So, you’ve cottoned on to the HUGE opportunities that chat funnels could bring to your business. You’re excited to start building out those flows and start using them on your Instagram account… but

Whoa there, friend!! Slow down… as much as I share your excitement (I mean, automation AND engagement, c’mon!) it’s worth implementing a few good build habits for your chat funnels from the get-go to ensure you don’t get yourself in a pickle, fry your brain, get frustrated and then give up.

So buckle up, and read on. Here are my five ‘bestest’ build tips to to make more bucks from your bot…

1: Set expectations!

Firstly, don’t try to fool your users that they’re talking to an actual human. There’s a fine balance to strike between ensuring your automations flow like a natural conversation, whilst at the same time making the consumer aware it’s not a ‘real’ person! Many people give their chatbot a name or refer to their ‘automated assistant’. Do what feels right for your brand.

In addition, make sure the consumer knows what’s going to happen next once they’ve commented on your post or DM’d you a keyword.

On IG, the Post/Reel trigger allows to send an automated comment reply, which appears under their original comment. I always use this functionality to say: ‘Check your DMs, I’ve sent you a message. Might be in requests’. Or something similar

You can input several options here – and ManyChat will send different replies, meaning your conversations will sound more natural.

If you’re likely to have a reel or post that gets traction quite quickly, then keep this function turned off. There are limitations on Meta’s side on the volume & speed of messages on Instagram and you don’t want to inadvertantly receive any restrictions.

2: Keep the flows concise – don’t over egg your ‘thing’

Once you’ve got people opted in to your chat funnel, you want them to take your intended action in a timely manner. If you take users on a long, automated conversation they’re going to get frustrated and close the chat.

By all means highlight the main selling points of your lead magnet / webinar / product – use an image if it helps – but then gather their name and email and deliver the ‘thing’.

Get them from A to B as succinctly as possible and your conversion rate will be much higher.

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3: Break up long builds into shorter flows

Put it this way – shorter chat funnels not only make it easier for the consumer to take your intended action, they also make the flow quicker to load within your software builder (I use ManyChat) and make it easier for you to find and rectify any mistakes or accidental broken flows.

For example, if you’re building out a flow for something like a five-day challenge where you’d like the user to complete each daily challenge before progressing to the next step, build these as five separate flows, rather than one, huge flow.

Name each one Day 1, Day 2 etc – and make sure the last step in each flow is a button that clearly signposts the next day’s challenge.

4: Use efficient tagging to keep your audience segmented

This is very similar to how you’d ideally use tagging within your email software – and we all know how vital that is!

At a minimum I use a tag to indicate when someone has started a chat funnels, completed a flow and also when they have taken an action within a flow – such as giving their name, email or phone number.

Tagging can help improve the customer journey. For example, I use a condition at the start of each flow that checks whether the user has the ‘completion’ tag for that flow. If they have, I know they have already been through that flow and that the lead magnet, for example, has already been delivered. I then ask if they meant to re-enter the flow, whether they would actually like the lead magnet delivered again, and whether they’d like it delivered to a different email address.

5: Chat funnel naming conventions: what, where and how…

Again – another workflow must-have. Clear naming conventions will help you identify which flows are which, and enable you to link flows more seamlessly without wondering if you’re linking to the correct flow.

I use a naming convention such as: platform_product_trigger.

For example: IG_chatfunnel_post_reel_comment – then I know that this is a flow for Instagram, it’s delivering my chat funnel lead magnet, using the Post/Reel comment trigger.

So there you have it!

Thinking about your workflow and implementing a few systems and processes before you start to build will help you in the long term. You’ll reap the rewards as you soon get to know your way around the flow builder and keep everything organised and simplified.

Happy building!

Find out more about my chat funnel services here.

Thinking about getting started with Instagram chat funnels, but not sure exactly how it all works and whether it’s right for your brand? Pop your name and email address below and get my FREE guide winging its way to your inbox!

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