How to Get Web Design Clients on Instagram (full guide)

Lead Generation and Client Outreach on Instagram

Patrick Spiegel presents three ways for web designers to find potential clients on Instagram, followed by three approaches for turning leads into projects. He emphasizes that a defined niche and a clear offer make each method more effective.

Lead-generation playbooks

1. Find businesses through Google Search

Search Google for Instagram profiles in a chosen niche, such as roofing companies. You can also narrow the search by location.

Copy the search results into ChatGPT and ask it to organize them into a table with Instagram links, business names, websites, phone numbers, and email addresses. Alternatively, use a scraper to collect results across multiple pages, export them as a CSV, and use ChatGPT to extract and format contact details.

The presenter says one scrape collected about 200 potential leads in roughly 30 seconds. He estimates that Google-result collection can produce around 50–100 results, depending on the search and available results. Review the data before contacting prospects directly or delegating outreach to a virtual assistant.

2. Identify prospects through niche micro-influencers

Find medium-sized Instagram accounts followed by your target customers, such as industry educators, consultants, or software providers. Then look for relevant businesses among those accounts’ followers. Smaller or mid-sized accounts may be useful because their follower lists can be easier to access.

Scrape or manually review the followers, verify that they are relevant prospects, and add them to a lead list. As an example, the presenter finds a construction-focused software account with 6,800 followers, then identifies construction companies following it.

3. Use Instagram search and suggested accounts

Search Instagram using relevant niche terms. Follow a suitable business account, then review Instagram’s Suggested for you recommendations for similar companies.

Verify prospects individually or collect suggested accounts in a spreadsheet for follow-up.

Outreach and inbound approaches

• Bait-and-switch outreach: Start with a question or conversation opener to get a reply, then gradually introduce the sales offer. The presenter says this has worked for him, but considers it less effective and potentially “sleazy” compared with his preferred approach.
• Permission-and-offer video: First send a brief video asking permission to share something useful or present an offer. Then send a second, value-focused video. The presenter describes the initial message as approximately 10–30 seconds, and later as 10–15 seconds. He credits the approach to agency owner Charlie Morgan.
• Content funnel: Publish niche-relevant content to attract prospects and reduce dependence on outbound outreach. Suggested formats include practical tips, design content, and “social and system proof” that demonstrates expertise. The presenter says system-proof content can help establish credibility even without previous clients.

Examples and metrics

The presenter says he has used these methods to find clients and cites web-design projects of $1,000, $4,500, and $6,000. He describes the $6,000 project as both his first Instagram client and his third project, so the exact sequence is unclear.

He claims that small changes to video wording, phrasing, or the offer can increase response rates by “3 to 700%.” No baseline, timeframe, or supporting data is provided, so this should be treated as an unverified claim.

The presenter recommends reviewing Instagram outreach practices before sending messages. If a large volume of messages produces no replies, the message or its delivery may need improvement. The specific checklist he references is not detailed in the subtitles.

Sources and presenter

• Presenter: Patrick Spiegel
• Other source cited: Charlie Morgan, for the permission-and-offer video approach.