Big changes to your Instagram Direct Messages look to be rolling out in the second half of 2024
This is an especially important read for anyone who sells through their Stories or uses Manychat
This could be the biggest change since Instagram switched from a single chronological feed to an algorithm dictated one…
AN IMPORTANT CAVEAT before we get started- the changes I am discussing here are as yet, as far as I can tell, not being publicly discussed by Instagram. My take is that they are testing the waters with small beta testing groups. I cannot say to what extent you personally will be impacted by the changes.
Planning for the worst is not a silly thing to do though, given Instagram’s history of optimising features to increase their revenue, at the expense of content creators’ (us) businesses.
First up, shout out to
( @lagrossetoile on Instagram ) for alerting me to this incoming change.When Instagram bring in new changes they literally ‘roll them out’ so it takes time for us all to become aware of them, and for them to be implemented. I had not yet been become aware of this change, and, interestingly it seems there’s not much chatter in the usual spaces about it either.
So, big thanks to Johanna for helping keep us abreast of what’s going on.
And what IS going on you might ask?
The way our DM’s work is set for a fairly radical shift.
We are going to lose the option of sending direct messages to Instagram accounts who don’t follow us.
This is a screenshot Johanna took of the notification she received from Meta on the weekend:
It is a safe assumption that Johanna is not the only person who this change is going to affect. The likelihood is we all will see this change implemented soon.
Depending on what sort of account you have and how you use it this could have a major impact for the way you run your business on Instagram.
Let’s look at a few examples of the potential issues you may find yourself dealing with :
If you use Instagram Stories to sell your wares, only people who you already follow or who you already have conversations going on with will be able to DM you their desire to buy an item. Goodbye easy sales conversations in Stories.
If you regularly use the call to action in your captions for your Main Feed or Reels ‘DM me for x, y, z’ in order to open up dialogue with potential customers, only those who you have already followed or who you already have conversations going on with will be able to DM you ( and for those using Manychat this is possibly the death of that little miracle from the last 6 or so months).
If you use commenting on other people’s Stories as a way to open up dialogue with accounts you would like to have strategic relationships with (who don’t already follow you) this avenue will be blocked.
Even if you only use DMs fairly passively (eg I often get people dropping into my DMs who I don’t follow who want to ask me a question about shop updates or coaching packages I have on offer) this avenue of connection will be lost.
I need to note here that Johanna’s Instagram account is a personal account which means it is possible that this particular change will be most keenly felt by those with personal accounts and (maybe? just maybe) if you have a Creator or Business account you will be spared the challenges associated with the change. If I were a betting woman though my money would be on IG monetising the ability to let people DM you who you don’t follow and then only having that option available to Creators or Businesses, as part of a monthly subscription.
So what is there to be done?
Each situation is going to require a different response, but the faster we start thinking about strategic ways to deal with this issue the better. Instagram doesn’t tell us when changes will occur. We just wake up one day and they’re there.
*If you usually use your Stories to sell your wares you may now want to be brainstorming alternative ways for selling. A work around could be that you sell through your Main Feed posts instead of Stories (eg your post goes live with the call to action - first person to type SOLD gets the piece and I will DM you for payment and postage details). Alternately you may wish to share your wares in Stories with links to a website where the purchase can actually take place.
*If you have been using ManyChat to grow your mailing list, and it has been working for you, I would be doubling down on it to grow your mailing list as fast as possible before the honeymoon is over.
*You may decide that you will actually follow people if they express the desire to engage with you in your comments on posts in order to take conversations into DMs.
*You may revert to posting more onto your Main Feed instead of your Stories to create a space for engaging in conversation with followers if conversation in Stories is effectively stifled.
*You will want to make sure your Bio clearly spells out how people can engage with you eg by having your email address included in it.
*If there are accounts you have been thinking about trying to engage with through DMs for strategic reasons, do it soon. It’s quite likely to be about to get a whole lot harder to do so.
*if you haven’t already, start your mailing list. Every business needs a flourishing mailing list in order to thrive. If you already have one, double down on growing it. No matter what way you prefer to sell, a good and growing mailing list is a great business insurance and peace of mind.
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Let me know how you think this change could affect you and your business in the comments. I envisage some folk will be really challenged by the changes but I’m sure we can navigate them and come out the other side with stronger businesses than ever before.
X Ilona
Hmmm, those a re some big changes aren't they? It's feeling more and more of an unstable platform to me, and so bloody noisy. But, it's still free, so I guess we roll with it ... for now.
On a side note, I've taken about a year to make the decision to work on a Substack account and hopefully access the paid tiers element and podcast. Are you feeling happy with your Substack existence? And do you still have a separate email provider like mailchimp, convertkit etc? I keep thinking that maybe I could try and convert my list over and get rid of mailchimp but I've listened to a few podcasts who say that it may be a little problematic if there are more than one email lists.
Argh. So much procrastination going on around here. Haha
Hope you're well, Ilona and enjoying the new focus of your business. xxx