“The price was thrown into direct” is an example of the simplest and not the best use of Direct on Instagram. This tool has many more options – sending bulk emails, creating group chats, and much more.

In this article we will go through the main functions of Yandex.Direct, but we will focus on using it for promotion.

Read also: How to promote an Instagram account from scratch

What is Direct on Instagram and how does it work

Direct is an internal Instagram messenger that allows you to correspond with users of the application. He did not appear immediately, but only 3 years after IG. Initially, the developers wanted to release it as a separate application, but then they decided to combine it with Instagram.

How to go to Direct

Let’s take a look at how to access Direct from a mobile device. How to use it from a computer, see the section “Useful Direct Tools” below.

We go to your account and click on the airplane icon in the upper right corner. If you have entered Direct for the first time, you will see a screen with the words “Send messages to friends in Direct”, then there will be a list of everyone with whom you communicated in PM.

Parasite – service for working with Instagram: full Direct support, post commenting, delayed posting and analytics.

How to write in Direct

To write a message, click on the square icon with a pencil.

In the “To” search line, enter the recipient’s name and select the desired person from the drop-down list.

The second way is to go to the page of a specific person and click “Write”.

What can be sent to Direct

One text message should contain no more than 500 characters, if this limit is exceeded, the message will not be sent, and a warning will pop up that the text is too long. As for the number of messages, SMM experts advise sending no more than 100 messages per day to your subscribers and no more than 50 to those you are not subscribed to. If you abuse the amount, you can run into a ban.

What can be sent: text, photo, video, heart, links, gifs, voice message. You can also start a video chat.

On Instagram, you can also set up Direct message notifications and restrict messages from being sent to you. To do this, go to “Settings – Notifications – Messages in Direct”.

There you can configure requests for correspondence, for joining a group, for messages and video chats. If you leave ON everywhere, then messages will come without restrictions, if OFF. or “From all” or “From important”, then first you will receive requests for correspondence, and then you will already choose – to allow the correspondence or refuse it.

It is interesting: How to post a Story on Instagram using all the features

How to use Direct Instagram for promotion

Build communication with customers

Communication with customers and subscribers on Instagram (as well as in other social networks) should lead to the planned goals – sales, brand awareness, improvement of the company’s image.

What communication errors lead to the drain of leads, that is, what should NOT be done:

• Ignore incoming messages… Ideally, incoming applications should be processed within the first two hours. If messages are left unanswered and raised for longer, then these are guaranteed lost leads. Be sure to set up Instagram notifications on your phone. If you have multiple accounts at once, use services to track messages and comments.
• Lack of specific answers to the questions posed… You should not reply with ready-made text to all messages in a row, take an individual approach. If a person is forced to extract information from you by asking the same thing several times, then eventually he will get tired of it.
• Coarseness… No comment here. The desire to buy something disappears immediately.
• Waste of time answering the same questions… Prepare your account or page so that the answers to the most common questions are visible. Create a FAQ in the section with current stories and add information about payment, delivery, prices, product characteristics there. Someone will still ask all this in a personal, but there will be fewer such people – in this case, set up quick answers.
• When lead processing is blamed on SMM professionals… This is wrong, since the smr does not know all the intricacies of the product and business and will not be able to correctly answer all questions. This should be the responsibility of the sales manager.

Make mailings

With the help of mailing lists, you can send subscribers the latest store news, notify them of new arrivals of goods, discounts and promotions, changes in the work of the company, and so on. To do this, it is better to use special services, we wrote about them in the article about mass mailings on Instagram.

In order not to lose a promoted account for spam, it is better to create a separate account for mailings and ask everyone who agrees to receive mailings to subscribe to it.

Topic article: 10 best services for direct mailing to Instagram

Create group chats

As an alternative to mailings, you can create group chats in Yandex.Direct. Better to use both tools. Group chat in Direct is not much different from similar chats in any messenger. You create a chat, add people to it, choose who to appoint as an administrator, and exchange messages.

Customize quick responses

A quick reply in Direct is a function that allows you to send ready-made text, rather than re-writing each message. In the settings, you can create a response template and a code word that will trigger this response.

For example, you sell hookahs and they ask you the price. Set any code word, for example, “price”, which will run the ready-made template:

“Hello! Size S hookahs cost 500 rubles, medium hookahs cost 1,000 rubles, and the largest hookahs we sell at 1,500 rubles apiece.

For more information on how to customize such templates, see the article “Quick replies on Direct Instagram”.

You can also connect an autoresponder with a greeting for new subscribers. But this is done through third-party services.

Useful tools for Direct

Programs or services that allow you to log into direct from a PC, track new messages and make mailings.

Direct from PC. To use Instagram from a computer, you need to go to the Microsoft Store, download the official application and log into it with your username and password. But keep in mind that the application only works with Windows 10. It will not work in an OS below a dozen. Soon, Direct will be available in web version.

• Instaplus.me – a service for promoting on Instagram. Key features for Direct: automatic greetings of new subscribers in Direct and quick mailings to your subscriber base.
• Tooligram – allows you to set up automatic greetings and track new messages, as well as start mailings.
• Zengram – another service for automating promotion on Instagram, with the ability to customize an autodirect.
• I2CRM – service for integrating Instagram into CRM, allows you to respond to messages in Direct and comments directly from CRM. There is also WhatsApp integration.

Answers to frequently asked questions

1. How can I delete direct messages?

Click on the box with the airplane, find the correspondence you want to delete. If you have an Android device, tap and hold the conversation until the word “Delete” appears. Confirm the deletion. If you have iOS, then you just need to swipe left on the selected correspondence and you will also be prompted to delete the chat.

2. How do I know if a message has been read?

We go to Direct, open the message. If it has been read, the word “Viewed” will appear below it. If the recipient has not read the message, then there will be no inscriptions under it.

3. How to send a disappearing photo or video to Direct?

Open Direct, create a message, click on the camera icon, select attachment settings – disappearing or non-disappearing.

4. Can I create polls and send them to Direct?

Yes, for this you need to create a message by taking a photo or recording a video, then click on the icon with a square smile and click “Poll”. Further, by analogy with creating a poll in Instagram Stories, we write a question with answer options and click “Send”.

5. How to report a message or attachment (photo / video)?

We go into the message, click on the exclamation mark in the circle, then click “Complain” and indicate the reason, for example, spam.

6. Notifications about messages in Direct are not received.

Most likely you have no in-app notifications configured. You need to go to “Settings” – “Notifications” – “Push notifications” and check if there are checkmarks everywhere.

You can also turn off notifications for Instagram in the phone itself. Then you need to go to the phone settings and find the “Application notifications” section or something similar, on different phone models this section is called differently. Maybe just the “Enable notifications” function in the settings of the application itself.

7. How to read a request in Direct?

A request is a message from a person you don’t follow. They appear in Direct, but not as a message, but as the word “Request”. How to read – go to Direct, if there are requests – open it, at the bottom there will be 2 buttons to choose from “Reject” or “Allow”.

If you allow the request for correspondence, then the message goes to the general list of all chats. You can also subscribe to a person, complain or block.