Almost, if non all, social media platforms are a i-to-many model, meaning businesses, brands and individuals connect with their unabridged audience at once. But when information technology comes to building more than personal relationships with your followers, this one-to-many approach might not be enough.

As one of the largest one-to-many social media platforms, Twitter moves very quickly and it'south pretty easy to get lost in the chat. That'due south where Twitter straight letters (DMs) come in to facilitate more detailed one-on-1 conversations.

What is a DM on Twitter?

DM simply stands for direct message, or letters sent via Twitter that are private between y'all and the recipient and do non appear on your feed.

The abridgement has spread to many other platforms and channels as a way to refer to private letters.

Twitter DMs are a individual style of communication used to start ane-on-i conversations with anyone who follows you lot on Twitter. DMs can too be sent to people who don't follow you only if they take opted in to receive DMs from anyone on the platform or if you've previously direct messaged that person.

Twitter DMs used to be express to 140 characters, just similar public Tweets (which are now 280 characters). Only Twitter expanded the character limit of Direct Messages to 10,000 in Baronial 2015. Now, users can likewise send pictures, videos, GIFs and emojis via DM.

How to ship a Twitter DM

It's piece of cake to learn how to DM in Twitter's interface. To send a DM when using the web app, locate the envelope icon on the right side of your Twitter contour.

Twitter Direct Messages on Desktop

Then click the "New Message" button and select the contour you want to direct bulletin.

Send a new Twitter Direct Message

Or, from mobile, select the envelop "Messages" push at the lesser of the screen. Also, you tin but navigate to the Twitter Profile you wish to bulletin and click the aforementioned envelope button.

Sprout Coffee Twitter Profile

Sending and monitoring DMs on Twitter is even more streamlined when you're using a social media management platform like Sprout Social. With Sprout, all of your social interactions—DMs included—go directly into your Smart Inbox. From at that place, you lot can cull exactly how y'all want to respond or assign the message to someone else in your organization.

Sprout Social Smart Inbox Twitter only view

Now let'south dive deeper into the times when sending a private Twitter DM tin can work to your advantage as a marketer. We'll likewise give you some tips and tricks as to how you can use Sprout Social to integrate Twitter DMs into your social media marketing strategy.

When and why to send a DM on Twitter

There are sure instances when it makes sense for brands and businesses to send a DM on Twitter. Straight messaging is a powerful tool in a brand's ability to build relationships with customers.

Sometimes responding publicly to a Tweet might not be advisable depending on the context or content of the Tweet, like when you need to follow-upwardly on a customer service issue with private club details.

Social marketers should exist familiar with the best practices of both public Tweets and private DMs so they can seamlessly manage conversations wherever audiences and customers can best be served.

Taking a Twitter conversation from public to private

If you're running a Twitter account for a business, brand certain that your Twitter Direct Message settings allow anyone to message y'all, fifty-fifty if yous are not mutual followers. Do this by navigating to "Settings and privacy." Under the "Privacy and rubber" tab, scroll down to the Straight Messages area and select the box that allows you to receive Direct Messages from anyone. This can ultimately help you in the long run, when customers want to go direct to the source rather than Tweeting out publicly.

Receive Direct Messages from anyone on Twitter

Twitter DMs for customer back up

The Sprout Social Alphabetize™, Edition XVII: Accelerate found that social media is consumers' preferred channel of choice for client service inquiries and sharing feedback well-nigh a product or service. Then information technology's important that your make or business knows how to handle customer service requests on all social media platforms.

Often, a Twitter user might tag or mention your account with an upshot or bulletin yous directly. When they mention your brand in a public tweet, we recommend acknowledging that tweet publicly with a quick message asking the user to send yous a DM. Along with prompting a follow-upward bulletin from that client, this makes it clear to other followers that you're addressing this issue privately and not ignoring the Tweet. Once in the DM, y'all can inquire them for more information that volition help resolve their issue.

In some cases, a follower might exist request a question that you think could exist beneficial to your unabridged timeline, and responding to that Tweet publicly can likewise potentially answer that question for other followers.

However, if the Tweet is about something specific to that follower or contains sensitive information, that's when y'all want to move the chat into the DMs. Enquire the user to send you a DM with more than information or DM them yourself. And because Twitter DMs aren't restricted by a character count, information technology makes it easier to communicate and troubleshoot the issue.

If you use a social media management tool similar Sprout Social, it's even easier to switch to Straight Messages. Once you have configured your settings on Twitter to let anyone to DM your business organization, y'all volition see an option in Sprout to "Switch to DM" in your Twitter reply window.

Switching to Twitter DMs is easy through the Sprout Dashboard

Also by using Sprout, you tin make it fifty-fifty easier for the user to send yous a DM. When you respond to a Tweet from inside the Sprout Dashboard, you tin add together a button to the Tweet that allows the user to directly DM, as shown in one of the examples to a higher place. When they click the button, information technology will redirect them to a Direct Message page and car-populate your contour to the recipient bar.

