How to deliver a lead magnet by Instagram DM
A lead magnet is something useful you give away in exchange for attention: a guide, a template, a checklist. Delivering it by DM is the fastest way to get it into people’s hands, and it’s also a chance to build an email list you own.
Why deliver lead magnets in the DM
Sending people to a landing page from Instagram loses many of them on the way. Delivering in the DM means they get the freebie in the app they’re already using, seconds after asking for it.
The DM can also ask for an email before sending the link. People who want the guide are happy to share an address, and every address you collect is a way to reach them that doesn’t depend on the algorithm.
Set up a lead magnet DM
Make the freebie
One clear outcome: a checklist, a template, a short guide. Host it where anyone can open it.
Choose the Get more sales goal
It adds the email step and the follow-up sequence.
Write the email ask
Tell them where to send the guide. Keep it to one line.
Write two or three follow-up emails
The guide, a tip that builds on it, then your offer.
Post with a keyword
“Comment CHECKLIST and I’ll send it to you.”
What the conversation looks like
The person comments the keyword and gets a short DM asking for their email. They reply with it, the DM confirms it back so they know it was received, and the link to the freebie follows.
The email is saved to their contact, and the sequence starts. It ends early when they click a link in one of the emails, because they’ve already acted.
CHECKLIST
Where should I send it? Reply with your email.
Lead magnet ideas that suit Instagram
- A one-page checklist from a Reel you posted.
- A template people can copy, such as a content calendar or a budget sheet.
- A recipe card or workout plan.
- A shopping list of the products in a video.
- A short email course delivered over a week.
Lead magnet questions
What if someone types their email wrong?
Askenly confirms the address in the chat, so the person sees what was saved.
Why do sequences stop on clicks and not opens?
Some mail apps open every email automatically, so opens don’t prove a person read it. A click does.
Do the emails include an unsubscribe link?
Yes. Every email in a sequence includes an unsubscribe link, and people who unsubscribe aren’t emailed again.
Measuring whether it works
On the automation’s detail page, emails collected count as qualified leads, next to DMs sent and delivery status for the last 30 days. Compare posts: if one Reel collects far fewer emails than another with similar comments, the email ask or the freebie itself is usually the difference.
In your email sequence, clicks are the number to watch, because they show someone acted. A sequence that ends early for many people is doing its job.
Writing the follow-up emails
The first email should deliver the lead magnet again, so people who closed the DM can find it. Keep it short and put the link near the top.
The second email builds on it: one tip that makes the freebie more useful, or a common mistake people make with it. It shows that more of your help is worth having.
The last email makes your offer, whether that’s a product, a course, a booking or a newsletter. Because the sequence stops when someone clicks, people who already took you up on an earlier email won’t see it.
Lead magnet DM checklist
- The freebie opens for anyone, without a login.
- The email ask says what they’ll receive.
- The confirmation message repeats the address they gave.
- Every email has one link and one job.
- You tested the whole flow from a second account and a real inbox.
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