ll also have a dropdown menu to select a brand to connect to the Instagram channel. You can only attach one brand to the channel. If your account has only one brand, this option does not appear under the Basics tab.
The Auto-responder tab
The auto-responder sends messages automatically to an end user when you receive their messages. See Sending automatic responses to social messages for more detailed information on using and configuring the auto-responder.
If you choose to use the auto-responder- Click Enable auto-responder, then enter a message for your customers.
- Click Save when you’re done.
The Message Us button tab
Adding a Message Us button to your website, mobile app, or help center allows customers to discover and connect to your Instagram account, where they can request and receive support via Instagram Direct.
If you choose to add a Message Us button, you’ll need to configure the following elements, then add the HTML code snippet to each page on the website or mobile app where it should be displayed.
Configurable options
As you make the selections below, a preview of the button is updated on the right side of the channel page.
- Color: Choose a gradient style for the button, Dark gray or White.
-
Size: Select Compact or Regular.
-
Corner radius: This number determines how rounded the button’s corners are. Enter a number from 0 (right angle) to 20 (near quarter-round).
-
Label: Enter the text you want displayed on the button.
-
Width: Enter the length you want your button (up to 400 pixels).
Adding the Message Us button
After you’ve configured the options above, you can add the code snippet to your website, mobile app, or help center.
To add the Message Us button to a website or mobile app
- Copy the code snippet to your clipboard.
- Paste the snippet into the HTML of every page that should include the button before the closing tag.
To add the Message Us button to your Zendesk Guide help center
- In Guide, click Guide Admin at the top of the page,
then the Customize design icon (
) on the sidebar.
- On the theme you want to edit, click Customize, then click Edit Code.
- In the Templates section, click the template you want to modify, and add the snippet before the template’s closing tag.
- Click Save.
86 comments
Amie Brennan
Hi Team,
Will this new channel support multiple Instagram pages? i.e my clients currently has 5 different brands (with more coming in the future), each with their own Insta page which they would like to connect up to Zendesk to handle the DM's. Would this be possible with this new integration?
Best,
Amie
1
Stephanie Langlois
Hi Aime,
Yes, it's very simple to connect multiple brands. Your client will need to go through the flow 1 time per page that they wish to connect.
0
Kulin Joshi
is there any plan to have Instagram integration available for post?
1
CJ Johnson
What does this look like when the chats come in?
Also, there's a small typo - "The Auto-repsonder tab" header I think was meant to say "The Auto-responder tab" ;)
1
Nathan
Instagram has two sections for messaging Primary and General, which of these messaging channels does the Integration link to?
0
Permanently deleted user
Why I only have three channels(IOS, Android, Web) in my drop-down menu? I don't have the Instagram option in "add channel".
2
Dave Dyson
CJ, here's a screenshot from a demo:
(and thanks for the tip on that typo, looks like we got that fixed) :)
0
Dave Dyson
@... Do you have Agent Workspace enabled, and an Instagram follower count between 10,000 and 100,000?
1
Test Account
Yes, I enable that. But it still don't have the instagram option. Though My instagram follower is below 10,000 people, should I see this option too?
1
Chad Susa (Gravity CX - Zendesk Partner)
Hi There
Looks promising. Couple of questions though:
Thanks for any help.
Cheers
Chad
0
Amie Brennan
Hey @...,
It looks like from your screenshot that you're not using an Instagram business account. When I navigate to the same pathway you mentioned in your post in my personal insta I don't see the "Allow messages" option, however when I look in my Instagram Business Page account it does show me the "Allow messages" option which you're looking for. Are you able to double-check your test account is an actual Insta business page account?
Let us know how you go :)
Best,
Amie
0
Chad Susa (Gravity CX - Zendesk Partner)
Thanks Amie - still the best Zendesk Guru out there :D
I did check and it's definitely a Business Account - albeit a test one. When I nav to the app and try to make it a Private Account (yes the same account) I get the below.
See gigantic image below.
If there is anyone who can break Social Media + Zendesk Integration it'll be me :P. I must be doing something wrong and will try another account. Thanks again Amie...hope you are well :)
0
Eski Admin Hesabı
We have a social media group dealing with social media messages.
We want to route Instagram DM to these groups, but we couldnt find any documentation except then Chat Module Routing.
We dont want this group to chat but we want them specificly answer Instagram DMs. So we dont want to use Chat Routing system, as we have other triggers are set for segmentation also.
How can we route Direct Instragram Messages? We tried Support Triggers but not working as desired, the request is distributed randomly.
