Are you missing messages from your clients?? 🫣
Last year I started working with Old Imperial Farmer's Market (if you're local and haven't been out to the market I highly recommend a trip!).
While doing their account refresh I noticed they had hundreds of messages in their requests folder. Some spam, but most were from small business owners who were interested in vendor opportunities at the market.
The vendor spaces are how they generate revenue since market admission is free (one of the reasons we love to go, that and they have a cute little play area for the kids so I can eat or shop in peace while Gray watches the kids play).
Some of the messages in their requests folder were over a year old, too old for me to reach out and answer 😵.
They lost out on potential revenue, and the market shoppers lost out on the opportunity to support so many of those small businesses. Old Imperial wasn't ignoring people on purpose though, they just never saw the messages.
Why?
Because Instagram hid them in the 'Requests' folder and they didn't know to check it. It's an honest mistake but Instagrams recent update to their community guidelines is making it happen even more regularly. They also added a new rule that you can only message someone once if you aren't friends, so choose your messages wisely until someone answers you!
More and more business owners are having messages ending up in their inbox graveyard 🪦 (the message request section), anyone that messages you that you don't follow lands here...
Which usually is your new leads and potential clients. Not good! So how do we prevent this from happening?
Unfortunately, right now there isn't a setting we can shut off (I checked), but you can,
Follow these steps to never miss a message from your dream client!
1️⃣ Open Instagram & navigate to your messages
2️⃣ Select 'Requests'
3️⃣ Now select 'Hidden Requests'
4️⃣ You can read messages individually and 'Accept' them into your General or Primary tab, repeat for all important messages
5️⃣ 'Delete All' to any spam messages remaining
Until the guidelines are updated (and I hope they will be because this it frustrating for small business owners), you'll want to do this at least once a week - or whenever you see a number beside the 'Requests' icon, so you can respond to customer questions and client inquires quickly.
Important to Note: When you move a message into your General or Primary tab is moves as 'read' since you looked at it in the Hidden Requests folder so go back and tag them as unread or respond to them right away so they don't get forgotten about!
Your action item for today is to check your message requests folder and respond to any messages you might have missed. I'd also recommend making a reoccurring task in your calendar or CRM reminding you to check once a week for the next 1-2 months while this activity becomes a new habit.
New to the Content Quickie? Meet the creator!
Hi! I'm Brittany, a mom, mystery buff, bookwork, and DIY home decor enthusiast. I help small business owners gain the tolls and confidence to market their business with ease. If you want clarity to grow your business effortlessly, I can provide the roadmap for you to take action, get results and make money! Hear my full story here.
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