Complete Guide To Using Instagram DMs For Business Growth

In the ever-evolving landscape of eCommerce, Instagram has emerged as a powerful platform for businesses to connect with their audiences. With over two billion active users, it offers a unique opportunity for brands to engage directly with potential customers.

As conversational commerce trends grow, leveraging Instagram Direct Messages (DMs) as one of the primary marketing agency strategies has become essential for driving sales and enhancing customer relationships. This article explores how Instagram DMs for business can help brands scale using automation tools and innovative strategies.

Using Instagram for Business

Instagram has become a crucial platform for businesses to engage with their audience and drive growth. With over 2 billion users expected worldwide by 2024, the potential for direct communication is immense. Other important Instagram statistics to note are:

• Instagram is the third most used social media platform in Singapore
• These users spend 10 hours and 26 minutes per month engaging with the app
• 70% of shoppers turn to Instagram for their next purchase
• 90% of Instagram users follow a brand on Instagram

However, managing a high volume of messages can be time-consuming and challenging. This is where Instagram DM automation comes into play.

What is an Instagram DM?

Instagram says there are 150 million people who converse with a business on the platform every month. While the majority of these conversations happen publicly through the comment sections, some turn to sending a direct message to the business for privacy reasons.

Through a direct message (DM) and well-structured SEO services, Instagram allows brands to have one-on-one communication between the business and a potential customer. Aside from sending text messages, brands can also communicate with their potential customer via a DM through:

• An image or video that contains entertainment or useful information
• A GIF that shows your brand’s personality
• A voice message that can be used to walk customers through troubleshooting issues
• Instagram feed post embed from your business, influencer, brand ambassador, and more
• A location pin to help customers make their way to your store/event

Why Should You Use Instagram DMs for Business Growth

Even though potential customers can leave a public comment on your posts, some prefer to do it via an Instagram DM. With every DM your business receives, you can use it as an opportunity to scale your business.

Here’s how you can achieve this:

Build a Connection With Your Customers

One of the most effective ways you can connect with your customers is by reacting and responding to what your customers are saying. There are so many reasons why people communicate with a brand on social media. While mostly it’s because of a positive encounter they had with the brand, some send out a message because of a concern they had.

Regardless of their reasons for reaching out, it is your role to respond timely and correct. Always show that your brand is willing to listen, respond, and take action.

Provide Customer Support

Depending on your interaction with the customer, responding to a DM on Instagram may lead to a potential sale. This is why you should open the option for using the platform for shopping. Responding to where the customer’s purchase journey started can help boost a sale.

According to a study, 67% of consumers consider responsive customer service as the most important part of a positive experience on social media. You need to make sure you include providing exceptional customer service through Instagram DMs in your customer service strategy.

Use a Strategy for Instagram Stories

After viewing an Instagram Story, 62% of users say they have increased interest in a brand. Additionally, 50% of users purchase via a website after viewing the product on an Instagram story. With these numbers, it’s no surprise why four million businesses run ads on Instagram Stories each month.

Whenever a customer reacts or replies to your Instagram Story, it’s already an opportunity for you to make a potential sale.  You can use this as a strategy to convince your potential customers why they need to purchase your product.

How to Start Using Instagram DMs for Your Business 

If you’re convinced to start using Instagram DMs to scale your business, you need to know how to make the most out of the platform. As a business owner, however, you may have other responsibilities on your plate. While you can hire an external team to work with you on growing your business through Instagram DMs, you can also use the available tools on Instagram’s messaging platform. These tools include:

Saved/Quick Replies

Instagram’s Quick Replies feature, now known as Saved Replies, enables businesses to create pre-written messages for frequently asked questions and common responses. This tool helps save time by allowing users to respond swiftly and efficiently to common inquiries, ensuring consistent communication with customers.

Some examples of Quick Replies you can set up on your Instagram DM include:

• Business Hours
• Address
• Appointment
• Careers page
• Products
• Pricing
• Cancellation Policy
• Return Policy
• Platform Maintenance
• Low Stock

Automated Responses

Instagram provides businesses with the capability to send automated DMs for various purposes. For instance, you can establish an automated welcome message for new followers. Additionally, Instagram chatbots can be employed to facilitate quick customer service interactions directly on the platform. These chatbots are capable of answering questions, providing support, and even processing transactions.

