TL;DR: Selling on social media doesn’t have to feel salesy. Top Creators are turning engagement into income by leading with education, using authentic content to build trust, and automating the rest with tools like Stan AutoDM and Email Flows. In this guide, I’ll show you how.

Social media was built on authenticity and connection—which is why selling can sometimes feel unnatural for Creators. You don’t want to sound pushy or overly promotional, but you also don’t want to give away endless free value without bringing in any income. 

So how do top Creators strike the balance?

They flip the script. Instead of crafting sales pitches, they share content that’s relevant, engaging, and genuinely helpful for their audience.

You see, selling on social isn’t about taking people’s money—it’s about providing value. 

Your audience has agency over where and when they’ll spend their money. Your job is to make your offer the obvious next step—the solution they’re searching for.

But the hard truth is a link in your bio alone won’t cut it anymore. Social audiences expect Creators to meet them halfway, where buying feels personal and seamless, without leaving their social app. 

That’s exactly what I’m here to teach you: how you can sell on social without being salesy. You’ll walk away with actionable strategies you can use to convert your followers into customers—without compromising on authenticity.

To help bring these strategies to life, I’ll share examples of Alex—a fitness and mobility coach who sells a 21-Day Mobility Reset Challenge for desk workers. You’ll see how Alex uses educational content, freebies, and automation tools like Stan AutoDM and Email Flows to make selling feel effortless.

Let’s dive in.

💬 Say Hello to AutoDM: A Better Way to Drive Sales

For years, Creators would drive traffic to their offers by including a CTA to “visit the link in my bio” in their social captions. This approach worked when it was the only available option. 

But in 2025, it creates an extra step in the sales funnel and can stop your followers from buying altogether.

Every click between someone’s interest and your offer causes drop off. Instead of asking your audience to manually navigate through their social app to an off-platform site, you should keep the interaction where they already are: in the comments and DMs. 

That’s where AutoDM comes in—the ultimate way for Creators to sell in 2025. It’s a frictionless, conversational tactic to automate your sales and build better relationships.

Instead of using a traditional “link in bio” CTA, you can tell your audience to comment with a specific keyword on your post and automatically send them a personalized message with your link. It creates the kind of engagement the algorithm likes and feels more like a conversation than a sales pitch.

For instance, let’s say Alex shares a short Reel demonstrating a “1-Minute Desk Stretch You Can Do Between Meetings” and ends with the CTA: “Comment ‘RESET’ and I’ll send you my free 7 Desk-Friendly Stretches guide.”

When people comment ‘Reset’, Stan AutoDM will instantly deliver the guide to their DMs with a friendly message that introduces his 21-Day Mobility Reset Challenge—turning views into relationships and relationships into sales.

How to Craft a Creator-First Sales Funnel

AutoDM works best when it’s part of a broader strategy. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how to build a funnel that turns engagement into income—with real Creator examples.

1. Lead With Education-First Content

The fastest way to build trust is to teach your audience something valuable before introducing your offer. Your audience should leave your social profile knowing something they didn’t before, feeling seen, or with a solution to a problem they’re facing right now. 

In Alex’s case, this means helping desk workers reduce neck and back pain. Instead of leading with a salesy message like “Buy my program,” he posts a short video: 3 Stretches to Fix Your Neck Pain in Under 5 Minutes with this caption: 

You spend 8+ hours at your desk—and that tension in your neck? It’s not going away on its own. Here are 3 quick stretches that take less than 5 minutes.

Want my complete Desk-Friendly Stretches plan? Comment “Stretch” and I’ll personally send it to you.

Why It Works
This approach makes his program feel relevant and complementary to the content of the video. Think about it: the people his video helps will naturally feel motivated to learn more about his program. And because they’ve already benefited from his expertise for free, they’re more likely to trust him and see the value in his paid offer.

How to Create Your Own Educational Content
There are countless formats you can use to create valuable educational content, but here are a few ideas to inspire you:

• 3–5 slide carousel (mistake → fix)
• Short reel with captions and text overlays
• Before/after transformation

No matter the format you use, make sure to include:

• A clear hook in the first 3 seconds (“Still have neck pain? Stop doing this…”)
• Quick, actionable tips
• CTA to a freebie
  

Real Creator Examples of Education-First Selling

Top Creators in every niche are using free educational content to sell their offers. Take Emma Cleary from Embrace Socials, for example. This post is all about helping her audience make better Instagram Stories. The entire video is a tutorial on increasing Instagram Story views, with the method outlined in detail in her caption.

