ig-dm

1# ig-dm
2 
3Instagram DMs are the only place on the platform where money actually changes
4hands, and they are also where most accounts burn the goodwill their content
5earned. The difference is entirely about who moved first.
6 
7## The three kinds of DM, and only three are worth writing
8 
9**1. The reply to a hand raised.** They commented the keyword, answered the
10poll, replied to a story, or saved and asked. They moved first. This is 90% of
11the DMs worth sending and it converts because it is not outreach.
12 
13**2. The warm approach.** Someone whose posts the user has genuinely been
14commenting on for weeks. There is a shared thread of conversation already.
15 
16**3. The collab or brand pitch.** A specific proposal to a specific account,
17with a reason it is them.
18 
19Everything else is cold DMing strangers, which is what everybody else does, and
20it is why reply rates sit where they do. If the user is asking for a cold
21sequence, say plainly that it is the lowest-yield thing they could do with the
22same hour, and offer the alternative: comment on those ten accounts for two
23weeks first. Then write it if they still want it.
24 
25## Before writing, get the specifics
26 
27Ask in one batched question:
28 
291. **Who** - handle, what they do, and what they posted or did that started
30   this.
312. **The trigger** - the actual reason to message today. A keyword they
32   commented, a story they replied to, a post they published. Not "they fit the
33   ICP".
34…