Some examples of automated responses you can use on your DMs are:

• Welcome Message Templates: Send a thank you message to your new followers for joining your community. Don’t forget to ask them if they need help with anything. Another tip is to give them a discount code to encourage trial purchases.
• Customer Service Templates: When a user reaches out to your Instagram via DM, you can automate a customer service response to promptly get back to their concern.
• Discount Templates: Did a customer complete a recent action on your Instagram page? Why not send them an automated message with a discount to try out your product or service?
• UGC Templates: User-generated content is a great way you can engage with other people on social media. When a user tags you in a new post, you can automate a template to send to them via direct message as thanks for the tag. This is a great way you can increase your engagement with your followers.
• Abandoned Cart Reminders: You can also send a personalised message to those who have abandoned a shopping cart on your website. Remind them of what they were doing in the hopes of getting them to complete their purchase.

Messenger API

The Instagram Messenger API is a valuable tool that allows large businesses to connect their messaging platforms with Instagram’s messaging feature. This API facilitates the integration of Instagram messaging into existing customer service tools, simplifying the management of customer conversations across multiple platforms. Furthermore, it offers detailed analytics that can help optimise messaging strategies and enhance customer engagement.

The features of Instagram’s Messenger API include:

• Messaging: Send text, media, and more
• Webhooks: Notifies when interactions or events take place
• Conversation: Access to conversation history
• User Profile: The API allows businesses to use an IG Scooped ID to gather user profile information to personalise the customer’s experience
• Story Mention: Story mentions get turned into deeper engagements
• Private Replies: Directly reply to comments on posts
• Quick Replies: Offer a set of reply buttons
• Ice Breakers: List down a maximum of four commonly asked questions

Why Manual DM Management Fails at Scale

As eCommerce brands grow, managing customer inquiries and interactions manually becomes a bottleneck. Manually responding to hundreds (or even thousands) of DMs results in delayed responses, overwhelming workloads, and inconsistent customer experiences.

Benefits of DM Automation

• Enhanced Efficiency: By automating responses to frequently asked questions, businesses can save valuable time and redirect their focus to other critical areas of their marketing strategy.
• Uniform Tone of Voice: Automated messages guarantee that every customer interaction reflects the brand’s intended tone, ensuring consistency regardless of which team member is responding.
• Superior Customer Service: Providing instant responses to customer inquiries, even outside of regular business hours, significantly improves the overall customer experience.

Best Practices for Instagram DM Automation

Personalization is key when it comes to effective Instagram DM automation. While simply inserting a customer’s first name into a message is a good start, there are many more creative ways to leverage personalization:

• Segment Your Audience: Divide your audience into segments based on demographics, interests, purchasing behaviour, or engagement levels. This allows you to tailor your messages to each segment’s unique preferences and characteristics.
• Use Dynamic Content: Utilise merge tags to insert personalised information like the recipient’s name, location, or past interactions into your messages. This creates a sense of individualised communication, even if the message isn’t completely unique.
• Consider Context: Context is crucial for effective personalization. For example, you wouldn’t want to send a welcome message to someone who has already engaged with your brand multiple times. Set up systems to review recent interactions, actions, and other relevant details to gain a complete understanding of each customer before messaging them.
• Deliver Customised Offers: Provide personalised offers, discounts, or recommendations based on the recipient’s past purchases, browsing history, or stated preferences. Customised offers drive conversions and foster brand loyalty.

By implementing these personalization best practices, you can create highly engaging and effective Instagram DM automation campaigns that resonate with your audience and drive results for your business.

