A guide to Instagram direct message (DM) for your business

With over 2 billion monthly active users, there is a good chance that your customers are on Instagram.

However, it is one thing to know that they are Instagram users. It is another to actually be able to cut through all of the noise and notifications and reach them effectively. Direct Messages (DMs) can be an effective way to engage with your audience.

In this guide, discover how to create an Instagram DM strategy that can build lasting relationships, gather meaningful feedback, and create a more engaged community.

What is an Instagram Direct Message (DM)?

Instagram Direct Messages (commonly referred to as “DMs”) are a private and group messaging feature on the popular social media platform. It allows users to send private messages to one another in-app.

In this private space, you can send a message to your friend, a customer, or even start a conversation with a group. These messages can include text, photos, emojis, gifs, stickers, videos, or responses to other people's Instagram stories.

This feature is particularly useful for having more direct or personal conversations. For instance, you can use it for customer service matters that you don’t want to air out in a public comment.

What is a business chat on Instagram?

A business chat on Instagram is like a virtual version of a help desk counter in a mall, where customers can come and talk to the owner or employees directly. Just like in a real store, where you might walk up to the counter to ask questions about a product, business chat on Instagram allows customers to send messages to businesses through their Instagram profiles.

When a business sets up their Instagram profile, they can use it to show pictures and information about their products or services, but also to chat with people who are interested. Customers can ask about product details, check availability, or even discuss custom orders, just by sending a message.

This makes it easier for both the customer and the business to communicate conveniently and efficiently. 

— The ultimate guide to customer engagement on chat" Get the ebook

How businesses can leverage Instagram DMs

From communicating with customers to affiliate partnerships and customer service, here are some of the top ways that businesses can leverage DMs.  

Connecting with your clients and customers

Instagram DMs give businesses a direct, private line of communication with their audience. Here are some tactics you can use to strengthen your relationship with your customers and increase customer loyalty.

• Offer personalized customer service. The best customer service is proactive and meets people where they are. If your customers are already on Instagram, offering support there is a win-win. You can use DMs to answer queries, resolve issues, and offer tailored recommendations. For example, a boutique clothing store could send personalized outfit suggestions to a customer who has previously bought clothing from them.

• Share exclusive product updates and offers with your VIP customers. Want to reward your best customers or offer an element of exclusivity. Many businesses do this through DMs. They share exclusive offers, discounts, or updates about new products or services with select customers.

• Ask for feedback. DMs can be a great tool for asking for feedback in a more personal and engaging way. Given the conversational and casual nature of this platform, you can not only get valuable suggestions, but you can reply back once you’ve acted on it — accumulating even more insights.

• Build stronger relationships. By engaging in conversations, businesses can build stronger relationships with their customers. For example, a fitness coach on Instagram might send motivational messages or check-in with clients about their progress. Or, you could send personalized invitations to an event your company is hosting.

Promoting your products

Here are some Instagram DM tactics you can use to showcase your products, engage with your audience, and ultimately drive more sales.

• Leverage Instagram Stories. Use Stories to share behind-the-scenes content, product sneak peeks, or limited-time offers. Then, as your call-to-action (CTA), ask people to DM you for a special invite or coupon code.

• Create Reels. This also applies to more public-facing Instagram reels. For instance, if you sell kitchen gadgets, create a Reel showing a quick recipe using your product. Then, ask people to DM you how they’d use this product in exchange for a coupon code.

• Engage with your Instagram followers. Respond to comments and DMs, ask for feedback, and create interactive content like polls or Q&A sessions in your Stories. This not only builds a community around your brand but also makes your customers feel valued and heard. For instance, a clothing brand could ask their followers to vote on their favorite color for an upcoming product release.

Providing direct customer support

We’ve already mentioned this above, but it is so impactful we wanted to include it in a separate section. Because Instagram is a more casual and conversational platform where your customers are already hanging out, it is an ideal place to provide friendly, fast, and accessible customer service. Here are Instagram customer service tactics to make this process easier. 

• Offer prompt replies. Treat DMs the same as your support phone and video calls, emails, Whatsapp message requests, and live chats. Ensure that your team responds promptly to unread messages. For instance, if a customer messages about a problem with a product, your response should be quick, empathetic, and helpful.

• Use automated AI responses for the most frequently asked questions. Think of this as having a helpful assistant who can provide instant answers to frequently asked questions.  This is where a tool, like Freshworks Customer Service Suite, excels, since you can create an AI chatbot to automatically provide answers for common questions like store hours, return policies, or basic product information.

• Utilize Instagram’s built-in features to your advantage. For questions that can’t be answered by a chatbot but are still somewhat repetitive, use Instagram’s Quick Reply feature to save message templates and scripts. It saves time and ensures consistency in your communications. You can also use 'Flag' to mark important messages that you need to follow up on.