Only at the very end of the caption does she mention her 1:1 coaching services with her “Coach” AutoDM trigger. Her approach is strategic selling in action—providing upfront value for free to build the relationship and gain trust.

Laura Haley’s content is another great example of natural selling through helpful how-tos. Laura shows her transformation to grab that audience’s attention and demonstrate real change. It’s selling without saying anything salesy. 

She lets her caption do the selling with two AutoDM triggers that meet people where they’re at:

• A freebie—the cheat sheet she uses for Reels that actually hit 
• A paid offer—for when you’re ready to join her Reels Studio and learn her step-by-step process

At the time this guide was published, there were 352 comments for the free offer and 41 for the paid one. That’s 393 new email addresses from people interested in Laura’s content.

Of the 41 who received access to the paid offer, 10% converted on the $49 offer. That’s four purchases totaling $196 off this single post. Not to mention the other 352 who will go through an email sequence that gradually encourages them to purchase the paid offer.

2. Design an Irresistible Freebie

The next step in your Creator sales funnel is your freebie. Your freebie should be the bridge between your educational post and your paid offer. It needs to be quick to consume, highly relevant to the post, and incomplete enough that the paid product feels like the natural next step. You can create a freebie for any industry—whether it’s a downloadable guide, checklist, short video, webinar, template, or anything else you can dream up.

Alex’s freebie is a one-page PDF called “7 Desk-Friendly Stretches” with photos and short instructions for each stretch. It’s easy to use right away, but it doesn’t provide the same level of habit-building or posture-correcting framework as his paid program.

How to Create Your Own Freebie

• Keep it easily digestible: Think of your freebie like a free sample—it should give them bite-sized value that leaves them wanting more, but only takes a few minutes to consume.
  
• Make it specific: Solve one problem in detail.
  
• Design it well: Include a clean cover page so it feels premium.

3. Set Up Your AutoDM Keyword and Message

Once you have your educational content and freebie ready to share, it’s time to set up an automation to deliver it. Stan’s AutoDM helps you maintain momentum from audience engagement—delivering free value the moment someone comments on your keyword.

Here’s how to set yours up (jump to 4:35 to watch the in-app demonstration) 👇

Your AutoDM message should feel friendly, personal, and immediately share what they requested. Then, without being pushy, you can naturally bring them deeper into your sales funnel by pointing them to one of your paid offers.

For example, Alex’s AutoDM keyword is “Stretch.” This means he’ll automatically send this message to anyone who comments “Stretch” on his post:

Hey [First Name]! Here’s your 7 Desk-Friendly Stretches guide: [Link to freebie]

People who do these stretches daily typically see results in just a week. If you want the full 21-Day Mobility Reset with video walkthroughs and a daily tracker, check out my challenge here [Link to paid offer] 👉

AutoDM Message Best Practices

• Customize your welcome message by greeting them by name
• Deliver the freebie link early in the message
• Use a soft bridge to the paid offer (“If you want even more…”)
• Keep your message to 2-3 short sentences

4. Create an Email Nurture Sequence

If you really want to maximize sales, combine AutoDM with Email Flows to set up a seamless sales sequence that makes sales while you sleep. AutoDM is great for sharing freebies in exchange for your followers’ email addresses or driving instant sales in the DMs. 

But not everyone you AutoDM will make a purchase right away—some people will need more convincing before they buy. The easiest way to do that is with Email Flows—an automated series of emails that delivers your freebie and nurtures the relationship. 

You can use email to share more free resources, personal stories, and testimonials while subtly weaving in your paid or upsell offers. 

Your paid offers should be the obvious next step after using your freebie. Think of it like this: the freebie gives people an instant win, and your paid offer gives them the full transformation. 

In Alex’s case:

• His freebie (7 Desk-Friendly Stretches) offers quick, short-term relief in just five minutes/day
• And his paid offer (21-Day Mobility Reset Program) offers a full, habit-based solution to fix your posture and reduce pain long-term

Email Nurture Sequence Best Practices

• Make the connection between your freebie and paid offer, painting the paid version as a much more valuable or comprehensive next step
  
• Use social proof, like testimonials, reviews, or stats, throughout your emails to reinforce the value of your paid offers and build trust
  
• Don’t focus too heavily on making a sales pitch. Instead, aim to provide genuine value and build connections, and the sales will follow

Putting It All Together: Creator Sales Funnel Example

Now that we’ve covered each piece of the funnel, here’s what Alex’s full setup looks like in action—from posting content to making sales.

