$70 Million DM Strategy using ManyChat

Natasha Willis is an expert in Instagram Automation using ManyChat.

She recently shared on the Creator Science podcast how she made $70m for her clients using ManyChat doing conversational marketing. It is pound-for-pound the smartest marketing strategy I've seen that converts followers into customers with very little effort.

Conversational marketing uses social media DMs. It changes people from followers into buyers through natural conversations. It guides potential customers with personalized replies.

This method is very effective, especially on Facebook and Instagram where automation tools make it possible.

Restrictions on other social media sites currently prevent the level of sophisticated automation within DMs seen on FB/IG. "Instagram Automation" is a sub-set of Conversational Marketing in terms of it's scope.

The idea is simple. You use specific actions people take to trigger a DM sequence.

There are 9 starting points for triggers in conversational marketing:

1. Commenting on a post

2. Replying to a story

3. Using a link in the bio

4. Tagging in a story

5. Sending a direct message

6. Clicking a link that leads to a DM conversation

7. Interacting with an ad that takes you to a DM

8. Commenting on a live video

9. Interacting in a broadcast channel

The most typical trigger is commenting on a post. Most people are using just the comment strategy right now on a post even when they use ManyChat.

For example, someone might comment "protein" on a post to get a free breakfast guide.

Basic automations only send people to a landing page. However, advanced systems allow for more within the direct message.

You can collect emails and deliver downloads directly. Automated integrations allow to export user info into email platforms. This DM chat gets a higher email capture rate; up to 85% compared to the 25% average of traditional landing pages. This all occurs inside the Instagram app and ManyChat technology to manage it.

ManyChat is the key platform to connect and run automated systems on Facebook and Instagram. Additional tech can further customize the flows such as with chatbots that use AI.

It is like email segmentation in software like Kit where different people get sent down different funnels to buy different offers. For example, a bodybuilder might send "weight loss" guide to fat people and a "bulk up" guide to thin people but not vice-versa.

However, DM segmentation is much easier than Email Segmentation as scrolling on social media is a daily habit of the masses.

ManyChat works like an email platform but for the DMs.

Pro-Tip: Comment "Jay" and send a DM to @NatashaTWillis on Instagram for free support resources, and a SOP checklist to help you start your own conversational marketing workflow.

There should be an attachment there between those 2 messages but somehow it is hidden. Might be a glitch in the software or my ad blocker.

You can also use other keywords Natasha mentions to get additional resources. You can find these keywords in her Notion Doc. Or, find them by browsing her profile for reels that ask for specific comments, and then send her that keyword in her DMs or comment that keyword on those posts directly.

One post she has on Instagram said, comment "3x" to access a free masterclass to better understand ManyChat. I did it and got a reply back.

Turns out, if the automation is still active, you might still be able to get their older content. This post is dated a year ago.

Humanizing The ManyChat Automation For Personalization

Automation systems use strategies not to feel robotic. These are designed to seem human but should always feel like automation.

People don't appreciate fake personalities from a company bot. Users like the 24/7 service from bots that still feel engaging and friendly.

While some may attempt to simulate human conversation after an automated start, this can become complicated by legal regulations like those in California that restrict the bot from acting as if it was a person.

Therefore, clear indicators with choice buttons work better with good outcomes, rather than the more free-form chatbots that can go off the rails.

Setting Yourself Up For Success

You need 2 main things before any automation.

First, your service has to be proven. To validate, there has to be at least 30 sales. There are no limits. Items from $1 to $100,000 have been seen to do well.

Second, your account needs engagement. Your posts must get at least 5 comments each for the past month. These engagement stats are more important than simple follower numbers. Bot accounts or low quality interactions may inflate that number, but it is not useful to help in sales conversion.

Effective Instagram Content

Avoid these 3 things:

• Purchased Followers: Fake accounts made by bots often get purchased from "farms." This increases the follower number but will not engage with you. There is little to no value as most bot followers lose a lot of followers every day and then gain a little bit more. The only winner here is the person operating the farm.

• Engagement Pods: People within engagement groups agree to interact with your content. These increase metrics, but are not real responses from your audience. This looks “gamed” to your real followers as well.

• Followers from Ads: Running a lot of ads can gain you followers, but people often follow simply because they saw the ad. Many of them aren't deeply invested in your content, so they don't actively engage. This results in an inactive audience. This can also harm the reach of an account and its credibility.

These methods are not useful as low engagement occurs with these strategies.

Nowadays, the Instagram algorithm has changed a bit:

• Past Model: Previously, Instagram showed your posts to a small number of your followers first, then pushed it further if there was engagement.

• Current Model: Now, it also shows your content to non-followers and pushes it further based on how both groups engage, increasing the possibility of new people finding your page.

This shift means it is now even more possible to have a post “pop off”, meaning it has a large audience. Even pages with low or lackluster previous engagement may see viral success. It's still beneficial, to make your posts relatable to a broad audience that is outside of your immediate target.

Therefore, you will want to take advantage of using trending audio and the newest features from Instagram.

Use a mixture of 3 content types:

1. Mass-Market / Broad Content/ Top-Of-Funnel Content: These posts should reach the largest audience. They can be viral-type videos, relatable posts that everyone can see, or using a trending audio/feature from Instagram. This content introduces you and your profile to new viewers. For example, if you are a new dad, you can make a post relatable to dads and that's one of the largest audiences in the world. The intention is for people to view, engage, then visit your profile for a deeper connection.

2. Target Audience / Middle-Of-Funnel Content: The intention of these posts is to be relatable to people who have similar traits as you or what you speak about. This content is targeted to a slightly smaller group compared to your Mass-Market posts, but should create more meaningful connections. For example, being a dad content creator is one level smaller than just all dads of the world. The users will start to gain interest in your content more seriously after this type of engagement.

