If your Instagram bio says “DM us for info” or “Message for details,” you are doing two things at once. You are making your business harder to find, and you are creating extra work for yourself that you do not need to be doing.
I understand why it happens. Early on, the website is a placeholder and the inbox is where everything actually happens. So the bio directs people there. Then the website never gets built out, and the inbox becomes the default for everything from pricing to hours to directions. A few years in, you are answering the same ten questions over and over in direct messages.
There are three problems with this setup.
First, you are the bottleneck. Every question requires your attention. Pricing, hours, location, return policy. None of these change often. Yet each one arrives as a fresh message that needs a fresh reply. Multiply that by the number of inquiries per week and you have a part-time job that pays nothing and drains your energy.
Second, you are losing customers who will not ask. Many visitors see “DM us for info” and simply leave. They do not want to start a conversation just to find out your hours. They do not want to message a stranger to learn your address. Some of them will go to a competitor whose site answered the question in two seconds.
Third, your inbox becomes a wall between you and your customers. People who would otherwise buy from you hesitate because the process feels personal and intrusive. A website that answers the basic questions acts as a filter. The customers who reach out to you have already decided they want to talk to a human. Those conversations are higher quality and more likely to convert.
The fix is straightforward. Move every question you can onto your website as a static page. That includes your hours, your location, your pricing or pricing approach, your services, your process, your contact information, your return policy, and your frequently asked questions.
You do not need a fancy site to do this. A single page with clear sections works. Use headings. Use bullet points. Keep it short. The goal is to answer the obvious questions before anyone needs to ask them.
If you are on Instagram specifically, change the link in your bio to point to that page. Stop asking people to DM you for the basics. If you want to invite conversation, ask them to DM you for the things the website cannot cover, like custom orders or specific advice. That is the kind of conversation worth having.
Here is what to put on your info page.
Your hours. Be specific. Include holidays if you close for any.
Your location. Include a map link. Mention parking if it is not obvious.
Your pricing. You do not have to publish exact prices for everything. A starting price, a range, or a description of how pricing works is enough.
Your process. What happens when someone contacts you. How long until you reply. What information helps you help them.
Your contact options. Phone, email, booking link, physical address. Whatever is real for you.
Your story. A short paragraph about who you are and why you do what you do. People like doing business with people, not faceless operations.
Once the page exists, watch what happens to your inbox. Many of your most common questions disappear. The ones that remain are the ones worth having conversations about. Your direct messages become about real opportunities instead of basic information.
There is one more thing worth mentioning. Some of your customers are not on social media at all. They are searching Google, browsing your website, looking for a phone number to call. If your website does not answer their questions, they will not DM you. They will just leave. A complete website captures customers you do not even know are looking for you.
The point of “DM us for info” was probably to feel approachable and personal. That goal is fine. Just do not let it replace the basics that your website should be handling. Use your inbox for the conversations that need a human touch. Use your site for the answers that do not.
Once your form starts performing better, keep the momentum. Review submissions weekly. Notice what questions people ask that you did not anticipate. Add those to your contact page. The form is a conversation starter. The page around it can answer the questions before they ever reach you.
Most small businesses would be surprised how much revenue is hiding in a poorly designed contact form. A few small changes can recover a meaningful slice of it. The work is not hard. The payoff is direct. There is no reason to keep losing inquiries to a form that needs twenty minutes of attention to fix.