Quick Automation: Generate leads with stories

Quick Automations provide a simpler, more intuitive way to build automations while integrating seamlessly with established Manychat tools like the Basic Builder and Flow Builder. This approach speeds up the automation creation process, making it ideal for newcomers to Manychat, while still offering experienced creators the flexibility and power needed to refine and scale their strategies.

Just like comment replies, Quick Automations for story replies allow you to automate interactions such as collecting lead information, sending follow-up messages, and building stronger connections with followers. This addition opens up new possibilities for driving engagement, while saving you valuable time.

If you're already familiar with how Quick Automations work for comment replies, you'll find the setup for story replies just as intuitive. This feature is a fantastic way to make your lead generation process more effective and efficient. Let's dive into how you can use it!

Set up automated responses to story replies via Quick Automations

To make setting up and managing this automation simpler, we’ve added several entry points throughout Manychat. This allows you to access and update the automation at any time, even after the initial setup is complete.

From the Home tab:

1. Open your Manychat workspace and go to the Home tab.
2. Find the Start Here section.
3. Click the Generate leads with stories card.

From the Automations tab:

1. Click the Automations tab in the sidebar.
2. Select My Automations.
3. Click +New Automation.
4. In the pop-up that opens, select Generate leads with stories or click +Start From Scratch and select Story reply.

From here, you can set up or edit the automation. You’ll be taken directly to the Quick Automation setup page, where you can customize your automation.

1. Select whether this trigger should work with any story or a specific one. As you adjust these settings, a real-time preview will display how they’ll appear on Instagram, ensuring everything looks perfect. Note that to use the specific story option, you must have active stories. The list will only show stories that are currently live on your account.
2. Next, define specific words or reactions that a story reply must include to activate the automation, or set it to trigger for any word or reaction. Be sure to separate words and reactions with commas. Multiple words entered without commas will be treated as a single keyword.
3. Next, configure the initial direct message users will receive after replying to your story. This message is your first opportunity to continue the conversation and guide users to take action. In this step, you can customize the following elements:
   • Message content: Write the text that will be sent to users in the DM.
   • Button link: Add the URL you want to share inside the button.
   • Button title: Choose a clear and compelling button label to encourage clicks.
4. Optional: Under Other things to automate you have the opportunity to enhance your automation by adding a few more interactive touches. These options can help boost engagement, grow your audience, and gather valuable information, all while keeping things simple and fun for your users. Let’s explore what you can do:
   • React to story replies with ❤️: Show your audience some love by automatically reacting to their story replies with a heart emoji. This small but meaningful gesture makes users feel appreciated and encourages them to engage with your business more often. It’s like saying, “We see you, and we’re happy you’re here!”
   • Follow up to grow engagement: Send a follow-up message 5 minutes after the last message. For example, you could ask if they enjoyed the content or if they have any questions about your products. Follow-ups keep the conversation flowing and help create a stronger connection with your audience.
   • Ask to follow before sending the link: Manychat can check if the user is already following your account on Instagram. If not, an additional message will kindly prompt them to follow you before receiving the link they requested. This ensures that your content reaches an engaged audience while helping to grow your follower base.
   • Ask for email: Use this option to ask users for their email address. Whether you want to send them exclusive offers, updates, or a sweet discount on their next order, collecting emails is a great way to build long-term relationships and engage with your audience beyond Instagram.
5. After completing your setup, click Go Live in the top-right corner to activate the automation.

If all these features are enabled, the order will be as follows:

1. Story reply reaction with ❤️
2. Email collection
3. Follow request
4. Main message with the link
5. Follow-up reminder

Setting up automated responses to story replies on mobile

You can set up the Generate leads with stories automation directly from the Manychat mobile app. It works on both iOS and Android and only takes a few minutes to complete.

Follow the steps below to get started:

1. Log in to the Manychat app on your mobile.
2. Under Create your own automation select Story reply.
3. Alternatively, tap on Automation.
4. Tap +New Automation button.
5. Select Story reply automation.
6. Next, follow the same steps as you would while setting up this automation from the browser.
7. Once you’re finished, tap the Preview And Go Live button. Make sure that the messages are just as you want them in the preview window, and tap Go Live.

Edit or stop your automation after it goes live

If you need to make adjustments to your automation after it has gone live, you can easily return to the setup page.

1. Open the Automations tab and find the Generate leads with stories automation in the list.
2. Click on it to open the automation’s page.
3. Next, click the Edit button in the upper-right corner. Once you're in edit mode, make the necessary changes.
4. When you're done, click the Update button to publish your changes. Afterward, you'll be redirected back to the Insights tab to monitor your updated automation's performance.

If you decide to stop the automation at any time, click the Stop button in the upper-right corner of the automation’s page.

If you want to reactivate it later, click the Go Live button in the same location to bring your automation back online instantly.

Check your automation’s performance in the Insights tab

After your automation goes live, you’ll be redirected to the Insights tab, where you can monitor its performance.

Here, you’ll find all the relevant data, including metrics such as Sent, Delivered, Read, and Clicked, as well as the number of emails collected. These metrics give you a quick snapshot of what’s working well and where there may be opportunities to improve.

Below is a breakdown of each metric and how it’s calculated, so you can better understand what your automation data represents:

• Sent: The total number of times a DM with the link was sent.
• Delivered: The number of users who successfully received the DM with the link.
• Read: The number of users who opened and read the DM with the link.
• Clicked: The number of users who clicked the button in the DM with the link.
• Emails collected: The number of users who submitted their email address, if email collection was enabled in your automation.

This information helps you evaluate engagement and optimize your automation’s performance.

Runs vs Sent

Another important metric to be aware of, and one that often causes confusion, is Runs.

Unlike the performance metrics shown in the Insights tab, the Runs metric is located in the Automations tab. Scroll to the relevant automation, and you’ll see the Runs count displayed next to its name.

It’s important to understand that Runs doesn’t always match the Sent count shown in the Insights tab. This difference depends on how your automation is structured.

Runs are calculated based on the first message node in your automation. Depending on which options you enable in the Other things to automate section, this first message can change, meaning Runs may not always represent how many times the DM with the link was sent.

For example:

• If you enable Ask to follow before sending the link, that message becomes the first step in the automation. In this case, Runs count how many times the follow prompt was sent, even if the user never reached the link.
• If you enable Ask for email, the email request becomes the first message instead. Here, Runs reflect how many times the email prompt was triggered, not the link message.

If none of the private message options in that section are enabled, the DM with the link becomes the default first message. In this setup, Runs and Sent will match because they’re tracking the same step.

To illustrate:

• With Ask to follow enabled, you might see 3,000 Runs and 2,600 Sent, meaning 400 users saw the follow prompt but didn’t continue to the link.
• With Ask for email enabled, you might see 5,000 Runs and 4,200 Sent, reflecting a natural drop-off before the link message.
• In a simpler setup with neither option enabled, both values might be 2,150, fully aligned.

Understanding how Runs and Sent relate to each other helps clarify your automation’s performance and gives you a more accurate picture of how users move through each step.