• Make use of the highlights feature. Use the 'Highlights' feature to keep important information easily accessible on your profile. For example, a tech company might use Stories to share troubleshooting tips or updates about new software features.

• Set up a social media management process for moderating comments. Treat comments on your posts like a public customer service forum. Regularly monitor and respond to comments. This not only helps the individual commenter, but also shows other followers that you are attentive and responsive. For instance, if someone asks about the material of a clothing item in a post, reply with the details in the comments.

Collaborating with your partners

Instagram isn’t just for connecting with customers and leads. You can also use it to build relationships with influencers, affiliates, and other potential partners.

The key is to start by finding the right influencers, affiliates, or partners whose audience aligns with your brand values and customer base.

Then, start engaging with their content by liking, commenting, and sharing. This establishes some rapport before you slide into their DMs or email inbox with a collaboration idea.

How to send Instagram DMs 

If you’ve ever sent a private message or direct message on Facebook, Messenger, or Linkedin, then you’ll likely have no issue sending a DM on Instagram.

However, here is a quick step-by-step guide.

1. Go to the home screen on the Instagram app. Once logged in, you'll be on your home feed where you can see posts from people you follow. Look for the home icon at the bottom left corner to ensure you're on the home screen.

2. Access Direct Messages in the top right corner of the screen, you'll see a paper airplane icon. This is the Direct Message icon. Tap on it to access your DMs.

3. Hit start a new message in the top right corner of the DM screen.

4. Next, you’ll select the recipient. Note: you will see a list of suggested recipients, which are people you follow or have previously messaged. You can either select a recipient from this list or search for a specific user by typing their name in the search bar at the top. You can also select multiple recipients if you want to send a group DM.

5. Once you've selected the recipient, a new message screen will open. Here, you can type your message in the text box at the bottom. You can also add photos, videos, or voice messages using the icons next to the text box.

6. After composing your message, press the "Send" button, which is usually a paper airplane icon next to the text box. Your message will be sent to the recipient.

Tips for managing your Instagram DMs

Here are some best practices to help you manage your Instagram DMs as your business grows. 

• Check your inbox often. Treat your Instagram DM inbox just like your email inbox. Also, just like email, Instagram sorts DMs into 'Primary', 'General', and 'Request' inboxes. You can use these categories to prioritize messages. For example, keep potential customer inquiries in 'Primary' and less urgent conversations, like outreach requests, in 'General'.

• Sync your Instagram DMs to your main support inbox. When you have multiple people on your support team and multiple support channels, it is easy for messages to fall through the cracks. That’s why connecting your Instagram account to your support platform, like Freshworks Customer Service Suite, can be helpful.  Plus, it only takes a couple of minutes to set this up.

• Reply in a timely fashion. Try to reply to every DM within the same day you receive it. This is especially important for customer requests as a prompt response can be the difference between repeat purchases or losing the customer. If you're unable to respond immediately, consider using automated responses to acknowledge the receipt of the message and inform them of a likely response time.

• Use Instagram’s Quick Replies feature for common questions. This allows you to create and use saved messages for common responses, saving time and ensuring consistency in your replies.

• Personalize your responses. Even when using quick replies, try to personalize your messages. Addressing the person by name or referencing specific details they've mentioned can make the interaction more personal and engaging.

• Clean out your spam and irrelevant messages regularly. Keep your inbox clean by regularly reviewing and clearing out spam. This will help you stay focused on important conversations.

Best practices crafting DM communications

There are two main types of messages you’ll be sending in Instagram: Marketing “outbound” outreach and “inbound” replies. Here are best practices for writing both types of DMs.  

Outbound outreach  

When you are doing sales and marketing outreach on Instagram, the key is to strike the right balance between being professional and Instagram’s inherently casual nature.

• Be clear and concise. Your message should be straightforward and to the point. State why you are reaching out in as few sentences as possible. Instagram DMs are not the place to send your 5-paragraph essay.

• Personalize your message. Personalization can make a big difference. Go beyond their name and mention something specific about their account or content that caught your eye. This shows that your message isn't just a generic copy-paste. You’ll be more likely to get a reply back.

• Be mindful of timing. You don’t have full control over this. However, you can pick up some clues on good vs. bad times to send something by paying attention to what they share on Instagram. For instance, if you noticed the person is talking about what they are doing on vacation or how they are taking care of their sick kid this week in their Instagram story, you may want to hold off on sending that pitch for a week or two.

• Include a Call to Action. If you're expecting a response or action, make it clear and as easy to say yes to as possible. For instance, it could be as simple as "I'd love to hear your thoughts on this" or "Please let me know if you're interested."

