Instagram Connection

Reply to direct messages, story mentions, and story replies on your professional Instagram account using the TOMIS Inbox.

Requirements

  1. **You must have a professional Instagram account. If your business account is currently a "personal" account, please follow these steps: https://help.instagram.com/502981923235522 
  2. **The professional Instagram account must be connected to a Facebook Page.  To connect your IG and Facebook Page, follow these steps: https://help.instagram.com/570895513091465
  3. You must have admin access to the connected Facebook Page. When connecting Instagram to the TOMIS App, you will be required to sign into Facebook. The Facebook account you sign in with must have admin access to the Facebook Page that is connected to your professional Instagram account.

** When attempting to connect inside the TOMIS App, if your Instagram account is a "Personal" account, you will be prompted to convert  to a "Business" account. Similarly, if you have not connected your Instagram Account to a Facebook Page, you will be prompted to do so when connecting to the TOMIS App. 


Connect Instagram Account to the TOMIS App 

Once logged into the TOMIS App, navigate to Settings > Data Sources. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the Instagram connection. Follow the instructions on the screen.

  • Facebook login: use an account that has admin access on your Facebook Page. This may be your personal Facebook Account. 
  • Instagram login: use the Instagram account you are attempting to connect to the TOMIS App. Do NOT login with your personal Instagram account.

How it works

Existing messages are automatically loaded into the TOMIS App. After you have connected Instagram to the TOMIS App, the TOMIS App will load your existing conversations into the Inbox. Please note that the TOMIS app can load the most recent 20 messages per conversation into the App, so you may not see the entire conversation history, but enough to give you context.

TOMIS keeps in sync with Instagram. Once connected, you can reply to customers directly from the TOMIS App, or you can reply to customers via Instagram directly. Messages sent from the TOMIS App will appear in Instagram, and messages sent from Instagram will also appear in the TOMIS App. Therefore, your Instagram inbox and TOMIS inbox will remain in sync, no matter how you send messages! 

Compatible with TOMIS inbox features. From the TOMIS App, anyone that has a TOMIS app account (associated with your business) can respond to messages, assign conversations to other members of your team, use templates, and open/close conversations. Instagram messaging is also supported via the TOMIS mobile app.

The most important Instagram messaging features are supported. The TOMIS Inbox supports the following Instagram features/messages: 

  • Direct messages (DMs)
  • Story mentions (another user mentions your IG account in a story)
  • Story replies (another user replies to your story)

Troubleshooting error messages: 

"You did not grant TOMIS permission to access any Instagram accounts that are also linked to a Facebook Page"

If you followed the instructions in the Facebook window to connect your Business Instagram Account to a Facebook Page:
  1. Try waiting a few minutes and trying again.
  2. If it's still not working, you may need to log into the Facebook Page and review the connection to Instagram.
    • In Facebook, navigate to your Facebook Page. Make sure you are logged into an account that has admin permissions on the Facebook Page.
    • On the left-hand menu, select "Switch into [your page] to take more actions"
    • After switching into the Page, select "Settings" from the left-hand menu
    • Select "Linked Accounts" on the left-hand menu
    • Review the connection, or create a new connection if necessary
    • After resolving the connection, re-attempt the connection inside the TOMIS App