72: DM Funnels for Beginners: How to Automate Leads and Sales on Instagram
Still relying on “click the link in my bio”? There’s a better way. I’m breaking down how to use DM automation to grow your email list, increase engagement, and drive leads from your Instagram content, all without being glued to your phone. You’ll learn why this strategy works better than traditional link-in-bio methods, how I use it in both of my businesses, and exactly how to get started (even if you’ve never heard of ManyChat before).
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
[04:48] Why “link in bio” is dead (and how DM automation works better)
[07:36] The step-by-step breakdown of what actually happens when someone clicks your bio
[10:27] Why Instagram prefers links in DMs vs. external traffic
[13:13] How keywords boost engagement and reach (and why your caption matters)
[17:53] A basic example of how I grow my email list using DM automation
[19:17] The power of sending links, freebies, and lead magnets in the DMs
[21:40] What to do if you’re not getting comments and how Hot Reels can help
[23:32] Why now is the best time to get on the Hot Reels waitlist for fall 2025
Key Takeaways:
Click the link in bio? Nope.
It adds friction and kills your conversion rate. DM automation converts 46% better on average.Your content can work for you while you sleep.
DM automation makes your Instagram content do double-duty, building your list and growing your audience without extra effort.You don’t need a huge audience for this to work.
Even one comment can bring in one perfect-fit lead. It’s not about volume, it’s about alignment.Your followers are on Instagram. Keep them there.
The more you can reduce steps, the more people will take action. DM automation keeps them in-platform and gets you results.Still not seeing results from your content? It might be time for support.
Hot Reels is where I help entrepreneurs create content that actually converts, consistently.
Links Mentioned in This Episode:
Join the HOT REELS: 12-MONTH IG CONTENT LAB waitlist!
My episode on The Social Media Marketing Talk Show Podcast: Instagram Updates: Edits App, Comment Filters, Grid Features, and More
A Truth You Need to Hear:
"We're putting in all this effort to create content. Why wouldn't we let it be our marketing engine while we're offline?"
S3 Ep72 Transcript: DM Funnels for Beginners: How to Automate Leads and Sales on Instagram
00:00
Are you still telling people to click the link in your bio? It's time to upgrade your Instagram strategy with DM automation. You can grow your followers, boost engagement and close sales even while you sleep. Today, I'm gonna break down the basics of DM automation so you can get started with confidence using this tool. Are you ready? Let's go.
00:23
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 lead 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.
00:52
Let's dive in.
01:01
Welcome back to the show. I'm super happy you have joined me for another episode where we break down exactly how you can use Instagram to grow your brand visibility and drive more leads and sales. I'm feeling super pumped because this morning I got to go on a bike ride with my 11 year old. She's going to be 12 next week. And it was some awesome mommy daughter time. It's a juggle, right? Like having kids home for summer.
01:29
working full time, trying to be present as a parent, to do all the things. So I feel you to anyone out there who also feels like they're juggling all the balls, but today it just felt good. I took my morning off, had that connection time with her, and tonight I get to have a date night with my husband. So this is your reminder that yes, work is important. I know you love what you do, and definitely weave in time with your people. It is the most important thing.
01:58
And today's been a really cool balance for me because I had that personal family time with my daughter this morning. And then this afternoon I got to be interviewed by Jerry Potter. He is the host of the social media marketing talk show. And that was really fun. It was different than interviews I typically do because it was streamed alive on YouTube and his show, the social media marketing talk show is awesome.
