23. Close Sales While You Sleep: The Power of Instagram DM Automation (part 4)
If you're still telling people on Instagram to click the link in your bio, then today's episode is definitely for you. I'm sharing a game changer that skyrocketed my Instagram engagement, sales, and helped me grow my email list in my sleep. Have you guessed it? It's DM automation.
Today, we're diving into ManyChat, how I've been using this tool, and how you can too to boost your Instagram engagement, followers, and grow your business on Instagram.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
[01:18] Why DM Automation Matters
- This is part four of our four-part mini-series all about AI marketing and ChatGPT. Today, we're switching focus to ManyChat, a tool I've been using for DM automation that integrates with some AI. We'll explore how you can use DM automation to grow your email list and make sales in your sleep.
[02:12] Link in Bio is Dead
- Years ago, saying "click the link in my bio" was the key strategy on Instagram. However, this strategy is now outdated. Sending potential customers to your link in bio negatively impacts your Instagram reach, engagement, and conversions. Discover why and what to do instead.
[03:39] Higher Conversion Rates with DM Automation
- The click-through rate for link in bio averages at 1%, whereas links in the DMs have a 46% conversion rate. Learn why DM automation leads to higher engagement and conversions, and why Instagram favors this method.
[04:42] Eliminating Friction in Marketing
- Sending followers to multiple links in your bio can lead to lost leads. DM automation removes this friction, making it easier for potential customers to engage with your content and offers directly.
[05:36] How DM Automation Works with ManyChat
- Post as you normally would, and invite engagement with a keyword like "freebie" or "money." MiniChat handles the rest, sending your guide or offer straight to their DMs. Try it out by DMing me the word "money" on Instagram.
[06:30] Growing Followers with No Extra Content
- DM automation seamlessly integrates into your existing content strategy, driving higher engagement and boosting your content in the algorithm, which helps expand your reach and grow your follower base.
[07:53] Growing Your Email List
- An email list is crucial because you own it. Learn how to set up lead magnets in ManyChat to grow your email list effortlessly.
[10:44] Personal Touch with DM Automation
- While DM automation handles initial responses, maintaining a personal touch is key. Follow up with voice notes or personal messages to nurture relationships.
[15:20] AI Assistant in ManyChat
- ManyChat’s AI Assistant helps you write targeted messages, improve text quality, and tailor your tone of voice. It's an invaluable tool for personalized marketing.
Links mentioned in this episode…
✅Get Your First month FREE of ManyChat Pro Here!
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Quote
"[03:39] The click-through rate for link in bio stands at about 1%, whereas the rate for links in the DMs is a substantial 46%. So you are going to have a much higher conversion when you're doing DM automation."
TRANSCRIPT
S3 Ep23 - Close Sales While You Sleep: The Power of Instagram DM Automation (part 4)
Elizabeth Marberry: 00:00
00:00
If you're still telling people on Instagram to click the link in your bio, then today's episode is definitely for you. I'm gonna be sharing with you a game changer that skyrocketed my Instagram engagement, sales, and helped me grow my email list in my sleep. Have you guessed it? It's DM automation. And today we're going to dive into many chat and how I've been using this tool and how you can too to boost your Instagram engagement,
00:29
followers and of course grow your business on Instagram. I cannot wait to share this with you. Let's go.
00:38
Welcome to Strut It, a podcast about creating bold visibility on social media with zero apologies. I'm Elizabeth Marberry, your host and Instagram marketing coach. I help small business owners get seen on Instagram and monetize their offers so they can make more money doing their sole-led work. If you're tired of spinning your wheels on Instagram and you're seeking simple, proven Instagram marketing strategies that actually work, you're in the right place.
01:07
Let's dive in.
01:18
that you have joined me today for this conversation around DM automation. And this is part four of our four part mini series all about AI marketing and chat GPT. And today's focus we're going to kind of switch from chat GPT into one of the tools I've been using for DM automation that does integrate with some AI. And that is called ManyChat.
