Can you imagine a time before DMs? Young people would say no. Millennials or older might say, “I don’t even know what a DM is, let alone how to DM on Instagram.”
With over 375 million monthly active users using DMs or “Instagram Direct” (now “Messenger”), it is a tragic irony that the Direct Message inbox on Instagram is a tool that many marketers have not been too keen on using.
Times are changing, APIs and algorithms are too.
Mark Zuckerberg himself says that “private messaging, ephemeral stories, and small groups are by far the fastest-growing areas of online communication.”
The future of social media very well depends on one-to-one messaging. If you are a digital marketer, you almost have no choice but to rise to the occasion for the sake of your clients.
Now that Instagram DM has merged with Facebook Messenger, you can do so many new fantastic things with Instagram DMs. Especially for businesses who can utilize DMs as a lead gen funnel and customer service tool.
This article will cover the basics of how to DM on Instagram, as well as some amazing growth hacks anyone can utilize to transform their DM inbox into a honey pot of automated messages and a constantly flowing funnel of hot leads.
There is a helpful nugget in here for everyone.
If you’re an astute digital marketer already automating organic Instagram engagement and growth with the latest Instagram Comment Guard features on Customers.ai. You’ll benefit from the growth hacking part of this article.
Or if you’re brand new to Instagram, marketing, and social media altogether, you’ll want to start at the beginning, get your bearings, and work your way towards mastering the growth hacks (they’re super easy, too!).
- What is Instagram DM? And How to DM Someone on Instagram
- Send an Instagram DM on PC or Mac
- How to Delete Instagram DMs
- Best Practices for How to DM on Instagram
- How to DM on Instagram for More Leads and Conversions
What is Instagram DM? And How to DM Someone on Instagram
Chances are that you already know what a DM is, but in case any old school marketers fresh from the print world need help:
A DM is an Instagram Direct Message. It’s a private conversation between you and an individual or business. They can also be used for private group chats for up to 32 select people.
The way you access your Instagram Direct Message (DM) inbox is by clicking the Messenger icon (or paper airplane if you haven’t updated) at the top right corner of your screen.
This is the same for both mobile and Instagram DM on computer.
As shown above, if you see a red circle, that is the number of unread DMs in your inbox.
How to Send an Instagram DM on PC or Mac
When your business or brand is getting popular on Instagram (especially if you’re using the 100% Instagram-approved Customers.ai growth tools), you can quickly become bombarded with DMs.
It’s helpful to access your DM inbox via web browser on either PC or Mac to manage higher volume inboxes.
Even better, automate it with a Customers.ai DM Auto-Reply, and you’ll benefit from lead info captures such as emails and the ability to drive traffic to your other business pages.
Once you have accessed your Instagram Direct Message inbox by clicking the Messenger icon at the top right corner of your browser window, you can have a bird’s eye view of all of your Instagram DMs.
You can also click the blue “Send Message” button to start a new Instagram Direct Message with someone.
You can send a DM to any person or business that you follow.
You can also send other users’ content via DM to someone.
Simply click or tap the DM icon under an Instagram post.
Then, type out the name of the person or business you’d like to share the post with. Click or tap them and then “Send.”
Sometimes, you might send some DMs you’d like to delete. Perhaps you made some typos, or worse, replied to DMs after few beverages.?
Never mix alcohol with DMs.?
How to Delete Instagram DMs
To delete a DM by PC or Mac, simply navigate to Instagram.com, and click the DM/Messenger icon to open the DM inbox window.
Select the DM you’d like to remove, then click the lowercase “i” icon for the “Details” page.
From the “Details” page, you can delete the DM thread, as well as some other options such as “Block” or “Report” the user.
To delete a DM from your mobile phone:
- Tap the DM or Messenger icon at the top right of your screen.
- Press and hold or swipe on the DM conversation you’d like to delete.
- Select ‘More’ from the options.
- Next, you will be given the option to ‘Mute’ or ‘Delete’ the conversation.
- Tap ‘Delete’ and worries be gone.
Best Practices for How to DM on Instagram
There are so many fantastic ways to utilize DMs, but be sure to stay within these guidelines to avoid having to figure out how to delete a DM in the first place or any other social slips.
1. Manage Your Instagram DMs and Other Social Channels From a Single Dashboard
Ever since Facebook and Instagram merged their Messenger APIs into one magical marketing tool, Customers.ai users have been enjoying the streamlined Instagram DMs right into their OmniChat® inbox.
Whether you are a large brand or a power influencer, you’ve likely been hiring and managing a few VAs to oversee your Instagram DM inbox.
Now, you can easily engage with all of your followers across your business pages on Instagram, Facebook, SMS, and Web Chat, from a single user-friendly inbox.
2. Be Personal and Skip the “Thanks for the Follow” Messages
Everyone has received those automated messages, “Thanks for the follow,” in their DMs at some point or another.