1. Instagram Reel: 3 Stretches to Fix Your Neck Pain in Under 5 Minutes

• Hook: “Still have neck pain? Stop doing this…”
• CTA: “Comment ‘Stretch’ and I’ll send you my desk-mobility plan.”
  

2. Freebie: 7 Desk-Friendly Stretches—A one-page PDF with a clean design

3. AutoDM: Friendly greeting → Freebie link → Soft pitch to buy 21-Day Mobility Reset

4. Email sequence:

• Day 1: Delivers the freebie and shares a personal story about fixing desk pain. Mentions his $49 course, which includes 21 daily video routines (10 minutes each, a progress tracker, and desk setup guide.
• Day 3: Sends an extra tip from the program with more detailed copy about the benefits of joining
• Day 5: Shares a client transformation story from his paid program
• Day 7: Sends a final email with a limited-time discount or bonus to encourage sign-ups

Optimizing Your Sales Funnel: Experimentation & Metrics

You can test, learn, and optimize every stage of your sales funnel. For instance, if people see your social post but very few comment, you can try testing different hooks, content angles, or keywords. 

If people comment but don’t click the freebie link, review your AutoDM copy. 

If they download your freebie but don’t buy your offer, work on your email sequence and upsell clarity.

When Alex is evaluating his sales funnel, he tracks:

• View-to-comment ratio to understand how many comments he’s getting vs. the number of views. This tells him whether his CTA is enticing for viewers. If it’s not, he’ll try delivering his CTA differently in his next video.
  
  
• Click rate to see how many people click the link in his AutoDM message so he can tell if his copy is strong enough. If he’s not getting clicks, he’ll change the AutoDM message in Stan and try to make it feel more personal.
  
  
• Email opt-ins that tell him how many people gave their email addresses to download the freebie. If he’s getting a high click rate but minimal email opt-ins, he knows that he needs to change something—whether it’s the freebie itself, his promotional copy, or the opt-in page design.
  
  
• Email link clicks show him how many clicks he’s getting on the links within his email sequence, which lead to his paid program. If he isn’t getting clicks, he knows his emails aren’t engaging the audience or selling his offers well.
  
  
• Sales, of course, tell Alex how many people are buying his product. If sales are down, he can tell there’s a gap between his offer and how his audience perceives it. Maybe his freebie and paid offer feel disconnected, the pricing’s off, or his positioning needs work. 

Each metric tells a story, and those insights can help Alex decide his next move.

See How Real Stan Creators Are Using AutoDM

Abigail Peugh

Abigail, an educator who helps Creators build profitable digital product businesses, uses AutoDM to make her Instagram content instantly shoppable without being salesy.

In this Instagram Reel, she explains that simply showing up and talking more about your offers leads to more sales. Her CTA feels natural: “Comment ‘STORIES’ and I’ll teach you how.”

When followers comment, Stan AutoDM instantly sends them a message with a link to her training on how to make daily sales using Instagram Stories—turning engagement into leads on autopilot.

Selina Camarillo

Selina, the homesteader and food educator behind MilkMaid Farm, uses AutoDM to share her recipe guide, Staples Made Simple, directly through her DMs. 

In her post, she shares three free recipes from her paid guide of over 100+ recipes with a relatable story about feeding her family real, nourishing food. Then, she ends with a warm call-to-action: “Drop RECIPES in the comments and I’ll send the guide to your DMs!”

It’s a perfect example of educational storytelling that naturally sells—her audience gets immediate, tangible value, and Selina builds stronger relationships through 1:1 automated messages that feel human.

Jalen-Juwan Nelson

Jalen-Juwan uses AutoDM to promote his free class on making money through organic marketing. In his caption, he writes: “Comment ‘MONEY’ and I’ll send you a link to my FREE class on how to make money on social media.”

He’s built nearly $1 million in revenue strictly from social media, and now he’s giving followers a direct, automated way to join his free class. It’s high-energy, authentic, and converts because it feels personal and packed with value. 

Turn Connection Into Conversions

At its core, selling on social is simply an extension of serving your audience. By pairing authentic content with valuable offers and using automated tools like AutoDM and Email Flows, you can build real relationships that naturally lead to sales—all while staying focused on creating.

The more you serve, the more you sell. Every post, every comment, and every conversation is a chance to grow your business, one genuine connection at a time.