How Links In Bio Are Costing Online Brands $1,000s

If you want to make more sales on Instagram, stop using outdated strategies on your social media profiles.

News flash: on average, Instagram posts and stories that say “link in bio,” receive 57% less engagement.

Then why do social profiles keep having up to five links on their bio page?

What should you do instead?

In this article, we’re going to talk about a new way to drive 2-5 times more sales through your Instagram (without spamming a new link every day).

So, what goes into an Instagram profile that drives more traffic and increases revenue on autopilot? 

Read on to find out the benefits of ditching that pesky bio link.

What's Wrong With Traditional Links In The Bio?

Digital marketing on social media is broken for most business accounts and their e-commerce stores.

Here’s why.

Most businesses, coaches, course creators, and influencers have been following the same approach to draw attention, and drive traffic, and sales for years.

That is, to capture emails and convert, they try to direct followers off the Instagram feed by saying “Click the link in my bio.”

And this runs their engagement into the ground.

Not only is it a bad experience for the user, but Meta punishes you for taking people off their platform with clickable links.

Same thing with running paid traffic, I’ll get to that in a second.

Nowadays, everyone has one or multiple links in their bio, linking out to a landing page or external websites.

The problem with this is that driving Instagram traffic off the platform currently decreases your overall reach by 219%.

And three years ago it used to only decrease your reach by 74%.

See where I’m going with this?

A Smarter Call to Action than any Clickable Link

There's a better alternative to the Instagram link in bio.

An innovative call to action on your profile page bio, that not only grows your leads and sales on Instagram but gradually gives you 2, 6 (I’ve even seen 20 times) more organic reach for your account.

Think of your Instagram profile as a landing page.

What you should have in your bio is a call to action to DM you a specific keyword.

Instagram users can use it to claim a free resource, take a quiz, enter a giveaway, join a VIP club, etc.

So, let’s see how this specific call to action in your bio, helps you drive traffic getting you more leads and sales without using a single link.

Leverage Your Instagram Bio With Auto-DMs

Take my account as an example.

My mission and my business revolve around showing businesses a better, and more innovative way to monetize their socials, one conversation at a time. 

And because Meta AI chatbots are so new, I want to first educate my audience about what this is and what it does.

This is the first step of me providing value, AND capturing email addresses from everyone who DMs me.

So, on my profile, you’ll find a CTA saying “DM me the word LEARN to see a demo.”

When people DM me that word, an automated conversation starts, that captures emails and educates my audience. 

I also just started my Instagram account a few months ago, and have only been using DM automation to grow it from zero.

Why did it work so well?

Because I keep people on the Instagram app, telling them to DM me or comment on my posts for free value.

That’s what the algorithm rewards.

The New Instagram Strategy: Keep Customers Close

Now let’s take a look at a few e-commerce business examples.

DM us 30 for 30% off, DM us MACRO to get our calorie calculator, DM us MYSTERY for a gift.

Here’s where it gets interesting.

When people DM any of these words, an automated conversation starts, an email is captured, and potentially a phone number.

Without pushing a link in bio or external link.

At the end of this conversation, the user gets what they opted in to get, and they might also be presented with a personalized offer.

For example, the AI assistant might look up that email address in Klaviyo, and see that user’s history.

If that user is, say on a VIP list, it will say “Hey Liz, thank you for being a fan, here’s something special just for you today because you’re a part of our VIP club”. 

On the other hand, if that user is completely new to the brand, the AI assistant might say “hey Liz, welcome, I see you’re new here. Check out this welcome video from our Founder while I prep something special to welcome you to our community.”

Every experience is highly personal.

And of course, it doesn’t stop there.

What Most Creators Fail To Do: Maximize On-Going Interactions

Let’s say this user now has a special offer to purchase, BUT they don’t. 

This is not where the conversation ends.

The AI assistant will wait for an order to come from potential customers, and if it doesn’t, it will start a new value-driven conversation over weeks and months.

Educate, answer frequently asked questions, design product recommendations, maybe invite users to enter giveaways, UNTIL a purchase is made.

And even post-purchase, the AI assistant’s mission is to continue to assist.

Let’s say the user finally places an order.

When they do, they immediately get a DM thanking them and prompting them to watch an educational video of how to use that product, while they wait for their order to arrive. 

A month later, the AI assistant might check in to see how they enjoy the product and collect reviews.

Another month later, it might try to drive a repeat purchase.

That’s how you keep your Instagram followers on the platform.

That’s how you capture emails from over 90% of people who engage with you in the DMs.

And that’s how you convert 30% plus of them into buyers (sooner or later) and how Meta rewards you with increased organic reach.

Look at that! You're doing all of this without Instagram bio links.

Rethinking Ads without an Instagram Link

If you think about it, it makes sense: even when you run a Facebook ad, people click on it, you take them off the platform and to your website or link page.

(The same goes for Instagram stories and posts).

What if you ran a Facebook ad, and when people clicked on it, you kept them on the platform and started a conversation with them in the DMs?

And that convo eventually led them to make a purchase, but only sent them to the website when they were READY to make that purchase. 

Why?

Pre-educated and delighted users buy more stuff.

Conclusion: Use DM automation now, thank us later

You now have a new window of opportunity to master Instagram's sales environment.

Don't get me wrong, a customizable link and other bio tools are cool things to have.

But trust me, it's better to stick to auto DMs

With them, you can turn casual and personal conversations into sales without having to add multiple links everywhere.

And who doesn't like simpler and smarter ways to make more money?

If you enjoyed this blog post, check us out on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. 

Dive deeper into boosting conversion with auto-DMs, and stay tuned for more insider tips and tricks!

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