0
Laura Materi
In our support model, we treat IG direct/social messages differently than live chat messages as consumers have different expectations per channel. We do not want social messages to count towards an agents chat limit. Can Zendesk work on splitting social messages out from chat messages so they do not count towards an agents chat limit? That should be a config setting each business can determine how they want to work depending upon their support model and how they handle social.
2
Pat S
We were hoping that this would function exactly like a Facebook DM (since it's owned by the same company) and just generate a normal support ticket.
Instead you made it so that Instagram ONLY routes through Chat. Why is that? Please update to better mimic Facebook and Twitter DMs and allow for regular ("non-chat") ticket creation. Thank you!
5
Stephanie Langlois
Hi @...,
Thank you for your message, it seems that the Facebook integration you are using is the integration that you set up before moving over to Agent Workspace which is why you're experiencing 2 different behaviours. This integration uses a different back-end than Agent Workspace social channels. This applies to the Twitter DM channel as well.
The Facebook Messenger, Instagram Direct and Twitter DM integrations that get created when they are set up using Agent Workspace (through Admin Center > Channels) all function the same way, they are powered by Chat. So, the behaviour you are experiencing is expected, you can read more about this behaviour here.
If consistency across channels is the most important part of your request, you may wish to migrate your existing Facebook and Twitter channels however, in that case, they will all behave as chats. That said, your feedback about you not wanting social channels to route through Chat is noted but we don't currently have plans to change this behaviour.
I hope this clarifies things a bit for you.
1
Bryce Wilson
Hi Zendesk,
You mention restrictions based on followers
Is the next phase focused on under 1,000 followers or over 100,000? We've currently got 238k followers on Instagram and really would love to set up this integration. Any indication on timing would be great.
Thanks so much
0
Amie Brennan
Hey @...,
The Zendesk Instagram integration is reliant upon Facebook's rollout of their Messenger API. I just took a look at the latest update on this link here and it looks like FB hope to include the rest of the accounts in phase 3 of their rollout by the end of the year.
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/messenger-platform/instagram/rollout/
I'd dare say as soon as it's released by Facebook it won't be far behind it becoming available on Zendesk to connect your account with 100K+ followers.
Hopefully this helps. :)
Best,
Amie
1
Bryce Wilson
Thanks @...!
0
jeff manio
Hello,
Can someone tell me why I don't have Channels on Admin Center?
0
Houm Tech Mexico
Hi!
For all those who doesn't have Channels in the admin center you must turn on the agent work espace first :)
0
Ben Hall
@jeff manio I have the same issue. Can someone explain why there isnt any channels section in the admin? We have enabled chat and we have enabled agent workspace.
0
Russell Chee
Hey Admin!
I hope you are doing well. I just wanted to let you know that I've created a ticket on your behalf so we can discuss as to why you are not seeing Channels in your Admin Center. It's quite account specific so I'm creating a ticket to discuss it in there. Speak soon!
Russell Chee | Senior Customer Advocacy Specialist | Melbourne, Australia
0
Pet Partner Mon
Hi there! When I connected the IG Direct Message, new messages come in as chat. How do I make it so that it will just come in as a normal ticket?
Thank you!
4
Rex Lai
Hi there,
When I tried to connect to Instagram, there is an error message: "Channel couldn't be added".
Do you have any idea what could be the problem here?
1
Sonny
Hi Pet,
Good day!
There are actually many possible cause of the said error, it could be a plan type and some setting on your account. You may want to check this article link for enabling and configuration of your Instagram Direct: https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/1260803342450-Enabling-and-using-Instagram-Direct
Hope this works for you.
Yours truly,
Sonny Rebenito | Tier 1 Associate Customer Advocate | support@zendesk.com
Got a question? Come chat with us!
Ask our Zendesk Community
0
Holger Herter
Leider Unfall, er war toll
0
Sonny
Hi Holger,
Thank you for your reply.
If you are still experiencing the issue with your Instagram Direct, we recommend that you may send us an email at support@zendesk.com to further assist.
Thank you!
Yours truly,
Sonny Rebenito | Tier 1 Associate Customer Advocate | support@zendesk.com
Got a question? Come chat with us!
Ask our Zendesk Community
0
Support Lead
Hi!
Is it possible to manage this Chanel in the way, so we'll get direct messages on Instagram like usual tickets in Zendesk? Without any buttons and similar features.
1
Amandine
Hi!
Some questions…
- How is it possible to display the Instagram username instead of the name? It makes it difficult to retrieve the actual user page on instagram.
- Why mentions do not come up, as it appears on Instagram and Facebook Business chat windows?
- Why don't we get posts reply, as we have with Facebook integrations?
All these points make this integration so poor that we can't actually use it.
I assume it's not a technical reason as LiveAgent does offer these features: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXiy81-m3zY
Thanks!
7