02:24
It's really a show where he shares like the latest updates for each social platform. So he was talking to me about Instagram news and I don't usually do a lot of that kind of content. So it pushed me a little bit outside my comfort zone, but I think I did okay. And I share this with you because I think as entrepreneurs, creatives, high achievers, we can be so hard on ourselves. I don't know if you do this, but sometimes I will do something like an interview or I will
02:52
record a podcast for you. And then I think to myself, oh man, I should have said this or it could have been so much better. And then I go back and listen to it. I'm like, you know what? It was good. Like, I don't know why I'm so hard on myself. And so this is your sign to take a pause. And as my business bestie, Call Leah says, she says, put the yardstick behind you and pause. Really notice how far you've come. And I had a moment like that today where I thought, wow,
03:22
Within the course of two weeks, I've been featured on the social media marketing podcast with Michael Stelzner, which is one of the top ranked marketing podcasts globally. He's an OG in the social media marketing space. And then today, the social media marketing talk show is another one of their shows for social media examiner with Jerry Potter. And again, it was like another pinch me moment of, wait, how is this my life? Like how is my name being tossed around in the same room of
03:50
all these other people I've looked up to. And so I was reflecting on my personal growth and it hasn't been quick. It wasn't an overnight success. It has been so many seeds planted month after month, year after year to get to this point. And I just share that with you because if you ever feel like, gosh, I'm just not as far as I wanna be, put the yardstick behind you. I guarantee you, you are so much further than you are giving yourself credit for.
04:19
And my new favorite question to ask myself is, what if nothing's wrong? What if nothing is wrong right now? What if everything is perfect timing? Everything happens for me. I'm on the path. When you can embody that level of trust within yourself, everything changes. So that was your little pep talk and thank you to the Social Media Marketing Talk Show for having me today. And if that episode is out when I release this episode, I'll definitely link it in the show notes for you guys to check out.
04:48
Okay, so today we're diving into one of my favorite tools to use on Instagram and that is DM automation. The goal of today's episode is really the basics and fundamentals of DM automation and using chat bots in your marketing to drive leads and sales with your organic content. I wanted to really go back to the basics. So if you are a total
05:17
expert in ManyChat, which is the company that I use and I'm going to be really talking about during this episode. You can skip over this episode. You probably know all this stuff, but if you're still like, wait, DM automation? How does that work on Instagram? I don't understand how this piece of content drives leads onto my email list or, you know, I hear of ManyChat, but I don't really understand how it works. Today, I'm going to really lay the foundation of why this is a tool you should really consider.
05:45
to implement into your workflow when it comes to content creation and Instagram marketing. Then next week, I'm bringing on an expert guest. His name is Heston Roberts and he is a DM automation wizard. This man knows so much about many chat and we go really in depth in that conversation. It's definitely more intermediate level.
06:09
techniques and strategies you can use next week. So I really wanted to lay the foundation this week and then next week we're gonna go super deep into how to leverage many chat to grow your email list within Instagram. So people never have to leave the platform. So DM automation has been a total game changer for me in both of my businesses, both my brick and mortar and my online business and of course with my clients. I teach them all of the strategies that are really effective right now.
06:39
And years and years ago, what really used to work on Instagram was saying, click the link in my bio. I mean, even back in 2022, I was using that strategy and I would create a piece of content and say, do you want a free first dance checklist? Click the link in my bio. Like that was just what we did even just a few years ago. And that strategy is now, I don't wanna say it's dead, but it does not.
07:07
convert at the level that DM automation does. And I do not recommend you use the whole click the link in my bio. Sure, you can do it once in a while, but that should not be your strategy of getting people to take action and click on your link. And I'm going to explain to you why so you can really understand how DM automation works and why it's really something that is such a gift to us as marketers. So when you, let's talk about like the pathway.
07:36
When we used to say, click the link in our bio, okay, so I'm watching your reel and you say, you know, either in your caption or on screen text or even just speaking into the camera, click the link in my bio. When you do that, what you're really doing is you're asking them to leave Instagram and go to an external site. And Instagram doesn't love that, okay? Just a general rule of thumb. Instagram makes money by people hanging out and consuming content on their app.
08:05
So we want to avoid sending people off of Instagram all of the time. I'm not saying you can't do it, but that will negatively impact your Instagram reach, engagement, conversions, if you are constantly doing that. Now, this is really the biggest issue of using LinkedIn bio. So let's say I'm watching one of your reels and you tell me to click the link in your bio. Here's what I have to do. I have to stop scrolling. Okay, so I'm already scrolling, I'm doing my thing.
08:34
And now you're expecting me to stop my scroll, okay? First of all, that's kind of a tall ask. You know, I've had a long day. I got my feet kicked up. I got my beverage. I don't wanna stop scrolling. I'm having fun, right? But really, I just stop what I'm doing. So you have to stop the user from the current behavior they're doing. So right away, that increases friction. We know that with sales and making a sale, you want to reduce friction for the consumer, right?
