40 Instagram Direct Message Templates for Your Business

First, What is Instagram Direct Messaging (DM)?

Have you ever wondered if you could have secret conversations on Instagram as opposed to isolating communication to your posts’ comments sections? Also referred to as DMs, private messages provide users with an option to share information, news, and ideas that won’t appear in feed, search, or on your profile. Both individual and business accounts can leverage the feature. 

Instagram DMs can be used to send communication via text, image, video, video messaging, and voicemail. 

Can You Send Messages to Users from Your Business Page?

No matter what media you decide to use, it can be an invaluable tool for connecting with customers and influencers. Once you are on an upgraded Instagram business account, several platform features change. Fortunately, messaging is not one of them. As a business user, you will be able to utilize messaging with the same freedom as someone with a personal account.  

Can You Send Messages to Multiple Users at Once? 

As a standalone feature, Instagram Direct Messages do not include the option to mass DM segmented lists of followers. However, you can create group chats and send a single message to up to 32 users, including both followers and non-followers. Keep in mind that with the group chat feature, when one person responds everyone else in the group will see their response. 

You might come across an option for mass DM capabilities that proposes you enlist the aid of a third-party app or browser extension designed for this purpose. And, this might be enticing. However, Instagram has not partnered with any such apps, so it is not recommended. 

Before you attempt a mass Direct Message campaign, be sure you study Instagram’s community guidelines. Your promotions must not be in violation of the rules. Businesses should pay extra attention not to spam by artificially collecting likes, followers, or shares or contacting others for commercial purposes without their consent. In other words, only send promotional sales messaging to people who follow you. 

Next, How to Keep Your Instagram DMs Engaging

In addition to staying in compliance with Instagram’s community guidelines, you need to follow the rules of engagement. These rules can be bent (and even broken) from time to time, but understanding them can help you build a solid, long-term communication strategy. 

So, here are some tips to use with each type of Instagram Direct Message for business (we’ve included examples of each type in the templates!).

1. Send Promotional Messaging 

Promotional messages are communications sent to your followers in an attempt to move them through your lead funnel. These aren’t necessarily “cold” messages since you typically send them to existing Instagram followers. But, they aren’t necessarily prompted by anything the recipient has done. 

Promotional messages can be used to tell followers about a sale, UGC campaign, new blog post, or nearly anything else that will nurture or directly drive a sale for your business. 

The number one rule for promotional messaging is to avoid sending it to someone who hasn’t already expressed interest in (i.e. followed) your brand, products, or services. Otherwise, all you’re doing is spamming people, which is straight-up irritating for everyone. 

2. Request Influencer Collaboration 

One of the most popular ways to get the word out about your product or service is to get an influencer or brand ambassador to share it with their followers. The idea with influencer marketing is that you find people whose followers are most likely to be interested in your offer and entice them to want to share it. If you want your campaign to be a hit, here are some tips: 

1. Make sure you work with the right kind of influencers
2. Establish a clear rewards system (compensation, discounts, free items)
3. Choose the right type of campaign
4. Set clear objectives and communicate your expectations
5. Track your campaign traffic to monitor the success
   

Most social media scheduling platforms have integrated UTM codes that make tracking and monitoring super simple. 

3. Answer Questions

Your customers will have questions that they will ask on Instagram and you need a strategy in place to answer them. The catch is that many questions aren’t best answered by a social media admin. But, that doesn’t mean they should be ignored. Instead, you usually want to redirect queries to an FAQ page on your website.  

Alternatively, you could use a customer service platform that gives your support team access to incoming messages from email, social media, forms, and more. But, if that’s not where you’re at, answer all of your most frequently asked questions on one page on your website. A social media admin without support training can then easily help customers on all platforms by directing them to the page. 

Always keep your answers friendly. It’s extremely helpful to have templates that people can copy and paste so that you stay on brand, even if the answers are pretty general. 

4. Reply to Complaints 

Unfortunately, not all communications on Instagram will be super pleasant. But, the worst thing you can do is ignore a customer complaint. The best thing you can do is reply promptly. 

You should implement social listening to make sure you’re aware every time your brand is mentioned. And, especially when something negative is said, try to make it right. Customers prefer brands that engage with them, so that’s what you need to do.