You might’ve heard me talk about the DM campaign before. And while I won’t claim to have invented the concept of private messaging ERG Members, I’ve definitely put my own spin on it and made it a core part of how we operate in the ERG Champs community. The truth is, I don’t see many folks treating it as the essential, non-negotiable strategy it really is. But if you’re a member of the ERG Champs community, you may have experienced the DM campaign firsthand—especially if you’ve noted in your application that you’re interested in being a speaker or panelist at an upcoming ERG event. Yup, that’s right. If you’ve gotten a personalized outreach from me, it’s likely because I’m always on the lookout for ERG panelists!

Just last week, I had the pleasure of working with some amazing folks who responded to my DM campaign for various panelist opportunities at summits in San Francisco. (Check out the post for their Linkedin tags!)

And trust me, these weren’t just mass messages—each was personalized. I probably sent about 50 DMs, and guess what? Not a single ‘nah, not my thing.’ Sure, a few people didn’t respond (it happens—people are busy), but 20-25% got back to me with a resounding yes or tell me more. The few who couldn’t commit were only held back by time constraints. That’s the power of the DM campaign: when you engage with people in a way that feels personal and meaningful, you almost never get a flat-out no.

This week, I put the DM campaign to the test again, and let me tell you—it WORKS. I’m currently working with a company on succession planning, and they needed to fill about 11 open ERG roles, which is no small feat. Some of their ERGs had zero applicants for key roles, so I knew we had to step it up. With only one week left, I leaned in hard with the DM campaign.

I focused on their LGBTQ, Black, and Latin American ERGs. I hopped into their Slack channels and sent them all the same message. And in total? I sent about 250 DMs. Now, I didn’t message the obvious folks (executive sponsors, existing leads, etc.), but I did manage to message all members across the 3 ERGs in about 90 minutes. Yes, 90 minutes—totally worth it.

Day one? Crickets. But the next morning? Boom! Applications started rolling in. LGBTQ ERG? Filled. Latin American ERG? Filled. And even people who couldn’t commit were super thankful I’d reached out. One person even said they had someone else in mind who would be perfect! The best part? All of these responses felt authentic because the messages were personalized.

The last open role was for the Black ERG, and with the deadline looming, I was feeling the pressure. So, I pulled my last card and posted directly in the Black ERG channel: (I’ll drop the exact message below for reference.)

Within an hour, someone hit me up saying they’d been meaning to apply but had some questions. We hopped on a quick Slack huddle, and… well, you’ll have to wait for next week to hear what happened. Let’s just say, her reasons for hesitating might be something all ERG leaders can learn from.

Long story short, the DM campaign is gold. If you want people to engage, message them individually—whether it’s about joining an event, applying for a role, or just showing up. But keep this in mind: don’t overdo it. Not every ask requires a DM, and make sure your team divides up the outreach to avoid overwhelming people with double messages. Most importantly, reach out to folks when there’s a match between their interests and the opportunity. It’s all about engaging people in ways that feel right to them.

Stay tuned for next week’s details on my Slack huddle convo!

The ERG Homegirl✌🏿

That’s it for this week!🙌🏿

Weeks of consistent newsletters: 16🎊