01:47
And in this episode, we're gonna explore how you can use DM automation to grow your email list and make sales in your sleep. I'm super pumped because this has been a total game-changer for me and both of my businesses. So let's dive into why should you even consider using DM automation. So years and years ago, what used to work on Instagram was saying,
02:12
click the link in my bio. And as a business owner, that link in bio was the absolute most important thing because that is how you could get your followers from Instagram onto your website or onto your blog or onto your email list, whatever your funnel is for your Instagram. And that strategy is now officially dead. That's right, link in bio is dead and it is an outdated Instagram strategy.
02:42
And I'm gonna explain to you why. So when you send a potential customer to your link in bio, what you're really doing is you are asking them to leave Instagram and go to an external site. Now, when you do that, it's gonna negatively impact your Instagram reach, engagement, and your conversions are going to be low because of two things. One, if I'm a user on Instagram and I'm scrolling through,
03:10
If I'm watching one of your reels and you tell me to go click the link on your bio, I have to stop scrolling. I have to click on your profile. I have to go find the link. I have to click that link again. I have to leave Instagram, completely stop doing what I was doing and dive into your world. So the barrier to entry is high. There's a lot of clicks for the user and the conversion rate on that is going to be substantially low. In fact,
03:39
On average, the click-through rate for link and bio stands at about 1%, whereas the rate for links in the DMs is a substantial 46%. So you are gonna have a much higher conversion when you're doing DM automation. And the other reason why the link and bio does not work is that Instagram makes money by people staying on their app and consuming content.
04:07
they do not want people to leave their app. Instagram is business just like anything else. They need that ad revenue. They need those sponsorships, right? So if you are sending people away from Instagram, the algorithm is going to penalize you for that. So that is why when you say link and bio, it will negatively impact your engagement and reach. Now, I say that as kind of a blanket rule, but of course there's always exceptions to the rule.
04:37
I do wanna highlight something, which is that back in 2021, I was using the strategy of Link ln bio and it was converting really, really well for me. It used to work and now it's not working as well anymore. So as always, you need to test things and try things out for yourself, for your audience, but this is Instagram marketing of 2024. That is my job to bring you the latest updates. So that is why we are diving into this today.
05:06
The other reason why you don't wanna send your potential customers to your link and bio is that many of us, when you click that link in your bio, you have a lot of different links, right? So you might have a link to your freebie or a link to your website or a link to your podcast. So what can happen is that your leads can get lost and give up because with marketing, you really wanna remove the friction. You wanna make it as easy as possible for your potential customers
05:36
consume whatever it is you're dishing out, right? So DM automation is the perfect solution. And today, the focus is going to be on ManyChat because that is the tool that I use. I've had the most success with. It's incredible and very user friendly. Are there other DM automation services that you can use? Absolutely, feel free to explore that on your own.
06:02
And I highly recommend ManyChat and I have a special link for you in the show notes. If you want to try out ManyChat totally for free, you can do that with my special link so you can head on over to the show notes and grab that link if you wanna try it all out for free. So how does DM automation work? So with MiniChat, what's really cool is that you post as you normally would, right? And you invite engagement with a simple call to action.
06:30
And your call to action will include a keyword like the word freebie or for me, my keyword is the word money. I have a free monetize your IG guide where I teach you seven simple and proven ways to finally make money on Instagram. And if you want that guide, all you have to do is DM me the word money on Instagram or comment on my post money.
06:56
and my little chat bot assistant is going to send you that guide straight to your DMs. In fact, I'd love for you to test it out right now. So you can go to my Instagram, Elizabeth Marberry, DM me the word money, because if you haven't already grabbed that free guide, what the heck are you waiting for? I share the exact strategy that I implemented to grow my company's following to over 120,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok.
07:23
while boosting our sales by 84% and adding over 4,000 people on our email list. That guide is gold, and if you haven't grabbed it yet, you can DM me the word money on Instagram and get it, and then it'll be twofold for you because you'll also see how this DM automation works in real time. So the keyword is set up in MiniChat, and when someone comments your magic keyword on your post or your wheel, or maybe they send you a DM with that word,
07:53
or they comment on your live video, they will get a DM with the link that you have set up and then it's just rinse and repeat. Now, how does ManyChat and DM automation really help us grow our business on social media? The first is that it will help you to grow your followers with no extra content required. So you're already creating a lot of content.