09:03
If they have to jump through 10 hoops to find the link to purchase the thing you're selling, they're probably gonna get distracted and Sally is gonna call them, they're gonna forget, their kid's gonna need help. People are gonna get distracted. They're not gonna go to your link. They're not gonna buy your product. So first step, I'm watching your reel. You tell me to click the link in my bio, I have to stop scrolling. Next, I have to click on your handle to take me over to your profile. Okay, so I've had to stop, click on your profile.
09:31
Now I have to find the link. Some of us have multiple links in our bios and I'm not going to share really my thoughts on that because there's no one size fits all to should you have one link, should you have multiple links. But anyways, you have to find the correct link. You have to click the link. You now have to, so many of us have this like whole link tree set up where there's like all these options, right? Like here's my freebie, here's my podcast, here's my website, here's how you can work with me. Here's the link to our shop, here's this, like so many different links.
10:01
So now I have to figure out, which link am I supposed to click to get the thing that I wanted? Okay, so you can kind of see that that was like what, four or five steps? That's a lot of clicks for the user. And the conversion rate on that is going to be substantially low. In fact, on average, the click through rate for link and bio stands at about 1%, whereas the rate for links and DMs is a substantial 46%.
10:27
So you're gonna have a much higher conversion when you're using DM automation. And ManyChat is the tool that I use because it is a meta business partner. So meta approves of it. There's no issue with your account being flagged or anything like that. It integrates really well and really seamlessly with the platform. It is very affordable, honestly. It's like kind of a no-brainer investment for brands. It starts at $15 a month.
10:57
And this episode, I'm going to be teaching you about MiniChat because that is my experience. That's what I use. I've had a lot of success with it. That's what I teach my clients. They've had success with it. But of course, there are also other DM automation platforms and services that you can use. So feel free to explore those on your own time if you'd like. And I want to make sure you know that after you listen to this episode, if you're feeling super pumped and you really want to try MiniChat out totally for free,
11:25
With my link, you get ManyChat Pro, which is that I believe starts at about $15 a month, depending on how many contacts you have and followers and all that. With my link, you get ManyChat Pro totally for free for an entire month. That's not a promotion that they're running publicly. That's just with my link. So definitely check the show notes if you want to try out ManyChat for free. Just click that link and it'll be super easy.
11:52
You just connect your Instagram to many chat and it's very intuitive. You can also DM me the word on Instagram. If you're not already following me on Instagram, first of all, hello, what are you doing? No, just kidding. But truly give me a follow over on Instagram, Elizabeth Marberry, M-A-R-B-E-R-R-Y. DM me the keyword leads, L-E-A-D-S. And I have like a really short.
12:17
mini guide on how to use DM automation in that guide, I have my link as well. So feel free to grab that if that feels aligned for you. And the cool part about going to Instagram and DMing me the word leads, L E A D S is that you will see how my automation works. So I'm talking to you about how to do this. You can reverse engineer exactly what I'm doing right now for your brand or business. Fun stuff.
12:45
So how does MiniChat and DM automation help us grow our business on social media? The first is it will help you to grow your followers with no extra content required. So you're already creating a lot of content for the gram. DM automation weaves seamlessly into what you're already doing. And here's how it's gonna help you grow your followers. So when people are commenting your magic keyword, like I just told you my keyword was leads,
13:13
it will drive a higher engagement rate, right? So if you've been listening to the podcast long enough, you should know that when you're driving engagement, like people interacting with your content, liking, commenting, sharing it, it tells the algorithm, oh my gosh, Elizabeth's content is fire, it's so good, I wanna show it to more people, and it expands out from there. If you are liking my content, if you're commenting my keyword,
13:41
that is boosting my engagement, which in turn boosts my content in the algorithm, which pushes my content out in front of more people. And that is how many chat can help you to grow your following is by helping to boost your content and expand your reach. And I do wanna highlight that in order for your content to actually convert for your business,
14:09
I'm assuming that everything is positioned on your Instagram profile. So what do I mean by that? I mean that it's really clear in your bio who you serve and how you help them and a clear call to action of where they need to go next. And I've done multiple episodes on exactly how to optimize your Instagram bio. In fact, I have a Instagram bio refresh guide. If you want to DM me the word refresh, R-E-F-R.
