In the fast-paced world of digital communication, every interaction matters—especially when it comes to connecting with your audience in meaningful and measurable ways. That’s where Messenger Ref URL trigger steps in to revolutionize how you engage with users.
Imagine this: A potential customer clicks a personalized link in your ad, email, or social media post and is instantly guided into a tailored Messenger experience. No barriers, no distractions — just direct, intentional engagement designed to drive results.
The Messenger Ref URL trigger helps you guide users into specific chatbot flows based on the links they click. It’s perfect for generating leads, boosting sales, or delivering fast and personalized customer support.
In this guide, we’ll break down how the Messenger Ref URL trigger works, how to set it up, and tips for using it to create seamless, engaging experiences. This article will cover:
How to set up the Messenger Ref URL trigger
To add the Messenger Ref URL trigger to your automation, simply click the + New Trigger button within the Flow builder.
When the pop-up window appears, select the trigger from the list to add it to your automation.
Clicking on the added trigger opens a panel on the left, where you can configure its settings. Let’s take a closer look at what each section represents.
First, by clicking the editing icon next to the trigger's name, you can rename it to make it more specific and easily distinguishable, helping to keep your automations organized and tidy.
The next block simply shows the ready-to-use Messenger Ref URL, which you can easily copy and apply in any way you like.
Just below this section, you'll find additional settings to further customize your Messenger Ref URL, enhancing its appearance and making it easier to distinguish from other links.
In the Customize Ref Parameter section, you can replace the characters following ref= in the link with your own choice of text or symbols. This not only makes the link more visually appealing but also helps you easily identify and organize your Ref URLs.
In the Save payload to a Custom User Field section, you can configure the trigger to store custom information — such as names or affiliate IDs — in a Custom User Field whenever someone clicks the link. For more details on Custom User Fields, check this article.
Once you have successfully set up everything, click Save, and then toggle the switch in the bottom left corner to activate the trigger.
After copying the Ref URL for use, add the data you want to save to a custom field at the end of the link, following the '--' symbols, as demonstrated in the example below:
https://m.me/100222936162934?ref=smg-checklist--data
This covers everything you need to set up the Messenger Ref URL trigger and create more meaningful connections with your audience!
Limitations and troubleshooting
While the Messenger Ref URL trigger is a powerful tool for driving personalized engagement, it’s important to understand its limitations and how to address potential issues. This section covers key restrictions and troubleshooting tips to help ensure a smooth experience for you and your audience.
Limitations
- New contacts must click the Get Started button in Messenger before they can receive the corresponding automation triggered by the Messenger Ref URL.
- If you’ve deleted your Messenger Ref URL trigger, it cannot be restored as the links are generated automatically. You will need to create a new one.
However, if you had used a Custom Ref parameter with your link, you can simply create a new link and enter the same Ref parameter. This way, even though you’ve created a new Messenger Ref URL trigger in Manychat, you won’t need to update any references to it since the URL itself will remain unchanged.
Troubleshooting
- If the Get Started button doesn’t appear in Messenger
First, Refresh Permissions of your Manychat account through the Help button as outlined in this article. Next, navigate to the automation where the Messenger Ref URL trigger is added, deactivate the trigger, and then reactivate it by toggling it off and on.
⚠️ Note: Ensure these actions are performed by a team member who is either the Owner or an Admin with full control over the Facebook business page connected to the Manychat account.
This process will restore the connection between Manychat and Facebook, after which the Get Started button should appear.
- If the automation connected to the Messenger Ref URL is not triggered
Start by Refreshing Permissions, as outlined earlier, and ensure you follow the steps and requirements mentioned above.
Next, confirm that the automation linked to the Messenger Ref URL trigger is published. Look for a small yellow dot next to the automation title, which indicates there are unpublished changes that need to be addressed.
If everything is correctly configured, check the Handover Protocol setup. The most common reason Messenger automation isn’t sent is that Manychat does not have ownership of the conversation on Facebook.
To ensure Manychat can deliver messages accurately, the Handover Protocol must be set up as detailed in this article.
With proper setup and maintenance, you can ensure seamless automation and a better experience for your audience.
If you are encountering any issues with the Messenger Ref URL trigger, please contact our Support Team.