If you’re messaging anyone online you need a DM Strategy. Otherwise, you may as well be cold-calling people. When you receive a message without any rhyme, plan or reason your responses will always be left to the mood of the person.
What Does a DM Strategy Look Like?
Before you message someone you need to think about your reason for contacting them. Other than the need to book a call or make a sale. The call to action is there, but it’s framed in a way where contact seems natural and for the benefit of the other person. This is why the actions before a message are vital in your DM strategy.
Liking a comment or a post, or having your connection take part in your poll are both valid reasons to initiate a conversation.
Here are a few examples:
Thanks for taking my poll John, noticed you voted for…
I liked your post about XYZ Paul, thought it was interesting how…
Saw you liked my post, have you had a similar experience? How’d that go?
What Questions To Ask That Lead To a Sale Call
DM Strategies online always point at questions you should ask in order to pivot the conversation towards a sales call or shop talk. Let’s talk about your business and how I can help with messages. The problem with these shoe-horned questions is that the person on the opposite end of the conversation can spot this. That makes everything you’ve talked about in the past feel fake. You don’t care about my day, my business or the weekend you just want my business. You don’t want to mislead people.
Value-Driven Conversations Is The Best Strategy
When you lead with value: tips, news and updates that truly benefit a prospect you’ll end up having a more meaningful conversation than trying to direct a conversation. For example, if you give out a free resource and want to talk about it you’re already discussing the content of that resource and the person on the other side will be the value in the conversation. If the resource is viable and matches their needs of course. But, that’s the point of leading with value. It makes you beneficial to talk with.
Don’t Be a Robot
I think we’re all past the point on LinkedIn and other social media sites pretending that a conversation has been created for a reason. But, with so much spam and bots online you have to appear natural and avoid what looks like automated, batch responses. People want to feel like you’ve taken the time to seek them out and deliver some value to them. They understand that you have a motive, but the value they get outweighs the attempt at a quick discovery call.
Without a DM strategy, you could fall into the trap of connecting and pitching. Going for quick wins and burning your list of connections before you have a chance to talk with them. You need to see what they need before you offer anything. Otherwise, the sales call you book could be with the wrong people altogether. That’s how you get troublesome clients. Keep it natural, lead with value and give purpose to your messaging.