14:38
E-S-H on Instagram, you can get it. But anyways, you want to make sure, of course, that you've done the homework of getting everything positioned so that way when your content does reach more people, like you have a video that does pop off, maybe you normally get 200 views and now you're getting 2,000 views or you normally get 2,000 views, you're getting 20,000 views. When you do get that visibility hit, you wanna be ready, right? You wanna be ready.
15:05
So that's why it's so important that you have your bio and everything really optimized. When you do put out a piece of content and it gets in front of more people and everything's optimized, what's really cool about using DM automation is that your content works for you while you're offline. And that is honestly why I love it, is that I put in a lot of effort and time into my content. I don't wanna be
15:31
babysitting my Instagram account all the time. I have two kids, I have two businesses, I don't got time for that. So it's so comforting to know that I can post some content and log off, spend the weekend with my family, come back, and I have new followers, I have new DMs, I have new people on my email list, my podcast, everything. It's really incredible. And I also love just in terms of the algorithm and how DM automation supports that.
16:00
is that it can help us to stop relying solely on the Instagram algorithm. And it gives us a little bit more power, right? Because we have this assistant that's just automatically, like you can set it up to automatically like when someone responds to your story or like I have an automation set up where if someone tags me in their story, I have an automation that says like, thanks for sharing. And then of course I go back in and I'll send another note, but like right away they're hearing from me.
16:28
And so instead of taking hours and hours to be liking and commenting on every single thing, your little robot assistant does it for you. It's pretty awesome. So you will watch and see as your content really increases your reach and visibility and helps you capture more qualifying leads. Now, how does it work? Cause you may, you know, you may be hearing me say like, oh, well it drives leads onto your email list or, you know, drive sales. And if you're new to DM automation, you're probably like, what the heck?
16:57
issue talking about. So let me rewind and go back and tell you exactly how this works. So let's say your goal is to grow your email list. Okay, you know, we don't own social media, but we do own our email list. So it's so imperative that we focus on continuing to grow our list while we are playing on social media. And of course, most of our sales and conversions are going to come from our email list because that's where people get to know us.
17:27
We can nurture that relationship, continue to build trust, build our expertise, and then invite them into our paid offers. So how do I use ManyChad to grow my email list? And again, this is just the absolute basic way to do it. Next week, Heston is gonna break this down and it's gonna blow your mind, because there's an even better way of doing this that I didn't even know about that he's gonna tell us next week. But this has been really effective for me and my business.
17:53
So it's really simple. So you have your freebie or your lead magnet set up. And of course you have to have a landing page for that, which is just a URL that you set up. It says, you know, grab your free first dance checklist so you can learn what to do and what not to do in the wedding dance spotlight. Okay. And then you have a field for your name and your email and then a button that just says, it to me. Right. So that, would be a landing page. How this works with many chatting on Instagram is I would create a real
18:20
And let's say using that example, if I had that free first dance checklist, I would do a reel where I'm giving them like, here's a simple first dance entrance that you can use. So I'm just giving them a piece of value. And then my call to action could be, feeling nervous about your first dance? We got you comment checklist below and we'll DM you the link to grab your free first dance checklist. They comment our magic keyword. So you get to determine what the keyword is. So they comment checklist.
18:48
and then my robot assistant immediately DMs them, hey, congrats on your upcoming wedding. Here is your first dance checklist, click below. And then you can link whatever link you want. So DM automation is fantastic for sending links. I use DM automation to send people links to listen to my podcasts. If people wanna work with me privately, they send me a DM with the word apply, A-P-P-L-Y, and I will give them an application. That's the first step if you're curious about working with me privately.