3. Specific Call-to-Action/ Bottom-Of-Funnel Content: These posts are promotional, offering your product or service. It may have a pitch for your service/product/community and a focused call to action. These types of posts tend to get people to go and buy, or take action. They work best with a consistent audience that are familiar with your content as a source of good information that they want to invest further in.

The goal of these methods is to create awareness (top), grow interest (middle) and then drive action/sales (bottom), to move potential clients through a funnel type approach.

Real World Successful Case Study: Tori Dunlap

Tori Dunlap, for example, grew by 1.4 million followers and made $700,000 in only 4 months, through the usage of a fully automated DM response system via ManyChat and an overall strategy to follow this methodology.

She used DM automation as the primary driving factor and brought 150,000 subscribers via the system in a single quarter.

Her strategy included:

• Focused Weekly Theme: Rather than promoting numerous items, focus on one core offer a week. This helps people find clarity and results. Start to simplify to amplify to reduce the many options a potential client faces.

• Email Capture Throughout: The focus was not only on immediate sales; data collection to continue relationship is also important. Collect people's emails to double the promotional effort of content, like partnerships or other direct offers.

• Use the Follow-up Process: Following up is another key to results, such as thoughtful gifts or funny gifts or selfie videos as reminders if someone does not follow through the initial process, because they may have dropped off for life reasons. These will encourage return and follow through.

For example, Tori used a high-yield savings account offer to gain customer email addresses using this method, then following up with gifts or voice messages as follow up. The goal was to guide people through a process from beginning to sale using both Instagram DMs and email follow ups, with links being streamlined for increased conversion.

In a personal test, commenting "SECRETS" within Tori's first pinned post got me a fast direct message flow immediately in DMs, asking my name, email, and permission to keep in touch for updates. There are a variety of touch points inside this engagement which provide value throughout the process and help to streamline conversion results.

You have many ways to convert and engage in this manner. Here are some things you can try in your DM flows:

• Experiences, not Just Sales: Conversational marketing doesn’t only need to be transactional. For instance, Nike football (soccer) used a DM system to create daily challenges with videos, with little to no goal other than user participation. These create stronger relationships between a brand and their followers.

• Lead Capture: The most common uses: Offering lead magnets, like guides or short videos to build the top of the funnel, or running webinar registrations to move potential clients further into the pipeline. They opted in for a free guide so now you're inviting them to the free webinar. It increases the user experience as a method for moving people further along in a conversion flow.

• High-Value Offers: Waitlists and applications (for high-ticket programs like masterminds or coaching) are also more efficient through DMs because it’s an organic conversation and not a form on a landing page. The highest price point that Natasha's one client sold automatically with no human involvement has been $100,000. It was a business Mastermind program.

• Direct Sales: For e-commerce or smaller programs, you can do things such as send direct links to discount codes and collect email information along the way, allowing for future connection. Book launches can also follow similar flow processes with direct link sales or collection of email addresses for promotion outreach and a stronger campaign around new material.

• Strategic Promotions & Giveaways: The DMs are ideal for setting up a variety of giveaway flows during seasonal times or simply when looking to increase reach. Because these have higher engagement in DMs as the main channel to participate, there are often more results when it's managed that way.

• The "Double Dip": Once someone has responded, you can also add "invitations" to other related items. This is often done after someone gets their original lead-magnet. It is like an upsell.

You can reverse engineer popular DM funnels like Tori Dunlap for research to copy how bigger brands use automation by creating five accounts of your close family and friends and sending DMs with different starting messages to then copy to apply to your own Instagram account or your brand page.

Get More Reach on Instagram with New Features

Instagram’s algorithm promotes new and underused features. Following the platform’s CEO, Adam Mosseri, can be helpful in tracking new rollouts.

Currently, Instagram prioritizes Stories that use stickers. Using stickers will get better results with your organic content.

Use Instagram Stickers like "Add Yours" or "Reveal" to get pushed by the algorithm:

• Add Yours: This allows people to add their own content, which boosts visibility for those following the overall chain.

• Reveal: This creates anticipation as users must engage to see what's under the reveal layer. This builds engagement within your profile, from that original action.

You can also try using these 2 strategies:

• Strategic Story Sequence: Create your hook on one story with those interactive options, and use the next story to add the actual call to action. Instagram pushes more traffic to the first story and those viewers then have more intention in those profiles to see the other content.

• Direct Engagement: Look through and respond directly to the story actions in a DM reply, and connect with your community, to show your availability. This offers opportunities to lead people down specific workflow paths within DMs and engage a wider audience base as well.

Conversational marketing, when applied strategically, provides impressive results. Clients using systems like ManyChat can expect to convert followers into sales.

Top Tweets of the day

1/

"You will never have such easy opportunities for generational wealth even if you live another 80 years."

Truest statement considering our AI friends!

2/

This reply I found is a gem to start high-demand service-based businesses, especially this part.

"You can then start calling those companies to confirm. Pretend you have an issue and you want to get on their schedule. If you call a bunch of companies and they're all booked out for 2 weeks or if no one answers the phone.. that looks like a nice opportunity to me. If everyone answers the phone and they're willing to get out there today or tomorrow, that means the market is saturated and that's probably not a good business to start."

3/

48.4k followers and 7 million+ views on an AI clone plus countless new newsletter readers.

Expect this strategy to be mainstream when text-to-video model get cheaper.

Clippers will be a new mainstream gig and prompters too. New creators can be faceless too.

Rabbit Holes

1. My 2025 GenAI BIG BETS (AI Agents, o3, Paic) by IndyDevDan

2. How to Use AI to Do Stuff: An Opinionated Guide by Ethan Mollick

3. Learn how to rank a site #1 in Google by Vasco

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