Instagram channel
Instagram is another way customers reach you. Direct messages from a connected professional account appear in the same Conversations queue as website chat, so your team works one inbox.
Only owners and admins can connect or manage Instagram. Agents still see and reply to Instagram conversations in the queue like any other chat.
What you need first
Instagram messaging works through a Facebook Page. Before you connect:
- Your Instagram account must be a professional account (business or creator).
- That account must be linked to the Facebook Page you plan to connect in IteroChat.
If the Page and Instagram account are not linked yet, link them in your Facebook Page settings before connecting here.
Connect through your Facebook Page
Instagram is not a separate connect button. Open Settings → Integrations and choose Connect Facebook Page, the same flow used for Messenger.
How selection works:
- If you pick specific Pages in Meta's prompt, IteroChat auto-connects every connectable Page and every linked Instagram professional account that is not already connected.
- If you skip Page selection in Meta, IteroChat shows a picker. Linked Instagram accounts appear under each Page. Checking a Page selects its linked Instagram accounts by default (you can uncheck them). You can connect the Page, its Instagram account, or both.
After a connection is live, it shows in your connections list. From there you can:
- See whether the connection is healthy.
- Rename the connection so your team recognizes it (for example, "Brand Instagram" or "Support DMs").
- Turn AI answers on or off for that account only.
- Disconnect the account when you no longer want it linked.
You can connect more than one Instagram account. Each connection is managed on its own, including its AI on/off setting.
If you connect both Messenger and Instagram for the same Facebook Page, they appear as separate connections in Integrations. The same person messaging you on Messenger and Instagram also gets two threads in the queue, even when both channels belong to the same Page.
Disconnecting a Facebook Page also removes Instagram messaging for any Instagram account linked to that Page. If you only want to stop Instagram, disconnect the Instagram connection. If you disconnect the Page, both Messenger and Instagram for that Page are removed. To add Instagram later after Pages are already connected, run Connect Facebook Page again (use Meta's picker path, or skip Meta's Page pick so IteroChat opens its own picker).
How conversations appear
When a customer sends a direct message to your connected Instagram account:
- The conversation lands in your shared Conversations queue.
- An Instagram channel badge marks it so you can tell it apart from website chat, WhatsApp, and Messenger.
- You can filter the queue by channel or by a specific connected account.
The AI answers according to your workspace settings (knowledge base, instructions, and escalation rules), the same way it does on the website widget. If you turn AI off for that connection, new messages wait for a person instead.
When the AI escalates, or when AI is off, an agent claims the conversation and replies from the same composer used for website chat.
Media customers send
Customers can send images, audio, and documents in Instagram direct messages. In the transcript you can open and view that media when it is ready.
If a file is still loading, you will see a pending state. If it cannot be loaded, a failed state is shown so you know to ask the customer to resend.
Outbound attachments from the agent composer are not available yet. Replies from the dashboard are text only for now.
Delivery status
For messages your team (or the AI) sends on Instagram, delivery status appears next to the message. Status advances as the message is accepted, delivered, and read, so you can tell whether it reached the customer.
If delivery fails, the failed state is shown on that message.
The 24-hour reply window
Instagram only allows free-form replies within about 24 hours after the customer's last message (same messaging window the composer uses for other Meta channels). While that window is open, you can reply from the composer as usual.
When the window has closed:
- The composer explains that you cannot send a free-form reply right now.
- The customer must message you again to reopen the window.
If a customer goes quiet and the window closes, wait for their next message, then continue the conversation from the same thread.
Returning customers
When someone messages again from an Instagram profile you have already talked to, the conversation header can show that they are a returning customer, along with their Instagram contact details. That helps you pick up context without searching past chats first.
Related
- Handling conversations: claiming, replying, and resolving in the shared queue.
- AI configuration: tone, knowledge, and when the AI hands off to a person.
- Messenger channel: connect the Facebook Page that backs your Instagram account.
- WhatsApp channel: connect a WhatsApp number alongside Instagram.
- Quickstart: get the website widget live alongside Instagram.