08:19
DM automation weaves seamlessly into what you're already doing. And here's how it will help you to grow your followers. So when people are commenting that keyword, it will drive a higher engagement rate. Now if you've been listening to the podcast long enough, you should know that when you're driving engagement, it tells the Instagram algorithm, oh my gosh.
08:46
Elizabeth's content is fire. It is so good. I wanna show it to other people. If you're liking my content, if you're commenting my keyword, that is boosting my engagement, which in turn boosts my content in the algorithm. And it pushes my content in front of more people. So that is how ManyChat can help you to grow your following by really helping you to...
09:16
boost your content as the algorithm really favors you and it will help to expand your reach. And in doing so, assuming that everything is positioned, like that you have your bio dialed in, that all of your content delivers on the promise of your bio, your account will gain more ideal followers. It's happened to me, it's so incredible when it happens and it's kind of magic, right? Because if this happens, I could post a piece of content
09:46
10 a.m. on a Saturday, go spend the whole day with my family, never check Instagram again, and I log back in and I have all these new followers and I have 20 new people on my email list. It's pretty incredible. So I love how DM automation really helps us to stop solely relying on Instagram algorithms, and it kind of gives us a little bit more power because we have this assistant that is automatically liking or responding to every comment.
10:16
And instead of taking hours and hours to be liking and commenting on every single thing, your little robot assistant just does it for you. So you'll start to watch as your content increases your reach and visibility, and will help you to capture more qualifying leads. Now, I mentioned this before, so how exactly does DM automation help you to grow your email list? And let's rewind for a second, like why do you even need an email list?
10:44
I have over 30,000 followers on Instagram. Why do I need an email list? Here's why. You don't own your Instagram followers, but you do own your email list. So number one tip as a business owner is you absolutely must have a clear strategy as to how you're going to use Instagram, this free platform.
11:05
to grow your email list because the email list is where most of your sales and conversions are gonna take place because that's where you're nurturing your clients. So how do I use a mini chat to grow my email list? It's simple, exactly like I said before, I set up my freebie, so my free monetize your IG guide for example, that is one of my lead magnets. So a lead magnet could be a checklist, it could be a free download, it could be an ebook.
11:35
It could be lots of different things. It's a gift to your followers. It helps them solve a small problem and in exchange for that, they give you their name and their email. So you set this up in ManyChat really easily and when they comment that word money, for example, for my business, I send them the link to grab my guide. They give me their name, their email, and in return they get my free guide and then I grow my email list.
12:02
So it is incredible how well this worked. I've used this with both my brands, I use this with my clients, and it is just bananas at how well this works. The other reason why I love using DM automation is I don't have to answer every single DM manually. And while I do want to have that personal touch with my followers and with anyone that DMs me,
12:29
If someone is wanting a free guide, for example, or if someone, if I'm talking about one of my podcast episodes, and I'm telling them the place to go listen to it and that I can send them the link to listen to this particular episode, do they wanna wait like 12 hours for when I log back into my Instagram and look at their comment and finally send them the link? No, they want that information now. They want it when they're on your account, when they're thinking about you and your offer, whatever it is.
12:58
So it is so important in this attention economy that while you have captured someone's attention and they're asking for what you have to serve, that you give it to them right away in the moment. And again, that will lead to a higher conversion rate for you. Now, I like to add in a little personal note where I will go back through my messages and see who has gotten an automated DM from me. And sometimes I will send a voice note,
13:27
to follow up or I'll just type out a note. I do like to do that because I do want my people to know that I'm here. I'm actually looking at my DMs. If they want my free guide, I want to get in conversation with them. So I go above and beyond to nurture that relationship and to bring in the human aspect so it's not all robot driven. So you're welcome to do that as well. I highly recommend that you do. And if you're worried about that, if you're worried about it kind of taking out that like intimacy.
13:56
That's a way that you can still use DM automation to get the people what they want when they want it. And you can systematize your approach. So that way you're still in conversation with your people. You're still a human, you can still ask them questions and go back and forth in the DMs. Because as we know, conversions come from conversation. So the more you can get into conversation, the better. The other reason why I love MiniChat is there's no tech experience needed. It's very intuitive.
