B (5:36)
So, for example, two of my really close girlfriends send me Instagram DMs several times a week. And it's always about things that, like, they know I would find funny, like things that we could have a mutual laugh over. Sometimes they'll send me something, a link to something that they think that I would enjoy. DMs are a connection and communication point. It's part of how we're bonding together. That's how they use DMs. I often use. I'll DM a business if I have a question about the content that was recently posted, or if I want to build a relationship with the person who is the founder of that business or the person running the account. I cannot tell you how many networking opportunities have come my way through Instagram DMs because it is such a powerful place to have very direct conversations with somebody in a way that you wouldn't find anywhere else. Right. Social media is meant to be social, and having the DMs available is a way to make emotional connection. Sometimes we use DMs to find clarity around something, sometimes we're looking to have support. But the hope is always going to be that you're starting a two way conversation or you're creating some kind of connection point. Okay, so I looked up Instagram's stance on direct messaging, and they said that direct messages impact the app in two really important ways. One is what they call the algorithm Signal, and there's several different algorithm signals. We all know the word algorithm and I think we learned it in relation to social media. A lot of us, I think I probably did. And it relates to how much reach you're gonna get on the platform, how effective any social media platform is gonna be in helping you grow your business. Instagram and Facebook famously have algorithms. TikTok has an algorithm, the nextdoor app, Yelp, Google Business Profile, all of these things have algorithms. Every form of social media does. And our hope is always that the algorithm plays in our favor, because when it does, that's when we get new clients and new business and we're always looking to improve that. Right. So Instagram openly talked about their algorithm signals. And what they said was the Instagram algorithm considers interactions such as likes, comments, shares and DMs to understand user relationships. Then they talked about boosting visibility. When a business engages with somebody through DMs and responds to their messages frequently, the algorithm interprets that as a strong connection, making the businesses content more likely to appear in their feed. And the feeds of those they're connected to, DMs are a way to improve your reach. DMs are a way to get out in front of those who follow you. Does everybody know the statistic that the average Instagram poster, which is most of us as stylists or salon owners, anything you post in the platform is only going to reach 1 to 3% of your followers. So if you have 100 followers and you post a piece of content, up to three of your followers are going to get it on their feed, which is wild. When you look at those who have increased that reach, where they make the post and it gets out to a larger audience, it's because of the algorithm signals and the visibility. And this goes back to the fact that social media was always meant to be social. And generally speaking, when any person or business is not doing well on a social media platform, it's because the algorithm does not believe that they are acting in a way that should be rewarded. So some of the things that a lot of us do on social media platforms are the post and ghost. So we're busy, so we like, you know what? I know I have to use this social media platform. I'm going to put a photo up and then hopefully the caption's good and then I'm going to let it ride and then I'm going to obsessively check back on that post every 15 to 20 minutes for the next five hours to see if people are like, or commenting on it. And it, like, is that little bit of affirmation of if we've done a good job or done a bad job, right? Dopamine hit big time. Some of us share quality content, but we share it super infrequently because we've decided we're too busy for social media. We don't have the time. Who cares? They're also looking for those who scroll more than they engage. And I think that that's actually the largest pool of social media users. If you're more of a content consumer than a content creator, it's not a problem. But Instagram is not interested in helping you grow your business. If Instagram knows you're logging in daily, but you're scrolling and consum content more than you are creating content or interacting with people or responding to DMs, it's going to say, okay, this Instagram user is more passive. So we're not going to promote them. They're just here to consume content. So every time you open the Instagram app or take a break from the Instagram app, you are telling the algorithm what you want it to know about you. I want you to think about how you want to be seen in the eyes of the Instagram algorithm and that should be the filter through which you make all of your Instagram business building decisions. So going back to the Instagram DMs, I read through a good chunk of the autoresponders that I receive. So some of you have reached out to me in the DMs asking for help, which I love, love, and several times a day I'll respond. And when I respond, your autoresponder kicks back to me and then eventually you'll answer the question that I asked you and then I'll respond and then your autoresponder