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Setting Up Instagram for HubSpot

Connect Instagram Direct Messages to a HubSpot workspace so DMs arrive in HubSpot and replies go back on Instagram.

Written by Tarek Khalil

Before you start

You need:

  • A HubSpot workspace already connected to Octopods.

  • An Instagram Business Account linked to a Facebook Page (Instagram messaging APIs do not work with Personal or Creator accounts).

  • A Facebook Business Manager account with admin access to the linked Page.

  • The “Allow access to messages” setting enabled inside Instagram’s Privacy → Messages options.

  • Admin access to the HubSpot portal with permission to grant additional HubSpot permissions.

Step 1: Confirm your Instagram setup

In the Instagram app:

  1. Go to Settings → Account and confirm it shows Business Account.

  2. Go to Settings → Privacy → Messages and enable Allow access to messages.

  3. Confirm the account is linked to a Facebook Page in Settings → Account → Linked Accounts.

Step 2: Open the Instagram setup

  1. Sign in to Octopods and open the HubSpot workspace.

  2. Click the option to add a new channel.

  3. In the Add a Channel modal, select Instagram under Popular Channels.

Step 3: Re-authorize HubSpot (if prompted)

Instagram uses HubSpot’s native social messaging integration, which needs Instagram messaging permissions on your HubSpot connection.

  1. If Octopods shows a Re-authorize HubSpot prompt, click it.

  2. Sign in to HubSpot and approve the requested permissions (Instagram messaging plus any standard conversation permissions).

  3. HubSpot redirects back to Octopods.

You only need to re-authorize once per workspace for Instagram-related permissions. Facebook Messenger, which shares similar permissions, will often not require a second re-authorization.

Step 4: Sign in with Facebook

  1. Click the Facebook sign-in button. A Facebook window opens.

  2. Sign in with a Facebook user that has admin access to the Facebook Page linked to your Instagram Business Account.

  3. Facebook shows a consent screen listing permissions (manage messages on Pages, access Instagram Business messaging). Keep everything checked and approve.

Step 5: Pick your Instagram account

  1. Octopods shows a list of Instagram Business Accounts you have access to through your Facebook Pages.

  2. Pick the Instagram Business Account you want to connect.

  3. Confirm.

Step 6: Activate the channel in HubSpot

Instagram on HubSpot goes through HubSpot’s native social messaging path rather than custom channels, so the inbox routing is handled inside HubSpot.

  1. Octopods links the selected Instagram Business Account to your HubSpot workspace.

  2. HubSpot’s native Instagram channel becomes available in your HubSpot inbox settings.

  3. In HubSpot, go to Inbox settings → Channels, locate the newly added Instagram channel, and confirm or assign it to the inbox you want to use.

Once the channel is active in HubSpot, Instagram DMs flow into that HubSpot inbox directly.

Step 7: Send a test DM

  1. From a personal Instagram account, open the Instagram app and search for your Business Account.

  2. Send a direct message.

  3. Open HubSpot and go to the inbox assigned to the Instagram channel. A new conversation appears with the DM.

  4. Reply from HubSpot.

  5. The reply arrives on Instagram from your Business Account.

What Instagram allows on HubSpot

Instagram’s rules are the same regardless of which customer platform you use:

  • Inbound DMs, reactions, and story replies arrive in your HubSpot inbox.

  • Outbound messages can be sent within a 24-hour messaging window after the customer’s last message. Outside that window, Instagram blocks outbound messages except the approved Instagram message tags.

  • Proactive outreach to users who have never messaged your account is not possible.

Common issues

  • “HubSpot re-authorization required” — follow the prompt to grant Instagram messaging permissions.

  • “No Instagram accounts available” — the Facebook user you signed in with doesn’t have admin access to a Page linked to an Instagram Business Account, or the Instagram account isn’t set to Business. Switch the Instagram account to Business and link it to a Page, then retry.

  • DMs don’t appear in HubSpot — go to HubSpot’s Inbox settings → Channels, confirm the Instagram channel is still assigned to the correct inbox, and that the account is still marked as connected on both HubSpot’s and Octopods’s sides.

What’s next

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