Connect Instagram
Capture inquiries received via Instagram direct messages straight in your Inquiries, without watching the app constantly.
Updated
Many venues get their very first event inquiries not by email or phone, but in an Instagram direct message. A future spouse stumbles onto your wedding photos, an agency lead spots your rooftop, and the first sentence they send you is a DM. Connecting your professional Instagram account to Joinways avoids juggling between the mobile app and your management software: relevant messages land directly in Inquiries, already qualified by AI, ready to become events.
This article explains how to link your account, what the integration captures and what surfaces in Inquiries. The goal: no inquiry gets lost in a social inbox you check once a day.
For an event venue, Instagram is often the storefront: it's where desire is built. But a storefront with no cash register lets sales slip away. Plugging your DMs into Inquiries turns your social storefront into a real acquisition channel, tracked with the same rigor as your emails.
Prerequisites
Before connecting Instagram, make sure you meet the following conditions. They come straight from the limits imposed by Meta's API: without them, authorization fails or no message comes through.
- A professional or creator Instagram account. A standard personal account cannot be connected.
- The login details of the professional Instagram account to link.
- An owner or admin role in Joinways: the Sources tab of Integrations is only visible to these roles.
What you'll learn
- Connect a professional Instagram account to your Joinways workspace.
- Understand which DMs surface in Inquiries and which are filtered out.
- Track an Instagram inquiry in Joinways and convert it to an event.
- Diagnose cases where the account doesn't appear or messages don't come through.
Connect Instagram
Connecting takes just a few clicks from settings. Follow the steps in order; at each step, the screen tells you what you are authorizing.
- Go to Settings then Integrations.
- In the Sources tab, click the Instagram card.
- An Instagram window opens: sign in to the professional Instagram account to link.
- Authorize Joinways to read your profile and manage your messages: these are the only two permissions requested.
- Return to Joinways: the Instagram card now shows the connected account.
Once authorization is granted, there is nothing else to install. Joinways listens for new direct messages and surfaces them automatically in Inquiries.
To check that everything works, ask a friend to send you a DM that looks like a quote request: it should appear in Inquiries shortly after, a sign that the channel is active.
Good to know: only a professional or creator account can be connected (Meta API limit). If your account is still in personal mode, switch it to professional mode in Instagram before starting the connection.
What surfaces in Inquiries
The integration does not dump all your social traffic into Joinways. It is designed to surface only what looks like an actionable inquiry, so Inquiries stays a work tool and not a second notification feed.
- DMs that look like event inquiries surface in Inquiries.
- The prospect's original message, as they wrote it, to keep the conversation context.
- The sender's public identity on the Instagram side, so you can identify who you are talking to.
From there, you qualify the inquiry and convert it to an event like an email inquiry. The reply to the prospect is sent from Instagram.
Anything that doesn't look like an inquiry (reactions, lone emojis, exchanges with no event intent) does not clutter Inquiries and stays accessible directly in Instagram if you want to review it.
How it works
The principle is simple: Joinways plugs a listening channel into your professional Instagram account via Meta's official API. Each new direct message is analyzed by the AI to estimate whether it is a genuine event inquiry or an interaction with no follow-up.
Messages deemed relevant appear in Inquiries like any other incoming inquiry, ready to be converted to an event. Nothing leaves your control: the AI suggests a sort, you decide.
And because the listening happens through the official API, you don't need to keep the Instagram app open or watch your DMs manually: as soon as a relevant message arrives, it surfaces in Inquiries on its own.
Edge cases
A few situations deserve attention once the connection is in place.
- Personal account: until it is switched to professional or creator mode, it cannot be connected.
- Ambiguous message: a DM that is too short or too vague may not be identified as an inquiry; it stays viewable directly in Instagram.
- One account per workspace: the one you sign in with in the Instagram window. To switch, disconnect it from the card's gear, then connect the other one.
- Revoked permission: if you remove access from Meta settings, DM surfacing stops until you reconnect.
Tip: check Instagram inquiries as often as your email. Replying quickly to a DM helps turn simple curiosity into a visit, then into a booked event.
Best practices
- Check that the account is in professional or creator mode before starting the connection.
- Reply quickly in Instagram, then complete the inquiry in Joinways (date, guests, budget) to keep the record up to date.
- Convert to an event as soon as the inquiry is serious, so information is not lost in the conversation thread.
- Keep an eye now and then on raw DMs in Instagram, in case an ambiguous message was not identified as an inquiry.
- Keep your account in professional mode: switching back to personal stops messages from coming through.
Troubleshooting
The account doesn't appear during connection?
Cause: the account is still in personal mode. Solution: switch it to professional or creator mode in Instagram, then restart the connection.
Meta authorization fails?
Cause: you declined one of the requested permissions, or you are not an owner or admin of the Joinways workspace. Solution: restart the connection and accept both permissions, with a role that manages integrations.
A specific DM didn't surface in Inquiries?
Cause: the AI deemed it not relevant (too short, no event intent). Solution: reply to it in Instagram; if it really is an inquiry, create the event by hand in Joinways.
Real-world example
A couple discovers your estate while scrolling through wedding photos and writes you a DM: "Hi, are you available for a 120-guest wedding next June?" The message surfaces in Inquiries, qualified as an inquiry. You reply in Instagram, note the date and guest count on the inquiry, then convert it to an event.
Another example
An events agency spots your rooftop for a product launch and sends you a DM with a few capacity questions. The inquiry lands in Inquiries. You check the date in Joinways, reply in Instagram and create the event. Meanwhile, story reactions and lone emojis don't clutter your inquiries: the AI filtered them out.
FAQ
Do all DMs come through?
No. The AI filters to favor genuine event inquiries; you keep control. Filtered messages remain viewable in Instagram.
Can I connect a personal account?
No. Only a professional or creator account can be connected, due to a Meta API limit. Switch your account to professional mode first.
Do I need a Facebook page?
No. You connect directly with your professional Instagram account, without a Facebook page.
How do I reply to a surfaced DM?
Reply in Instagram: Joinways receives messages but does not send them. The inquiry stays in Inquiries so you can track the date, budget and conversion to an event.
Can I convert a DM to an event?
Yes. An Instagram inquiry converts to an event exactly like an email inquiry, as soon as the exchange becomes serious.
What happens to irrelevant messages?
They do not surface in Inquiries but remain available in Instagram, without disrupting your workflow.
Do I need to reinstall anything after connecting?
No. Once authorization is granted, Joinways listens for new DMs automatically, with no extra installation.
Can I connect several Instagram accounts?
No: one Instagram account per workspace, the one you sign in with. To switch, disconnect it from the card's gear icon, then connect the other one.
Do my old DMs surface in Inquiries?
The integration listens for new direct messages once the connection is established; focus on inquiries that arrive afterward.
See also
Bring every event inquiry into one queue.