Hello! I’m mostly a viewer on here and always get a ton of value from posts!
I’ve officially started IG marketing back in Feb 2019, and run my own marketing firm. Over time, I’ve learned to maximize the effectiveness of leveraging IG DMs as a prospecting platform.
I still think it’s THE MOST unsaturated platform in terms of client acquisition compared to others outreach methods (cold calling, cold emails, FB ads, LinkedIn DMs).
Why is this so special? The majority of MPSocial users are more competent than your average IG user, and you can clearly see that 90%+ of business IG accounts out there are quite lackluster. This means that there’s a massive market (demand), and very few IG marketers (supply). 
While everyone in the social media marketing agency space is all competing to directly offer FB ads, I instead take the approach of:
Outreach using IG DMs > Offer IG Growth / IG Story Ads > Upsell them FB ads
Before we get into things, here’s proof I’ve personally achieved to show that this works.
Keep in mind this is my VERY FIRST 5 months in, with 0 experience going into it. So don’t let the fear of inaction or failure stop you from succeeding!
The reason why I upsell them FB ads AFTER, is because I use the path of least resistance and gain the client’s trust through much easier means of acquisition. A similar strategy I I’ve discovered that some 7 figure agencies implement is:
Free Consultation > Pain Consultation > Ads/Social Media Management
For example: Dentists get a massive amount of cold calls everyday, and also get their LinkedIn and email inboxes bombarded with FB ads offers all the time.
BUT when you message them on their personal IG, this is different and you pretty much have the prospect all to yourself. Combine this with a compelling/unique offer such as a free consultation or IG growth, it’s a highly effective method.
Alright, let’s get into it!
REQUIREMENTS:
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An IG account with more than 1000 followers OR has a brand around it (even better if you have a large niche page you can easily leverage!). In my first 6 months, I used my personal account to reach out to prospects. Even though I still had under 1,000 followers, my photos and account optimization gave me a perceived value of credibility; changed my bio, archived unprofessional photos, and focused on marketing/entrepreneurial content.
Even more effective, post content that is specifically catered to your target audience, such as informative, valuable, relatable content. -
You’re limited to a certain amount of DMs you can send per day (this can vary widely though). Take a few minutes to increase your limit by being a more active and authentic user on IG: posting consistently, commenting / liking posts in your feed, removing fake followers, connecting your Facebook account and following your Facebook friends (bots can’t do), 2FA.
It’s ok if you get a temporary action block, just wait, and try again later. -
No matter what, stay consistent. This isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon! It’s like anything in life, rarely anything that is good comes instantaneously.
THE PROCESS:
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Niche. Find a niche that you either have experience/knowledge in OR have an interest in. Why? Because you can easily connect and resonate with your target prospect and truly understand their needs. Trust is ALWAYS the first step in any sales process. If you try to reach everyone, you end up getting NO ONE. No one likes a slut
Example: Search for “New York Realtor” in the IG serch bar. -
Awareness. Start following a bunch of accounts in your target niche, and also engaging on their most recent post with genuine comments. We’re essentially “breaking the ice” here, or in the “awareness” phase of the marketing funnel.
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DM. Wait a few days before sending them a direct message. Keep it conversational. Don’t feel the need to make this a sales pitch! You’re simply finding out their needs, and giving them a solution. No need to overcomplicate it. We’re providing real value, and opportunity. We have most of the leverage, not them. This does NOT have to be word for word, and should definitely be changed to cater to your target niche:
Hey [their name]! [say something related to their niche OR compliment their work/page]. I noticed your account has a lot of potential. I know it can be crazy frustrating wasting your money+time losing potential customers because your content only reaches a handful of users.
I professionally grow IG brands of [niche], and can bring you followers ALL from [their city/location], which convert to paying customers. I’ve studied the IG algorithm and use newly optimized strategies compared to everyone else.
I already notice a few things you can optimize, to instantly increase your content and profile exposure. Do you have 10 minutes to chat here in the DMs?
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Providing Value. Now we give them a ton of free value. We do this because it works off reciprocity. Things like optimizing bio, hashtags, posting certain times of day, adding location to posts, optimizing name for SEO, consistent posting, IG posting, etc. (all the usual IG strategies).
