The Quick Automations feature in Manychat continues to evolve, and we're excited to share a fantastic new addition: the ability to automate responses to story replies. Previously, Quick Automations were available for comment replies, and now you can extend the same powerful functionality to Instagram stories, creating even more opportunities to engage with your audience.
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!
⚠️ Note: The Quick Automation for story replies is currently available on desktop only.
Setting up automated responses to story replies via Quick Automations
Getting started with automated responses to story replies using Quick Automations is easy and convenient!
You can access this feature directly from the Home → Start Here section in your Manychat account. Simply click on the option to begin the setup process.
This will redirect you to the Quick Automation setup page, where you can configure everything. Let’s break down each step in the process together!
When someone replies to…
In this section, you can choose 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: To use the specific story option, you must have active stories. The list will only show stories that are currently live on your account.
And this reply has…
Here, you can 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.
⚠️ Note: You should use commas to separate words and reactions; otherwise, multiple words written consecutively without commas will be treated as a single keyword.
Then they will get a DM with a link…
This section allows you to configure the initial direct message the users will receive in response to their story replies. Here’s what you can customize:
- Message content: Craft the text for the message that will be sent to users.
- Button link: Insert the URL you want to share with your audience inside the button.
- Button title: Set up the title for the button to make it clear and enticing.
A live preview will display all the changes you make, showing exactly how the message will appear to your contacts on Instagram.
Other things to automate
In this final section, 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: Boost engagement by sending 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 first 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: You can 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.
If all these features are enabled, the order will be as follows:
- Story reply reaction with ❤️
- Email collection
- Follow request
- Main message with the link
- Follow-up reminder
Below you can see how these messages are arranged in the automation when all these features are enabled:
By using these additional options, you can take your automation to the next level, creating a more engaging and effective experience for your customers.
Go live and check performance
After completing your setup, click Go Live in the top-right corner to activate the automation.
After you go live, you will be redirected to a new tab called Activity, where you can track the performance of your automation.
Here, you'll find all the relevant data, including metrics such as sent, delivered, read, and clicked rates, as well as the number of emails collected.
In conclusion, once your automation is live, you can monitor its success and make adjustments as needed to optimize results.
Edit your automation after going live or stop it
In case you need to make adjustments to your automation after it has gone live, you can easily go back to the setup page. Simply click the Edit button in the upper right corner.
Once you're in edit mode, make the necessary changes, and when you're done, click the Update button to publish your changes.
Afterward, you'll be redirected back to the Activity section to monitor your updated automation's performance.
⚠️ Note: If you edit your automation, the data in the performance section won't reset to zero, so you won't lose any previous metrics.
If you decide at any point to stop the automation fully, click the Stop button in the upper right corner.
Don't worry—if you want to reactivate it later, you can do so by clicking the Go Live button, which will appear in the same section, bringing your automation back live seamlessly.
Limitations and troubleshooting
- The Quick Automation for story replies will only work with stories in your Instagram highlights if you choose the “any story” option. Even after a story expires, the automation will continue to function if the story has been added to your Instagram highlights.
- The Quick Automation for story replies cannot be applied to specific highlight stories or stories shared with close friends.
If you're encountering issues with this feature, please contact our Support Team.