It’s a little bit annoying after so many repetitive messages from different users, and you should forego that tired tactic and opt for something more personable such as conversational remarketing.
With Customers.ai, you are responding to a message, not an action or anything less than sincere.
No gimmicks and Instagram certified.
Get Creative With Your Instagram Auto-Reply dialogue and customize it to tailor your specific customer base and needs.
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3. Do Not Send Group DMs
Have you ever gotten one of those group text messages, and your phone just keeps going off all day each time someone replies to the thread?
Don’t be the impetus of that on your Instagram Business Page. There are a few scenarios where a business or brand may justifiably use group DMs, such as an event.
How to DM on Instagram for More Leads and Conversions
As promised, this portion of the article is for the digital marketers out there that are chomping at the bit for DM growth hacks.
We’ve got some fantastic tips and tricks, straight from the OG growth hacker himself, Larry Kim, Former CEO of WordStream and Founder of Customers.ai.
These Instagram DM growth hacks can help anyone transform their DM inbox into an automated funnel of hot leads.
Let’s get started!
How to DM on Instagram Growth Hacks #1 – How to DM a Welcome Message
When someone sends a DM to your inbox for the first time, you can now roll out the cushy red carpet by sending them an autoreply DM with Customers.ai.
First impressions are everything, and why wouldn’t you want to deliver all the warm fuzzy feels via DM?
Here is an example of what your automatic greeting message conversational flow could look like:
Now that’s an engaging and personalized experience! Grab their attention and their email in one suave DM swoop.
How to DM on Instagram Growth Hacks #2 – Auto-Reply to Comments with a DM
This is one of the most effortless and most fruitful pieces of advice. Encourage users to comment on a trigger keyword and auto-reply to comments via DM.
Not only are you opting these leads into your funnel and capturing their contact information to build retargeting audiences, but you’re getting algorithm brownie points for the extra engagement!
Having a hard time picturing how this works? Experience a real-life example by visiting the Customers.ai Instagram page and commenting on the trigger keyword mentioned in a post’s caption, or simply DM “Hello” to start a conversational chatbot sequence (that you can template and make your own!).
How to DM on Instagram Growth Hacks #3 – Automatically Reply to Mentions in Stories
Keeping track of your mentions is impossible when you have any sizeable following. At least, hopefully, assuming they are engaging with your brand.
Instagram, and almost all social media, rewards engagement hence why things go viral and accounts snowball to stardom.
The best way to get started with encouraging more engagement is to engage with your followers yourself. Well, not yourself, really, but a super friendly and intelligent automated Messenger chatbot for Instagram that represents yourself or your brand.
Mentions are a big deal on Instagram. That’s the equivalent of someone giving you a good review or shout-out. It’s like a couple leaving a restaurant and recommending it to the people debating the menu outside. Mentions will bring people through the doors, so don’t leave them hanging!
Bonus Growth Hack: Instagram DMs + Clubhouse = Lead Gen on Steroids
This isn’t technically a “How to DM on Instagram” growth hack, but it’s shockingly effective and if you are researching Instagram DM growth hacks, you deserve to know about it!
When Larry Kim saw the explosive growth of Clubhouse, he naturally does what any Unicorn phenom would do, exploits the growth opportunities for businesses to scale ridiculously fast.
One of the best Instagram growth hacking magic tricks we learned has to do with incorporating the Clubhouse app and Instagram DMs for a powerful lead gen technique that will have your DM inbox bursting with targeted leads!
Here’s what you do.
- Get the Clubhouse app. ?️?
- Build a following. You will have to get strategic with this. Try these quick fixes:
- Make your Clubhouse Bio shine.
- Make it an engaging piece of content in itself.
- Add multiple CTAs in your Clubhouse Bio.
- Choose big Clubhouse rooms to participate in with influencers.
- Collaborate with industry peers and impart your voice and wisdom whenever you can.
- Gain more influence by hosting a Clubhouse room.
- Set up the Instagram growth hack DM funnel with an Customers.ai Auto-reply DM chatbot. Ask for an email and drop a link to your landing page or lead magnet in your conversational question and answer chatbot.
- Connect your Clubhouse to your Instagram profile with the CTA to DM a keyword trigger that you predefined when setting up your Customers.ai DM funnel.
- Manage this fast-paced new pipeline of hot leads with the Customers.ai OmniChat® inbox that streamlines all of your business’ DM inboxes into one dashboard.
Check out this video for his personal recap of his best Instagram Growth hack findings.
Instagram DMs are the Low Hanging Fruit on Growth Trees
Personalized and one-on-one interaction has become increasingly essential for businesses to win their customer’s favor. So it’s more critical than ever to respond promptly to all customer inquiries.
Hopefully, after reading this article, you understand how to DM on Instagram and leverage the Instagram DM as a customer support and lead gen tool that can boost your engagement and conversions.
It’s never been easier to scale a business with digital marketing tools. Instagram DMs are ripe for the picking. Enjoy!