Examples of Brands With Successful Instagram DM Automation

Instagram’s DM automation feature opened up doors for brands to improve their customer service and boost their sales. Here are a few examples of successful brands that did it right:

1. Kiehl’s Malaysia

Kiehl’s, the luxury skincare brand owned by L’Oréal, faced a challenge in their Malaysian market – they were receiving a high volume of customer inquiries on Instagram that their team struggled to keep up with. To address this, Kiehl’s Malaysia implemented a solution using Instagram’s Messenger API:

• They set up automated responses to handle frequently asked questions quickly
• They established a handoff protocol to seamlessly pass more complex queries to live agents
• This allowed them to respond to inquiries faster and provide more personalised service

The results were impressive – within just two months of using the Messenger API:

• Kiehl’s Malaysia saw a 30% increase in qualified leads on Instagram compared to other channels
• They achieved a 20% conversion rate from consultations to sales
• The time it took new customers to book a beauty consultation was reduced to just two days

By leveraging the Messenger API to streamline its customer service workflows, Kiehl’s Malaysia was able to build stronger relationships with its Instagram audience and drive significantly more sales. The API’s automation capabilities allowed them to handle high message volumes efficiently, while still providing a personalised touch that resonated with customers.

2. Avon Poland

Avon Poland showcased how the Instagram Messenger API can be leveraged beyond just managing customer inquiries. The beauty brand utilised its integrated messenger platform to better understand potential Instagram shoppers and drive interest in its products.

As part of a special marketing campaign, Avon Poland’s Messenger API employed an automated bot to guide users through a questionnaire. After completing the survey, respondents were automatically redirected to a landing page featuring personalised skincare recommendations.

From there, interested users could purchase the suggested products with just a few clicks. The results highlight the success of combining messenger, bots, and personalization on Instagram.

Results:

• 88% of new visitors to Avon.pl came via Messenger
• 9% of customers returned to the website multiple times
• Avon Poland saw nearly a 3x increase in product views

By leveraging the Instagram Messenger API, Avon Poland demonstrated how businesses can go beyond basic customer service to generate genuine interest and drive sales through personalised, interactive experiences.

3. Luuna Mexico

Luuna, a mattress company based in Mexico, leveraged Instagram’s Messenger API to enhance its customer service and more rapidly identify customer needs. Their strategy centred around “conversational commerce” – the goal was to generate qualified leads starting from the very first customer interaction on Instagram.

Luuna employed automated messenger solutions to achieve this. When a customer messaged them, they automatically received follow-up questions. This allowed Luuna to quickly pinpoint the customer’s needs and address them promptly.

The inquiries were either answered directly by the messenger bot or forwarded to a human agent for more complex cases. This approach yielded several key benefits:

• 2x reduction in response time
• 10% increase in conversion rate
• 50% decrease in negative public reviews

By reducing wait times for customers and the workload for agents, Luuna was able to resolve issues much faster. Luuna’s use of AI-powered automation on Instagram Messenger demonstrates how businesses can quickly surface customer needs and deliver better experiences. The combination of AI and human agents allows for efficient, personalised support that meets the expectations of today’s consumers.

How to Start Using Instagram DMs for Business Growth

Instagram DM automation presents a unique opportunity for eCommerce businesses to enhance customer engagement and drive growth through working with professional SEO services providers. By implementing innovative strategies such as automating replies to comments, leveraging user-generated content, and tailoring messages for cultural sensitivity, brands can create meaningful connections with their audience.

As the landscape of conversational commerce continues to evolve, adopting DM automation will be crucial for businesses looking to stay ahead of the competition. Embrace the future of customer interaction. The best place to start is with Instagram DMs for business growth. Call us today for more information on how we can support you.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to use Instagram DMs for business?

Utilize Instagram’s Messenger API to efficiently manage high volumes of customer messages, automate FAQs, and route complex queries to live agents. Integrate with CRM and other tools for a holistic view of customer interactions to drive sales and improve satisfaction.

How to write a professional DM on Instagram?

Keep messages concise, personalized, and on-brand. Clearly communicate the purpose of your message. Use proper grammar and avoid excessive emojis or slang. Proofread before sending. If representing a business, include your name and role.

What is business messaging on Instagram?

Business messaging on Instagram allows brands to connect with customers through private messages. It enables efficient management of inquiries, providing instant responses to FAQs and routing complex queries to the right support team. Integrating with existing tools helps drive sales and satisfaction.

What is a good first message on Instagram?

A good first message introduces yourself or your business, expresses interest in the recipient, and has a clear purpose. For example: “Hi [name], I’m [your name] from [company]. I noticed you’re interested in [relevant topic] and wanted to reach out to learn more about your [specific interest] and how we might be able to help. Let me know if you’re open to chatting!”