Adding a button for Twitter users to send you a direct message is easy in the Sprout Social dashboard

Subsequently the client service interaction is over, you tin send a follow-upwardly DM to assemble feedback on the customer's experience.

Sprout'southward Customer Feedback Tool leverages Twitter DMs as a way to gather feedback from customers who received back up on Twitter. It provides the customer with a feedback survey where they can privately share feedback about their customer service experience on the platform.

Once you begin monitoring your Twitter mentions, you lot can start to anticipate the types of questions and comments that come in most frequently. Salve time on the response procedure by creating Suggested Replies in Sprout for incoming letters that are but one click away.

How to choose Suggested Replies for a DM

Enhance Twitter DM conversations with chatbots

Twitter users who are coming to your brand with a customer service question or concern may non ever know what to expect when they open up a DM conversation. Y'all can brand the experience more inviting by using chatbots to assistance steer conversations in a friendly way.

Welcome messages greet new followers via Straight Message and are a groovy manner to make a stellar first impression and raise brand awareness. Using Sprout'due south Bot Architect, yous can automate this process by setting up a Twitter Bot that automatically sends a welcome bulletin to customers as soon as they open a Direct Message chat. Assign the chatbot specific rules and permissions and it will send pre-determined messages to followers who meet the criteria.

Create an automated Welcome Message on Twitter

Beyond welcoming them with a unproblematic "hello" try to add value inside that initial bulletin. This bulletin can shape your future relationship, so brand it something memorable. A few ways to make this message more engaging are to ask them a question, include a link to a recent blog postal service or video or send them a special offer.

Sprout Coffee Co. uses a chatbot in their Twitter DMs to welcome any new messages started by followers

When new followers feel similar they're not but another confront in the crowd, they're more likely to engage with your brand and brainstorm the relationship with a positive interaction.

Lead generation with Twitter DMs

If someone follows you on Twitter, it's reasonable to assume that they are interested in your brand. However, simply because they're a follower, doesn't mean that they're set up to purchase. Twitter DMs can piece of work equally a fashion to warm up leads, which you can monitor and reference dorsum in your CRM Tool.

Sprout's CRM tools let your sales and marketing teams keep track of all potential leads that come through social media, including Twitter. Seeing all of your follower activeness in ane identify makes it easier to identify and nurture warm leads.

Use Sprout's Social CRM tool to track leads on Twitter

Some brands warm up potential Twitter leads by incentivizing their followers to subscribe to their email list to receive exclusive content or download a lead magnet. Twitter is as well a dandy place to promote lead generating activities such as webinars or contests.

Twitter Directly Letters tin can be a unique way to reach out to warm leads individually. For example, you lot might meet people asking most products in your industry on Twitter. When y'all exercise, reach out to the person directly via DM. Offer them a solution will brand your brand stand out among the other answers they receive on their timeline.

One fashion to grab conversations that indirectly relate to your brand, such as mentions of competitors or hot topics in your industry, is with a listening solution like Sprout Social. Setting upward queries in social listening for sales—such equally industry terms or variations of your brand proper noun—tin can aid you lot notice new opportunities to shout out your product or identify brand advocates.

At Sprout, we employ some of these same listening and monitoring techniques to brand certain we're upward to appointment on the latest conversations around social marketing, and to ensure nosotros're connecting with make advocates and customers looking for data or communication.

Connecting with influencers

Influencer marketing is an constructive style to expose your brand to new audiences in your niche. It's like shooting fish in a barrel to acquaintance influencer marketing with Instagram. But reaching out to industry influencers on Twitter tin be a compelling way to strike upwardly a conversation.

Identify the right influencers by monitoring conversations among professionals in your manufacture. You can utilize Sprout's Social Listening feature to rail industry trends while identifying fundamental thought leaders contributing to the conversation.

Use Sprout Listening to track hashtags and influencers

With influencer marketing, it's not enough to ship a generic message. Get to know that influencer's work and touch on before you strike upward a chat. Influencers likely become hundreds of DMs then it'due south important to make an impression and stand out.

When you lot straight message influencers, position a potential partnership equally a mutually benign relationship. Outline how your brand fits into their sphere of influence and why they should innovate you to their audience. Twitter DMs are probably not the place that you're going to make an official deal. But information technology is a great place to make the introduction and begin edifice a relationship.

Final thoughts

Twitter DMs accept the potential to grow make awareness, boost engagement and build more personal relationships with your audience.

When you're using a social media management tool like Sprout, y'all have an entire world of opportunity at your fingertips. Respond to followers' letters and concerns quickly with features such as Smart Inbox, and abound your rapport with your audience. To experience first-hand how easy it is to incorporate Twitter DMs into your social media marketing strategy, sign up for a gratis trial at present.