will kick back to me again. So I'm reading all of your autoresponders and what have found is that there's basically three types of standard auto response that stylists and salon owners have put into place on their accounts. If they're using autoresponders, not everybody is, but if they are using it, one is going to be acknowledgement of the message, two is going to be a holding pattern or expectation definer, and three is going to be a full redirect. So let me give you examples of each. An acknowledgement autoresponder would look something like this. Hi, thanks for contacting us. We've received your message and appreciate you reaching out. That is a direct quote from a DM autoresponder I got earlier this week. So for those of you who don't know how autoresponders work, it's a setting available in the Instagram app where when somebody direct messages you, instantly a block of text is sent to that person. And you can customize the text, you can have it be whatever you want it to be. And this specific stylist or salon said, hi, thanks for contacting us, we've received your message and appreciate you reaching out. That one to me was almost like white noise. Like you haven't read it but you've received it. But I kind of knew that you received it because I sent it and I know the Instagram app is not broken, so it was like an auto response that didn't really mean much. Hi, thanks for contacting us. We got your message, appreciate you. It was just almost like unnecessary chatter. And it didn't make me feel positive or negative towards the business. It made me feel neutral. And for most of us, we don't want our potential, potential clients feeling neutral towards us. We want them to feel positive. Okay, so here's an example of a holding pattern or expectation definer. Dm. Hi, thanks for contacting us. We've received your message and we'll get back to you within 24 hours Monday through Thursday. You can always book an appointment by heading to. And then the salon listed their website where we have our pricing, appointment, booking and details about our team. So basically what it's saying is, hey, we'll get back to you here within 24 hours Monday through Friday. So let's say I sent this DM on a Saturday, well, sometime Monday or Tuesday they're going to get back to me. So again, holding pattern or expectation definer, depending on how you want to say it. And then they gave me an option for me to self serve. Okay. And then we have the fold redirect. So that would be something like this. Hi there, thank you for contacting me for an appointment. Please text me, leave your name, email desired service, preferred name. I love that. So it was name and preferred name and time. I look forward to meeting you. And then there was the links to their website and to their Instagram account. The link to the Instagram account gave me a tiny pause and smirk because I wanted to be like, oh babe, I'm on your Instagram account. Like I don't need the link to it, I'm here. So it almost felt like an aww, precious moment, like a baby business kind of thing. Like something you would do when you weren't really paying attention. It gave me pause of like, oh, you're reminding me of the place. I already am. It was just again, a little bit of white noise that didn't feel elevated to me. And then basically it was saying, I'm not here. So what I want you to do is send me a text instead. Leave me your name, your email, your desired service, and your time. I have a lot of feelings about stylists who run their appointments in their business by text. That would be a totally different podcast episode. I actually think we have one. My pretty big oppositions are one if you think it's easy to get lost in the DMs, it is so much easier to get lost in the text. And even if as a stylist, you're like, well, it's easier for me. I can't tell you how many people in my personal life say my texts are a graveyard. Like, my text inbox is doomsday. Because as a people, text is the primary form of communication for so many of us at this point that I don't know about you all. I have a family, I have friends, my son plays competitive baseball. I'm running a business. I get like 70 text messages a day. If you want to lose me, send me a text. Like, if you want the least effective way to reach me, go ahead and send me a text message. And the reason why, as I'm saying that, I realize I have to text the dog groomer back who texted me yesterday and is still waiting for me. So as I say that, I want you to remember, like, yeah, maybe for you as a stylist, that's great, but now you're worried about getting lost in somebody else's texts. And then you're saying to yourself, like, well, if it's important, they'll find me. Well, you better hope you're that important to them that they're willing to wait on bated breath for you to text them back. It's just not a super efficient system. The other thing is too, for you as a stylist or salon owner, it's going to keep you in a cycle of chasing your tail trying to keep up with all these text messages. And if you've not yet gotten a 1am or a 4am text from a client on a Sunday, let me tell you, it's coming. And so now you've just created this kind of chaos in your life that doesn't have to be there. Now here's another example of a full redirect. Hey, lovely. You can request a Quote or a schedule or discovery call via the link link below. And our experience coordinator will be in touch with you very soon. Please note, we cannot verify availability or send pricing via