Conversion continues…
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Qualify & Digging Deeper Start escalating the conversion, and hearing out their needs and business problems. This helps them become more open, and you also build rapport. Here’s the EXACT phrases I have saved and use all the time. Copy these into your phone or into IG quick replies, and again, some of the words can be modified:
So you’ve been on IG for a short [X] years, which means you’ve
grown around [calculate their monthly growth] followers / month.
I save my clients an average of 8+ hours spent on IG each month, and also grow to 10,000+
followers in less than 1 year. There’s a lot of potential in your account, compared to your
local competitors. Are you currently in a position to handle more business?
Continue with:
Great! I like to be straightforward in regards to business, so this is how all my discussions
go. I’ll ask some questions to see if you’re a good fit to work with. I’ll show solutions how
we can help you, and from that point it’ll be a simple yes or no from you. sound good?
Wait until they say yes, or give you some sort of confirmation.
We’re setting expectations right from the beginning. Notice how we say if they’re a good
fit to work with YOU. We also ask for a simple yes or no, so we reduce any vague answer
such as “I’ll think about it”.
Notice how I stay persistent AND respectful!
Continue with:
What are you currently doing in terms of marketing?
Continue by calculating how much 1 customer is worth to them. We call this a CUSTOMER LIFETIME VALUE (CLV). We’ve already gained their trust by now, so now we sell them on logic:
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Close. At this point, you’ve built rapport, provided them value, and figured out some of their
needs. Now it’s time to seal the deal! Send these messages in order:[their name] I think you’re a pretty good fit for what I do, so let me explain our 3 part IG
marketing plan:DM FEATURE: We set up an auto messenger that sends a genuine message to each
new follower you gain. It directly increases likes+comments, and conversion rate for new
customers.F/UF: I help a lot of businesses grow using reciprocity, with our new follow/unfollow
strategy. The old method is ineffective since it targets random unrelated users.
Our new method is done safely. I hypertarget your geographical location, and the audience of related IG businesses.THE [NICHE]’S IG BLUEPRINT: We share access to our weekly/biweekly step by step doc. It goes over the algorithm, how to properly run IG ads yourself, and maximizing out-
put (such as creating IG content efficiently). It’s saved our clients an average of 8+ hours spent on IG each month. The document in itself is worth $4000+ because giant companies and brands use these
tactics. I do all this in the background, so you save a ton of time and don’t need to commit
to any additional work.
Send this message as an image so it’s much easier to read!
Note: You can set up DM Feature, and F/UF using IG automation or outsourcing. It needs to be
done properly using safe and correct settings.
The “THE [NICHE]’S IG BLUEPRINT” is basically an in depth Instagram cheat sheet catered
specifically to your target niche (dentist, realtors, artists, etc.). You don’t have to include this in your offer, but it can help close the deal. You can make your own by searching up IG growth strategies and tips, and putting it together in a Google Doc.
Continue with:
In summary, we bring you 300+ targeted followers each month. If we use a CONSERVA-
TIVE conversion rate of 1%, that would give 3 new clients per month.
3 x CLV = Total Value
Depending on your niche, these numbers can vary That’s why I recommend choosing a niche you have knowledge/experience in, or at the very least you should do some research!
Realistically we can get to 400-800+, but we always want to underpromise and
overdeliver. Depending on what industry/niche you’re in, the conversation ratio can vary
quite drastically. Make sure you research your niche so you have an answer, or at least an
approximation.
Continue with:
Is this something you’d like to move forward with?
Once they say yes, reply with:
Great, let’s work towards 10,000 targeted followers.
My service fee for this is only [$] / month.
Charge them 30%-60% of the CLV. This varies from industry to industry, so make sure you
have at least a basic understanding of your target niche.
NEVER! send another message after this one to justify yourself (only if they forget to reply back). The reason being is that if you keep trying to explain yourself, you make it seem you’re not confident in your offer and services. Don’t look desperate. You’re the alpha here aha.
END
This might seem like a lot, but that’s only because I’m literally giving you copy+paste messages AND picture examples. This requires 0 experience, and closing in the DMs saves soooo much time compared to in person sales, cold calling, cold emails, and if you don’t like video meetings.
I have even more in depth explanation and more picture examples that I wasn’t able to properly fit into here, so just comment below if you got any questions.
Hope this helps 