• Follow up. People are busy. DMs get lost especially if you have a lot of followers. Don’t be afraid to follow up one or two times if you haven’t heard back.

• Respect people’s privacy and boundaries. If someone doesn't respond after 3 DM attempts, take that as a hint. Don’t continue to send more DMs or try to belittle by sending one last passive-aggressive DM in an attempt to get a response. Nobody owes you a response, especially if it is a cold DM.

Inbound communications 

• Response or inbound communications are more straightforward to reply to. Here are some best practices.

• Keep it professional. Even though Instagram is a more casual platform, you should still maintain a professional customer service voice, especially when replying to someone you don't know well.

• Be careful when using slang or cracking jokes. Avoid slang and overly casual language if you're not familiar with the person.

• Manage expectations. If you receive a high volume of messages, can't always respond quickly, or an issue is going to take more time to resolve, be upfront about that in your messages.

• Practice setting proper boundaries. It's important to set boundaries for when you'll be available to respond to messages. Communicate your typical response hours in your bio or autoresponder message.

• Use proper grammar and spelling. Good grammar and correct spelling reflect professionalism and attention to detail. Take a moment to proofread your message before sending it.

Example DM templates to use

While we recommend personalizing any outbound DMs you send, here are some templates you can steal and modify as you see fit. 

A DM template to send to a customer 

This message is all about showing appreciation and attempting to create a personal connection with the customer.

Hi [Customer's Name],

I hope you're having a great day! This is [Your Name] from [Your Company/Brand]. I just wanted to reach out personally and thank you for your recent purchase of [Product/Service]. We're thrilled to have you as a customer.

If you have any questions or need assistance, feel free to drop us a message here. Also, we'd love to hear your thoughts or see how you're using/enjoying the [Product/Service] - it always makes our day!

Thanks again for choosing us, [Customer's Name]. We're here for you anytime.

A DM template to send to an influencer 

This pitch template is designed to be direct yet respectful of the influencer's work and audience.

Hi [Influencer's Name],

I'm [Your Name] from [Your Brand/Company]. I've been really impressed with your content on [specific topic or style they're known for] and how you engage with your subscribers.

We're looking for someone with your unique [style/tone/voice] to collaborate on our upcoming [campaign/product launch]. I think your followers would love what we have in store!

Would you be interested in discussing this collaboration further? I'd love to share more details and see how we can work together.

Thanks for considering,

[Your Name]

Measuring the success of your DM strategy

Just like with any marketing initiative, you can’t improve what you don’t measure. It’s imperative that you track both lagging and leading indicators.

Here are some leading metrics to keep an eye for your Instagram DM strategy.

• Volume of DMs sent. Monitor the volume of BOTH incoming and outgoing messages. An increase in incoming messages can indicate higher engagement and interest in your brand.

• DM response rate. Track how many of your sent DMs receive a reply. A high response rate typically indicates that your messages are well-received and engaging.

• Instagram engagement growth. This is a leading indicator. However, if you are seeing any increase in followers, likes, comments, or shares, this can mean that your messages are resonating with the audience. Even if they aren’t replying to your DM directly, it is still a positive sign if they are liking or sharing your content.

• DM reply sentiment analysis. Pay attention to the overall sentiment and feedback you receive directly in DMs. Positive feedback, repeat inquiries, or direct engagement (like booking a consultation) are good indicators of success.

• Average handling time. For social customer service, you should measure how long it takes to resolve an issue or answer a query on Instagram.

Here are the lagging metrics to keep an eye for your Instagram DM strategy. 

• Conversion rate. If your DMs have a specific call to action, such as visiting a website, making a purchase, or signing up for a newsletter, measure how many recipients complete that action.

• Referral traffic. If you're directing users to a website or landing page, use software, like Google Analytics, to track referral traffic from Instagram. This can help you understand how effective your DMs are in driving web traffic.

• Sales metrics. If applicable, track any direct sales that can be attributed to your DM campaigns. This could be through unique promo codes shared via DMs or tracking inquiries that lead to purchases.

Instagram direct messages integrated with Freshworks Customer Service Suite

Freshworks Customer Service Suite's focus is on providing a seamless messaging experience across all of your different messaging channels, including Instagram.

This enables businesses to manage all of their outreach and customer interactions on Instagram more efficiently, directly from the Freshworks Customer Service Suite interface. So, you can reply to Instagram DMs, keep an eye on customer interactions, create canned responses, and even use free AI chatbots to automate quick responses. You can also monitor your Instagram DM campaign performance with Freshworks Customer Service Suite's analytics and insights tools, so you can improve your marketing strategies and customer service.

Are you ready to transform your customer experiences?