Instagram Direct Message is the new way to network and it works tremendously well if you know what you’re doing.
DM or Direct Messages or Instagram Direct is basically just messaging on Instagram. So in a way this is not a new innovation by Instagram and is very similar to email.
But the thing with DMing is that you are able to message anyone on Instagram including influencers, entrepreneurs, athletes, celebrities and pretty much anyone else. The key to getting in touch with them is sending a quick, good message and offering them value.
Never before in history has it been so easy to get in touch with highly influential people. You need to take advantage of this opportunity.
Not everyone will respond to you naturally. You will have to send out a lot of messages out just to get a couple of messages back. Some people won’t message back, some don’t manage their own account, some have too many messages to go through and some people just won’t be interested.
There can be a number of reasons someone doesn’t reply back. If someone doesn’t reply back don’t take it personally. Just move on to the next person, it’s a numbers game.
But that doesn’t mean you should spam people with the same message. You should personalise the message to that specific person.
How to send a DM
To send a DM it’s really easy. From the home screen, tap on the top right icon and it will take you to your messages. From there tap the plus icon and you will be able to compose a new message.
Or if you go to the specific profile you want to send a message to and tap the three dots in the top right corner near the username. You’ll then have the option to message that person.
Offering Value
Now how do you offer value to someone. You have to give them something in the first place. Let’s take a look at a example. Say we have a golf brand.
Our fictitious brand The Golf Store wants to reach out to a celebrity. Before you reach out to any celebrity, do your research.
Does the person you reach out to have any interest in what you have? For example when you scroll through their feed do they have them playing golf (in our case)?
So before reaching out to anyone, make a list of all the people you think would be interested in what you have to offer. Once you have a list go through that list and send them a message one by one.
Your message could be something like this:
Hey (NAME), I saw you play golf and you’re pretty awesome at it! We’ve released our new set of golf clubs and I would love to send you some to get your feedback. Where can I send them to?
Notice I never put anything about asking them to exchange for a post. That’s because you have to offer value without expecting something in return at first with high-level celebrities.
Think about it, celebrities and athletes must have loads of people hitting them up everyday about brands wanting to send products in exchange for a shoutout or asking for something from them.
But then there’s you that wants to send this celebrity or athlete some of your products in exchange for their thoughts on your products. So instead of taking, your offering massive value.
I’m not saying that every celebrity you try to contact will jump on the offer, the majority won’t and you probably won’t get a reply back but 2 or 3 out of 100 you message will.
And when they do deliver on your promise and send them your products. If you can customize or personalise the products then that’s even better.
Once they’ve received your product(s) wait for a couple of weeks and then ask them for their feedback.
When they reply back with what they think, ask them if they would make a post on their account.
They will be more inclined to do so as you have provided value upfront in terms of giving your product for free.
There will be the odd person that doesn’t and just keep the free product and not say anything. But if that happens just move on.
If you have a physical product and wanted to sell it to other stores for a wholesale price, Instagram is a great way connect with potential stores you want your products stocked at.
It works the same as connecting with anyone on Instagram.
For example, with our fictional golf store, we could use the search function on Instagram and search for ‘golfstore’. This will bring up all Instagram accounts with golfstore in their name.
You can then message these stores one by one asking them if they would be interested in stocking your products.
When you have tapped onto a profile choose ‘Send Message’. Once you have done that it will open a message screen.
Then you can send them a message something like the one below.
Use a message like this or use this as a guideline. You can even ask them if they would like a sample and if they agree you can send them a sample of your product.
You can even find similar accounts to target and message by just tapping on the arrow button next to the follow button.
This will bring up a whole bunch of accounts that are similar to the ones you are targeting.
This is a nice nifty trick to find similar accounts related to what you want to look for.
Service
If you are a graphic designer or have any other service based business, you can use Instagram as a great way to connect with influential people.
Let’s say you are a graphic designer. You could contact someone you look upto and say:
‘Hey xyz, my name’s Jim and I’m a graphics designer. I would love to make you content for your Instagram for a month for free, no strings attached. Let me know what you think.’
Do the same even if you are a service business. Message as many people as you can, trying to personalize each message. The aim is not to spam people with the same message but the aim is personalize and connect with each person.
Better yet if you’re an artist what you can do is start drawing celebrities and people with large followings and post them on your Instagram.
Then tag the celebrity that you have done the drawing off. If the drawing is good chances are they will be flattered and repost the picture onto their own account along with your Instagram handle.
This is then free exposure for you and you are sure to get tons of followers like this.
You can do this if you are not only an artist but anything else. Do something for free for a celebrity and tag them in the picture to let them know.
They won’t always repost but there is a chance that you might get a repost.
For example @steart_ does Simpsons style artwork of celebrities and people with large followings.
Sometimes the people he does artwork of repost it onto their own account while also tagging him or giving credit to him.
He did one of singer Justin Bieber and Justin Bieber reposted it onto his account while tagging @steart_. Justin Bieber has over 100 million followers and that one post got over 7 million likes.
So it is more than likely some of those 7 million people went over and checked out @steart_ and checked his page out and dropped a like.
Another person who does this but with video animation is @MojahedFudailat. He mainly does video animation of UFC fighters and boxers.
Mojahed is very skilled at video animation and plenty of well known fighters like Conor Mcgregor have reposted his videos.
He does his own take and makes animated clips featuring them and they are really popular. They sometimes end up getting shared by the UFC fighters and boxers themselves and he has gained a lot of popularity through this.
Conclusion
Using Instagram Direct Message in 2019 is one of the best ways to network in 2019. Many people check their Instagram at least a couple of times a day, so it is a great way to get in touch with them.
Try it out for yourself and see the results you get from it. Make a list of 20-30 people you want to contact for your business and start reaching out to them using the template I have provided above.
Don’t ask for something instead offer value first.
When you know how to network on Instagram properly things start to change. You start to get more followers, more opportunities and most importantly more sales.