19:17
So whatever is your sales funnel for your business, you can think about like, what links do I need to send people to take that next step with me? Is it getting on my sales calendar? Is it sending them a direct link to a product that I'm talking about in the video? Or maybe it's sending them a coupon code, right? You can really think about what is your sales journey for your ideal customer. And it's so simple and it's wildly effective. Now,
19:45
I want to wrap this up by saying that one of the biggest objections I hear to using DM automation or many chat is, Elizabeth, I don't have a big enough following and or I don't get any engagement in my content. And meaning like no one's ever commenting on my post. So like, why would I pay for many chat? And like, it's going to be crickets. Okay.
20:12
So I have a couple things I want to say to you. If you're in that boat, first of all, DM automation can work no matter your follower size. It's not just for creators that are getting hundreds of comments on their posts, okay? I will tell you that right now, like summer, my engagement is down. And for a lot of creators I know right now, summer is just kind of a weird time on Instagram. People are not on the app as much, but I'm not making excuses. My engagement's down a little bit. But even with that being said,
20:42
If I get one person to comment my keyword and I get one new beloved podcast listener, or I get one new entrepreneur on my email list, to me, that was totally worth it. Like that was worth it because I am here to play the long game. And I hope you are too, because if you're looking to build a really successful business or life, you've got to be in it for the long game, right? So.
21:10
There's nothing wrong with your account if you're only getting a couple people opting in. To me, it's still worthwhile because we're putting in all this effort to create this content. Why wouldn't you have it be your marketing engine when you're offline? The second piece of, Elizabeth, no one is ever commenting on my content. To me, that is your sign to get some support with your content because if you're not getting
21:40
any engagement or you're like, I post all the time, but like no one ever, ever comments or like, you just feel like you're shouting into the void all of the time and not really seeing any results or success. I would love to support you truly. That is why I created Hot Reels, my 12 month Instagram content lab, which is my group mentorship. It is a live mentorship with me. We do two group calls a month. You have access to me in our community.
22:06
You can get my eyes on your content. You can ask me anything. I actually just recently added a VIP tier that is only available for a really limited amount of people where you get an audit with me every month, a private audit. So if that is you, my feedback to you is like, if you want new results, you have to take new actions. And if your content is really, really not working for you, don't keep doing it. Like you have to try something new.
22:35
And when we're swimming in the soup of our own business, it's really hard or like we're the one doing all the content and we're like, I think it's good. There's so many blind spots you can't even see. And I'm speaking from experience because I always hire coaches and mentors to help me and spot me with my blind spots because believe me, I have so many of them. When you hire the right mentor, it will save you hours. I'm telling you hours and hours and you will get a much better return on investment for
23:05
the work that you're already putting in, right? So if you're curious about Hot Reels, right now it is the time to join the wait list. We are gonna open up the doors this fall of 2025. So you definitely wanna get on the wait list. You can DM me the keyword Hot, H-O-T on Instagram, or you can go to ElizabethMarberry.com, slash Hot, H-O-T. That's Elizabeth Marberry, M-A-Rberry.com slash hot HOT and you'll get the full program information. You can see what the investment is and there's a link to join the wait list. Wait listers get early access and again, I keep my groups really small because it's super important to me. Like my whole soul blueprint is I would rather serve less people at a higher level than like hundreds and hundreds of people where I'm just not able to really support them. So please know that if you ever join one of my programs, it's not one of these.
24:01
big online coaches where there's just hundreds and hundreds of people on the call with you. I keep it really intimate. So yeah, go over to ElizabethMarbury.com slash hot, check it out, get on the wait list if you're curious and really excited to support you. I hope that you learned something new about how you can use DM automation to grow your business. Make sure you're following the show so you don't miss next week's interview with Heston Roberts. Like I said, he's a DM automation.
24:31
expert and he's going to teach us another way to build your email list with DM automation and it's built into the app. It's going to blow your mind. It's really next level. So make sure you're following the show or you've subscribed to the show. And if you got something out of today's episode, do me a solid and share it with a colleague, a business bestie, someone else who is also trying to understand the beast that is Instagram. I am so grateful for your time.
24:59
spent with me today. is an honor to be your guide and I cannot wait to start it with 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 going to want to grab my free monetize your IG guide where you'll learn seven simple and proven ways to finally make money on Instagram. You can grab your guide at Elizabethmarberry.com slash freebies.
25:29
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.
