Facebook Announces Updates to Messenger API to Support Instagram Messaging

Customers today want to be able to communicate with businesses in a variety of ways. They’re not keen on wasting time listening to hold music. They’re also not terribly happy about sending emails into the void, wondering if anyone will ever bother to answer them. Instead, customers are turning to more immediate communications channels such as chat, and Facebook (News - Alert) Messenger and Instagram Direct are big parts of this shift. Messaging plays a central role in helping people connect with brands in personal ways through story replies, direct messages, and mentions. To make the most of messaging, however, businesses need a better way to manage them, and connect them to their vital business applications (such as customer relationship management or call center platforms).

Facebook recently announced that it has made updates to the Messenger API to support Instagram messaging, giving businesses new tools to manage their customer communications on Instagram at scale. Facebook purchased Instagram back in 2012 for $1 billion.

The new API features enable businesses to integrate Instagram messaging with their preferred business applications and workflows; helping drive more meaningful conversations, increase customer satisfaction, and grow sales, according to the company. The updated API is currently in beta with a limited number of developer partners and businesses.

In its announcement, Facebook noted that over the last year, total daily conversations between people and businesses on Messenger and Instagram grew over 40 percent. For businesses, the opportunity to drive sales and improve customer satisfaction by having meaningful interactions with people on Instagram messaging is enormous.

“The Messenger API now allows businesses to manage messages initiated by people throughout their Instagram presence, including Profile, Shops, and Stories,” noted Facebook in its blog post announcing the new API. “It will be possible for businesses to use information from core business systems right alongside Instagram messaging, enabling more personal conversations that drive better business outcomes.”

Edited by Maurice Nagle