Ice breakers

Why it matters for creators

Ice breakers are the answer to a question creators ask constantly and usually get told no on: can I message someone first? You cannot send a cold DM through any tool, but you can decide what the empty thread looks like before anyone types into it.

That matters because the hardest part of a DM funnel is the first message. Someone lands in your inbox with nothing to say, so they say nothing. Four prompts — "How much is coaching?", "Send me the free guide" — turn a blank thread into a menu, and each tap arrives as a real inbound message, which opens the 24-hour messaging window automation can reply inside.

They are set through the API rather than the Instagram app, so most creators never discover them. They are also one of the few genuinely proactive surfaces the platform allows, which is why automating a DM to new followers points at ice breakers as the honest alternative.