14:25
very simple flows that you can set up. They give you lots of free templates in MiniChat. And again, if you want to dive into this totally for free, click the link in the show notes. I have a free subscription to the pro version. They do have a free version as well, but with my link, you get a free subscription to the pro version. So you can test it out for your business, see how simple it is to use and integrate.
14:54
And what's really cool and how this kind of connects into our AI marketing series is that ManyChat recently released an AI Assistant. And this is a new feature where you can use AI to help you write out your messages. So they're really targeted and customized. It will improve your current text messages that you send.
15:20
And it can also rewrite your text for a very specific goal. So you can tell it whatever goal you have with your DM automation. It can also change the tone of voice. So let's say you kind of have this template and it feels really dry and it's not really you. You can train it to speak in the way that you would speak so it feels more personalized. And so your marketing is really tailored to your ideal person. And the last thing I wanna share about ManyChat is it's a hundred percent approved by Meta.
15:49
So ManyChat is an official Meta business partner. And as an official Meta partner, ManyChat supports the use of the platform in ways that are in full compliance with the official Meta guidelines. So a lot of people were worried, oh my gosh, if I start using this, is Instagram gonna punish me? And the answer is no, it's totally 100% approved by Meta, which is part of why I was so excited to jump on this bandwagon of ManyChat.
16:19
In fact, they have weekly meetings with Meta's product team and they work really closely together. So you can feel confident that if you use ManyChat, you're not going to be penalized by Meta. So I hope you're feeling super inspired to try this out. Again, go to the show notes where I will share with you that special link where you can try out MiniChat totally for free. And don't forget to DM me the word money on Instagram so you can see it work in the wild and get that free guide.
16:48
Now to close out this little four part mini series, I wanna share three quick things. One is that next week we are bringing on Juan Gallen. He is my AI coach and I'm interviewing him and it is fire. And he is a total expert in the space. I am so excited. So make sure you have subscribed to the show so you don't miss it. And if you've been loving the series, if you love this podcast, if it's helped you in any way to market your business on social media,
17:18
Do me a favor, share it with a business bestie. That helps me so much to reach more incredible, ambitious business owners like yourself and continue to deliver this high value free content to you. And to close, I just want to talk about the opportunity of AI and the future. AI is a content assistant. Remember, it is not a replacement.
17:43
So remember, you can use AI to brainstorm ideas, generate outlines, research topics, gather information. As we've discussed in previous episodes, you can use AI to repurpose your existing content into new formats like blog posts or LinkedIn posts or wherever else you wanna show up. You can use AI to proofread and edit your content. And I also wanna leave you with this.
18:11
Human and AI collaboration is key. Remember, you're not gonna be replaced by a robot, but you may be replaced by someone who knows how to use AI. So today is the time to start exploring and getting curious about how you can learn how to use this tool. And really the best approaches with AI involves humans guiding the AI, right? You know now that the output is only as good as the input. So humans will be always a part of this.
18:40
ensuring the quality, the value, that your unique brand voice is here. So I invite you to just befriend AI, allow it to be your assistant, allow it to make your job and life easier. And as we're looking into the future, you're gonna start to see AI everywhere. Apple recently announced that they're gonna be integrating more AI into their software, and it's just going to be woven into everyday life where you don't even think about the fact that it's AI, kind of like Netflix.
19:10
It just is how you consume TV. And so the sooner that you can start to use these tools to work more efficiently and save you time so you can be in your zone of genius, the sooner that you are going to be able to expand and grow your business. And I'm just so excited to support you in doing so. I hope you've loved this four-part mini-series. If you have, make sure you rate and review the show.
19:38
I read every single one of those and they absolutely make my day. I cannot wait to share with you that interview next week and go make it a great week, go make some incredible content and don't forget to try out ManyChat. It's a total game changer for your Instagram. See you next week. Thank you for listening to Strut It. If you're ready to start leveraging Instagram to grow your business, then you're gonna wanna grab my free monetize your IG guide.
20:05
where you'll learn seven simple and proven ways to finally make money on Instagram. You can grab your guide at elizabethmarberry.com
20:16
freebies. That's elizabethmarberry.com slash freebies to get my monetize your IG guide. If you got some incredible value from today's episode, be sure to leave a review and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. And I cannot wait to start it with you again next week.