Double Your ROAS on Click to Instagram DM Ads with Automation

Do you know what’s great about click-to-DM ads?

They get you customers. And they get you sales.

But that’s not all they can do. What if we told you that they could also double your ROAS?

In our last article, we talked about the benefits of click-to-DM ads. We talked about how these ads are a great way to build an audience for your business and how they can drive sales for your brand. But just getting people to send you messages is not enough—you have to engage with them afterward in order for the ad to work its magic on your bottom line. That’s where automation comes in!

With 1.4Bn users and 800Mn monthly users, Instagram is a force to reckon with. Of these users, almost 200Mn end up messaging business pages (or accounts) via Instagram DMs. Brands have too warmed up to the idea of upping their reach-out game by utilising the power of Instagram DMs. 

In this article, we go a level deeper to explore how to engage with users after the DMing exercise and get a good return on ad spend (ROAS) from it. 

What is Instagram DM automation?

Instagram DM automation is the use of third-party software to send automated Instagram messages to followers and non-followers, keep up with a conversation once the user responds to an ad campaign, and give your users options to choose from frequently asked questions.

Instagram DM automation is a way to automate your Instagram interactions with your followers. You can use it to send replies, follow new people, and like posts—all without having to lift a finger. 

It includes everything from welcome messages (once a user reaches out on DMs) to replying by giving them options to narrow down their queries. You can use very specific automated Instagram DM prompts like “Which product are you interested in?” or “Do you have any questions?” so they get exactly what they need without having to wait around for it!

Why Should Brands Use Automated Instagram DMs?

Automated DMing is a great way to ensure your customers always get the answers they need.

With nearly 93% of consumers wanting a direct line of contact with businesses via text, it’s clear that texting is the most popular form of communication for people today. And as a business, you may be inundated with service requests, product inquiries, and general messages throughout the day; it is not a great idea to always have human resources to tackle them. A lot of requests and inquiries can, in fact, be handled better by automation which can be precise and convenient for your customers. 

You can be ultra prompt with your responses when you use automation and it will prevent your customers from reaching out to the competition while awaiting replies. 

The leads generated through automated DMing are almost instant and often lead to a high conversion probability.

Must-Have Instagram DM Automation to 2x Conversions 

Wondering what are the best automation flows for Instagram DMs? Here are 6 of our top recommendations that stick the best with users: 

1. Welcome message automation

If a user clicks on your click-to-Instagram-DM ad campaign and reaches out to you, sending a prompt welcome message can be a great conversation starter. An automated greeting that furthers the conversation and probes into their choices or expectations can lead to a quicker conversion eventually. 

Using a great automated welcome message can help you decrease your response time and create a better customer experience. By striking the right chord at the beginning itself, you can improve customer satisfaction and also generate valuable leads, thereby increasing your chances of conversions.  

2. Product query reply automation

Query reply automation is a powerful Instagram DM automation that can help you engage with your customers more deeply. 

Customers are always looking for more information about advertised products. When someone asks you a question, it’s important to respond quickly and effectively, otherwise, they’ll move on to another business that seems like it can help them more. But if you have to spend hours every day manually responding to queries, it can be difficult to keep up with the demand.

Query reply automation is one of the most important Instagram DM automation because it allows you to address customer questions promptly and provide them with relevant information. It also allows you to move the conversation forward by activating a recommendation or an announcement flow right after the query has been resolved.

3. Automated product recommendations

Often, Instagram users get attracted to a company’s page and think about making a purchase. But then they get cold feet and decide not to go through with it.

Why?

They could be wondering about the product quality, the fit, the delivery method, and so on.

As an eCommerce brand, you can increase your chances of converting this type of user by using automated product recommendations in DMs from them. Don’t just answer their question about price and shipping—go one step further and suggest some products they’re likely to love based on their taste!

Using an automated product recommendation flow for a user who DMs to check about pricing for a product, you can significantly increase your upselling opportunities. Don’t end the conversation by just answering the question about price, shipping, etc. 

Rather go a step ahead by sharing automated product recommendations. For example, you could place a simple automated DM nudge like “you have a great choice, and based on it, here are some of our top recommendations that you will love.”

