A creator’s Instagram inbox used to be a beautiful mess. One minute it was quiet. The next, a product Reel pops off and they get buried in fire emojis, product questions, and a dozen “Is this still in stock?” DMs.
It was certainly exciting. And a bit overwhelming? Manually keeping up often meant lost sleep, missed sales, and a lot of copy-pasting.
But now, that chaos is being turned into opportunity: For creators and entrepreneurs alike, the DM is the new storefront, help desk, and loyalty engine, all rolled into one. It’s where trust is built, products get discovered, and sales happen at the speed of a double tap.
As conversational commerce takes off, more creators and entrepreneurs are building entire revenue engines inside their DMs. And equipped with smart automation, they’ve honed their social platforms to evolve beyond customer engagement to driving discovery, conversion, and customer loyalty in real time.
Historically, traditional businesses have enjoyed a rich ecosystem of tools, whether that be automations, webhooks, email integrations, and marketing funnels. They made scaling and systematizing their customer journeys seamless. Social media, by contrast, was long a closed garden: a powerful engagement space but one that limited creators’ ability to fully build and scale businesses because of restricted access.
But that’s all changing. Social platforms are opening up, and integrating with search engines and third-party tools. Creators and entrepreneurs can build sophisticated marketing and sales systems within these once closed environments – meaning social media channels are ultimately leveling the playing field. They’re transformed into robust business platforms where engagement, discovery, and conversion seamlessly intertwine.
Global Head of SEO at Manychat.
From clicks to conversations, why funnels are flattening
The old-school path to a sale was long: social post → link in bio → website → maybe a sale. But let’s face it, we’re living in the age of instant gratification. People expect responses yesterday. Slow replies can lead to frustration, while quick, helpful answers leave a lasting impression.
Enter: automation.
Automation ensures no message gets lost, keeping your audience happy and engaged. It’s reshaping the sales funnel. Instead of sending traffic away, creators are closing the loop inside the platforms themselves, often in one message. In fact, 71% of consumers say they expect to interact with brands via messaging platforms. And with an average response time of 2 minutes (vs. 17 hours for email), DMs are simply faster and smarter.
To be clear, this shift isn’t about ditching websites. Rather, brands need to meet their buyers where they’re at – and remove the friction between intent and action. DMs essentially pre-qualify intent to purchase. By the time a consumer clicks through to a link provided via DM, they’re warmer and more likely to convert.
And the numbers back it up. Some creators report conversion rates as high as 85–98% when routing sales through DMs. Others have seen revenue spike by tens of thousands of dollars in a single month, simply by automating responses they once handled manually. One campaign helped drive over 100,000 page views from just a single trigger. These are all proof that messaging is a real growth engine.
As buyers spend more time in chat-based environments, the most agile businesses are revamping their approach to building and driving action.
Personalization that scales:
Customers crave human connection and messaging platforms deliver it. With tools that pull in browsing behavior, purchase history, and real-time context, entrepreneurs and creators alike can now offer VIP-style service to every shopper. Think: automated coupon drops, back-in-stock alerts, or custom product recommendations – all within the chat thread.
This is the major shift automation enables: authentic presence at scale. For the first time, creators and entrepreneurs no longer have to choose between being responsive and being real. With AI, they can stay present in thousands of conversations without losing the tone, timing, or trust that made a brand reputable in the first place.
However, the power of this movement lies in the timing. Automations show up exactly when they’re needed. Whether that’s a discount sent at the moment of hesitation or a restock alert that feels like it was sent by a personal shopper. The result? Higher open rates, faster response times, and better conversion across the board.
Even solo creators are now delivering high-touch experiences that rival big brands. The difference is, it’s happening one-to-one and in real time, without a massive team.
Where there’s a DM, there’s a purchasing decision
Website analytics can tell that someone clicked. That they spent 42 seconds on the product page. Maybe they even added something to the cart. But that’s still guesswork. An entrepreneur is left interpreting behavior, hoping it means something. But a DM that says, “Hey, do you have this in stock?” That’s clear as day: a customer is getting ready to buy.
Conversations are becoming the new top-of-funnel. When a customer initiates a message, they’re sending a clear intent signal. One you can act on immediately. Share a size guide. Offer a promo. Drop a product link right into the thread. No forms, no delays.
To be clear: By no means does this replace the website. In fact, quite the opposite. DMs often serve as the warm introduction that makes the click-through more valuable. The result? Higher intent traffic, better conversion rates, and fewer missed opportunities.
Because when someone takes the time to message a brand, they’re making active purchasing decisions and creating opportunities to act on an intent signal in real-time: Offer a discount. Suggest the right size. Trigger a purchase link. That’s why more entrepreneurs are shifting from pageviews to conversations. And when entrepreneurs and creators have automation set up, they can act on those signals instantly.
The smartest businesses — and creators — aren’t waiting around for clicks or form fills. They’re meeting their audience where the conversation is already happening: in the DMs.
Because in today’s attention economy, speed matters. Relevance matters. And connection always matters. Together, they create real moments of engagement that build trust, strengthen relationships, and drive meaningful revenue, all without slowing down momentum.
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