Automatic DMs to New Followers on Instagram and Twitter is Killing Your Business

I am just going to go out and say it: I hate automated messages, but it’s a reality. And it’s killing your business if you send automatic DMs to new followers on Instagram and Twitter. Well…. any social media sites for that matter.

I want to make this very clear: the only thing you should be automating is your emails.

Too many marketers are using automatic DMs as a way to pretend they are active on all 37 Instagram and Twitter accounts. I’ve even seen hundreds of blog posts and training people have to pay for just to learn this strategy because it gets better results.

However, just complaining about it isn’t going to do me or you any good here. My goal in this blog post is to tell you why automatic DMs are killing your business and what you can do instead to save it.

IF you have never considered or heard of automatic DMs before this blog post -or not sure exactly how it works — I feel a short history is necessary. Don’t worry; I will be quick on this and keep it as simple as possible just to get the point across.

What are Automatic DMs?

It’s when you set up your Instagram or Twitter to automatically send a direct message (aka private message) to each new follower you have. I have never set up my Instagram or Twitter account to do this because I never saw it as a benefit for my business.

However, I have gotten so many automatic DMs from the people I followed that I can give you a few examples. Below are some screenshots so you can get an idea of what an auto DM may look like.

08/07/15 Hey Jason here! Thx for the follow! Keep this video between us ok?>> (entered link here)
08/07/15 Wow. Just Wow.
07/09/16 Thanks for the follow! Looking for a change? Watch this & let’s connect! (entered link here)

05/04/16 Make Up to $3,200 Per Day Using The Google & Facebook Money Secret (entered link here)
05/04/16 Thanks for the recent follow Kati Stage, have a great Wednesday (Want this FREE feature too? (entered link here)
05/04/16 Do You Need High Quality Traffic, Tools & Training For Your Online Business? (entered link here)
07/08/16 Thanks for the recent follow Kati Stage, have a great Friday (Want this? It’s FREE! (entered link here) )

05/12/16 Hey Kati thanks for the follow! Last year I found this awesome income opportunity which led me to leave my job as an construction worker. Now I want to help people learn how to make an income online. (entered link here)
05/12/16 Sweeeet. You own Project Titan? (yea… I checked his site out first to test his engagement)
07/01/16 YThanks for the follow! Want to get paid every 20 minutes, 72 times a day, 24/7? Go here: (entered broken link here)

I would rest my case here. But wait. There’s more!

05/13/06 Thanks for the follow. If you are a real person please send me a reply & let me know something cool about you, and tell me… are you a winner?
05/13/05 Just check your other account LOL

Then I get the same thing like this on Instagram. This one guy sends me two of the same exact automatic DMs. Only difference between this particular person than the robots above is he actually got back to me! Our conversation was great! This happened back in May 2016 and I never saw the need to follow up with him because we were in the same marketing company. Now today (literally today!) I received the same exact copy and paste story he sent me the first time back in May -_-

The examples above are obviously just a fraction of example from all types of automatic DMs I have received just from following someone on Twitter or Instagram. And they all suck. Instagram and Twitter are NOT email! This kind of strategy is killing your business!

What Should You Do Instead?

Engage with your followers. Talk with them. Interact with them. Get to know them.

The best way to market your products, service, or opportunity is to market you, NEVER send a link unless you are asked to do so, and ALWAYS end your sentence with a question to keep the conversation going. And don’t forget about the follow ups. If you don’t have a genuine interest in people, that would be another way you will kill your business. That particular topic will have to be another blog post.

In closing, IF you should find the absolute need to automate your DMs, this would be the only way I could possibly accept it. Humanize it! When someone replies to your automatic DM, reply back yourself in a timely manner to engage and build rapport with your new follower. They will love you for it because building real relationships sells shit.