dm. Need to book an appointment or want a ticket to our classes, visit our website. So again, it's a redirect, just like the first one was, because it's saying, hi, I know you want to chat in the DMs. We don't like to chat in the DMs. We would like you to request a quote or schedule a call or check out the prices here. Yes, you would like me to adapt to your communication style. I totally understand the irony of this salon and I know they'll know exactly who they are. As soon as I read this quote is, I went to their website and I was like, okay, well, maybe they have a great website. And by the way, they do. They have an incredible website. It was super clear. But there was a quote on the website that says, communication is our love language. And as somebody who just got kicked out of your DMs and redirected somewhere else, it did give me a minute of pause of like, communication is your love language, but only when it comes in the way that you like it. And if people in our personal life were to say things like that and behave that way, it probably would make us feel a type of way. So really think about if somebody is hitting you up in the DMs, they're trying to start a conversation with you, and you're trying to say, I don't want to talk to you. Here's what I want you to do instead. For some people, that will work. For some people, you will have shut down the business opportunity before it even fully landed. The other thing too, especially when we use a full redirect, which I think is the most common form of Instagram dm. Is that like we talked about the top of this episode. I know that your links are in your bio. I know that I can click there to learn about your pricing. I know that your full team is there. I know that's where you want me to go to have a consultation because I have eyeballs and I could see the link and I know that you wanted me to click there. I'm doing this because I was hoping I could talk to you first. And you will find that you will build business so much faster. Even if you respond to the DM and you say, hey, I know you are so excited about you getting your extensions done. Which photo on my grid was most exciting to You. I would love to chat that through with you. I also saw that in your dm you asked me about pricing. Great question. That's what most of my clients are looking for. We will discuss your pricing at your first consultation. Have the conversation. I'm not saying you have to start quoting people or booking appointments in the DMs. What I'm saying is let's get back to having human conversations in the DMs, because that's what people are looking for. Why do I think this is so important if you haven't already done so? I want you to listen to podcast episode 376. It's called the New Marketing Funnel that changes everything. And it's the introduction to the trust level. Trust has always been a part of our hairstylist success hourglass. The difference being that trust moved up the marketing funnel, and it talks about the five phases of trust. And in those five phases of trust, creating friction and communication is one of the fatal flaws of a lot of businesses when it comes to radical growth. Now, I know even as I'm talking about this, some of you were like, brit, listen, the reason I have the autoresponder is I have so much going on. We are running a successful business. There's so many parts and pieces. I simply cannot get back to everybody who's hitting me up in the DMs. I, Brit Siva, have 12 team members. I have a few thousand thrivers who always want my support. I have a husband who I always want to have time for. I have kids who are my top priority. I have dogs. I have friends. I have some on the competitive baseball team. I have all of life's chaos that everybody else has. I also have 80,000 followers, and my DMs are always open. And if you've DMed me, probably 85% of you can say that you've gotten a response back. So for me, when somebody says they can't manage to have the conversations in the DMs, it does come up for me of like, wow, how many DMs are you getting? And what else is taking priority in your life that you cannot manage? Those, what I would call leads. I wouldn't even call them conversations, like the hot leads, the hot clients who want to work with you. And then the other thing I ask is, how much time do you spend a day scrolling Instagram or TikTok? I know statistically that the average stylist spends an hour or more every single day scrolling a platform. So if you kept your DMs open and doing so would guarantee that you booked 20% more clients. Would you do it? And just to kind of close the episode, I want to re ask the question is ignoring your DMs worth, you having less business, and whether you have put into place a full redirect or a holding pattern or an acknowledgement autoresponder, I just want you to ask yourself, do you really think that's helping you grow your business? Is it a band aid that you put on the problem of you're overwhelmed and didn't know what else to do? Is it something that you're calling a boundary in your business when really it's just a blocker? And listening to this episode, you were like, oh my gosh, I wonder if I'm losing business without even realizing it. One of the things I coach to a lot as a business coach is this concept of bleeding out, which means for all the marketing effort you put out into the world, all of us have these blind spots in these things we do in our business that cause us to unknowingly bleed out. And this could be one of those.
