Social channels setup

Why connect social channels?

Integrating your social media channels into Distance allows your business to:

• Centralize customer communication: Manage inquiries from Instagram or Facebook alongside texts and emails in one platform, reducing the need to switch between apps.

• Respond faster: Monitor customer messages in real time to ensure you never miss an inquiry or opportunity.

• No more switching between apps: Save time by managing Facebook and Instagram inquiries in one place—no more logging in to multiple apps.

• Increase customer satisfaction: Provide consistent and timely responses across all communication channels, enhancing your business’ reputation.

• Leverage social media for revenue: Turn direct messages into sales opportunities by promptly responding to leads and inquiries.

By connecting your social channels to Distance, you ensure seamless communication and make it easier to manage customer interactions, no matter where they start.

Facebook setup

Navigate to Connect channels in the sidebar menu.

Select Connect Facebook.

Log in to your Facebook business account and confirm. Don’t have one? Learn how to create a business account.

⚠️Important: Only Facebook Business accounts are supported. Personal accounts are incompatible. Limitations:

• Customer must message first: You can only reply to customers who have messaged your Facebook Page or Professional Account.

• 24-hour window: Respond within 24 hours to ensure your messages are sent.

• Initial sync: Distance syncs messages from the past 12 hours when you first connect your account.

Note: Currently, only inbound messages are supported.

Instagram setup

1. Navigate to Connect channels in the sidebar menu.

2. Select Connect Instagram.

3. Log in to your Instagram Business account and confirm. Need help setting one up? Here’s how to create an Instagram Business account.

⚠️Heads Up: This connection requires an Instagram Business account. Personal accounts won’t work for this integration. 🚨 Important Setup Note: During the Meta integration process, make sure to select all available Instagram accounts and related permissions when prompted. Meta may create multiple assets linked to your Instagram account, and selecting all ensures the connection is fully established and messaging functions correctly. Instagram Inbox

Once connected, your Instagram messaging inbox offers features to help you manage and organize conversations:

• Message categories:

  • Primary: New conversations from followers are stored here by default.

  • General: Use this folder to manage less urgent or secondary conversations.

  • Requests: Messages from non-followers appear here.

    • Requests can be accepted or denied. They’re not marked as "Seen" until accepted.

    • Once accepted, you can move these messages to the Primary or General folder.

    • Any request answered through Distance will automatically move to the General folder.

• Notifications: By default, Instagram turns off message notifications. Enable them in your Inbox Settings to stay informed about new messages.

• Pre-existing conversations: Conversations that occurred before integrating Instagram with Distance remain in their original folders within the Instagram app.

This organized system ensures you never miss an important customer inquiry while keeping your communication workflow efficient and centralized.