4. Customer support automation

Customer support automation can help you make your customer experience more efficient, and Instagram is a great place to start.

Not all users reach out to businesses only to ask for product recommendations or pricing. Many reach out to just share feedback or ask for support that is not given to them at a satisfactory level through traditional channels viz customer support helpline, chat feature on the website, etc. Instagram is the place where you can actively build your reputation for helping customers across all channels. 

Take this omnichannel customer support strategy to the next level by activating the flow as a part of Instagram DM automation. You can generate and assign ticket numbers, provide quick resolution wherever possible or simply share the contact details for grievance resolution.

5. Subscription-nudge automation

Subscribing is the best way to keep your customers coming back for more. When you offer them a way to subscribe with one click, they’re more likely to subscribe and keep that relationship alive.

If you’re using any of the above flows or have other flows with customers who are on your messaging page, make sure you have a subscription-nudge automation at the end of each flow. This will ensure that even if someone doesn’t subscribe at that moment, they’ll still have an opportunity to do it later.

6. Automated announcements about offers and deals

Automated announcements about offers and deals can help you reach out to your audience and increase your upselling and cross-selling opportunities. These automated flows are great for reaching out to your customers and reminding them about upcoming launches, exclusive deals & offers, sneak peeks into new products, etc. You can even tweak these flows during the sale, for example!

7. Greeting automation

Greeting automation can be a great way to connect with your audience and get them excited about the products you’re offering. It’s also a great way to engage with users who may have otherwise forgotten about your business.

You can set up this flow to send a greeting to an old user or anyone who has ever initiated a conversation with your business over Instagram messages. These greetings can be as simple as being seasonal (new year, Christmas, birthdays, etc.). 

They can also be highly personalised and sent out as a general gesture of goodwill every fortnight or month. An automated greeting that addresses the user by their name every month is a great way to stay in touch and kickstart a conversation; for example, a simple greeting like this one can get you great lead gen – “hey XYZ, Hope November has been treating you well. We have a new holiday season special collection rolling out soon; type ‘yay’ to get on our early access list!

What’s a Good Return on Ad Spend?

According to a study by Nielsen, the average ROAS across all industries is 2.87:1. That means for every dollar spent on advertising, you can expect to make 2.87 dollars in revenue. 

But that’s just the average! And it’s only a general guideline—you can’t expect your ROAS to be exactly that high if you’re not running your ads correctly or targeting the right audience. Many brands end up burning money despite using the targeting options provided by platforms like Facebook & Instagram. 

Instagram DMs are one of the most effective methods to get your ROAS up there. A lot of brands have deployed huge teams to reach out to and assist customers on Instagram via the messaging route and have not seen great results. 

The reason for this is simple: when you try to do too much yourself, you’re missing out on an opportunity for automation! Automation is what looks like the real promise when it comes to choosing between automation and real human support—it’s cost-effective, it drives sales (which is what matters most), and it helps retain customers by providing empathy at every step along the way through their journey with your brand. 

How Can You Set up Instagram DM Automation for Your Click-to-Instagram DM ads? 

When it comes to making the most of your Instagram ads, automation is key.

But how do you set up automation for your Click to Insta DM ads?

As we’ve mentioned throughout this guide, Instagram does allow basic levels of automation on the platform itself through the Meta business suite. Using it, you can automate business messages across Facebook and Instagram, but there are limitations.  

However, for eCommerce businesses to create seamless and conversational shopping journeys before, during, and after, you need to set up detailed workflows. This is where using a conversational commerce suite like LimeChat comes into play. 

It comes with pre-built workflows that can be easily implemented and customised, allowing you to create an automated system that works for your business needs.

At LimeChat, we strongly believe that chat is a much more personalised and interactive medium for shopping. Level-3 AI (human-level conversational AI) will be the final piece of the puzzle to build store-like experiences on chat, catapulting brands into c-commerce globally. 

And the very first step to doing that, is optimising your click-to-Instagram DM ads engagement. 

Ready to explore powerful click-to-Instagram DM automation for higher engagement and conversions? 

Book a demo of LimeChat today.