Podcast
Learn from Fast Growing 7-8 Figure Online Retailers and eCommerce Experts
Instagram DM Automation: the Next Big Audience Conversion Channel for eCommerce
About the guests
Mike Yan
There’s a revolution underway that’s reshaping how businesses around the world interact with their customers, and Mike Yan is leading the charge. As the co-founder and CEO of ManyChat, he’s made it his goal to disrupt the $5BN+ email marketing industry by bringing the convenience of messenger apps to business-to-customer communication. ManyChat’s trusted by over 1 million businesses to power over 1 billion customer conversations.
On today’s episode, Kunle is joined by Mike Yan, Co-founder and CEO of ManyChat, a chat-focused omni channel communication platform trusted by over 1 million businesses.
We all know business and almost everything is mobile-first nowadays. Apps like Instagram and Tiktok have stolen a lot of Facebook’s thunder. Indeed Instagram is predicted to drive more revenue in the US than Facebook in 2021. Instagram has also very recently allowed the use of DM automation tools.
These tools have added a new (and pivotal) element to the omni channel movement. Being able to automate DMs, and also include DMs in sequences along with email and SMS has the potential to turbocharge engagement and thus conversions.
In this episode, Kunle and Mike talk about how Manychat is focusing on chat to win the omni channel game. You will get to hear about why Instagram DMs are so effective, Unique case studies and strategies to automate DMs to build your list and boost conversions. This is a great episode for marketers and social media geeks.
Here is a summary of some of the most important points made,
-
- IG will soon make more money for Facebook than Facebook
- Facebook is more suited to groups than Instagram
- Facebook made DM automation legal in June 2021
- DM automation is the next step for brands with existing followers and engagement
- Doing cart abandonment using IG DM is not feasible yet
- People reengage on IG differently than Email and SMS
Covered Topics:
On today’s interview Kunle and Mike discuss,
- Manychat’s backstory
- The Facebook-Instagram Landscape
- Popularity of Groups
- DM automation Use-cases for D2C brands
- Strategies to use the Keyword tool
- Triggered Behaviour
Timestamp:
- 11:50 – Mike’s backstory:
- Started ManyChat in 2015
- The base idea was to build a broadcasting bot
- Started on Telegram and gained instant traction
- 17:00 – Transitioning from Telegram to Facebook Messenger
- 24:00 – The Facebook-Instagram Landscape:
- The shift to IG started many years back
- Facebook started as a desktop app
- IG was always mobile-first and easy to use
- IG ad revenue is projected to be $45B in 2021
- IG will make money for Facebook than Facebook
- 29:00 – Popularity of Groups:
- Instagram is not likely to have groups
- Facebook is more suited to communities/groups
- The nature of group chats vary geographically
- “People open Instagram to be entertained.”
- 34:25 – Learnings from ManyChat data:
- “Instagram is the future of social”
- 36:25 – DM Automation::
- DM automation and chatbots used to be illegal
- Facebook made DM automation legal in June 2021
- DM automation became available to everybody in August 2021
- 39:35 – DM automation Use-cases for D2C brands:
- DM automation is more suited to brands with followers and engagement
- DM automation is used for list building (emails and phone number)
- Used for drops/launches
- Create DM sequences
- 47:15 – ManyChat’s contact management
- 58:00 – Strategies to use the Keyword tool
- 60:20 – Triggered Behaviour:
- 24 hour window is applicable
- Doing cart abandonment using IG DM is not feasible yet
- People reengage on IG differently than Email and SMS
- 65:45 – Advice for D2C brands:
- ManyChat takes conversions to the next level using automated DMs
- 67:10 – Lightning Round
Lightning Round:
- Q: What advice would you have given to yourself 5 years ago?
A: Don’t take things too seriously - Q: Are you a morning person?
A: Yes - Q: Daily Morning routine?
A: Start with Yoga and then Tea - Q: What book are you currently reading?
A: The 100 Tales of Wisdom - Q: Setback that has given you the best feedback?
A: Building things that never got launched
Takeaways:
- IG will soon make more money for Facebook than Facebook
- DM automation works great for list building and drops/launches
- Doing cart abandonment using IG DM is not feasible yet
Links & Resources
Tweetable Quotes:
“People open Instagram to be entertained.”
Facebook Group • Continue the Conversation
The eCommerce GrowthAccelerator Mastermind Facebook Group has just launched.
It is a community…
✔️ for founders and experts passionately involved in eCommerce
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✔️ for those willing and open to help and share with other members
Here is where to apply to join the Facebook group
>>http://bit.ly/ecommercefb<<
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SPONSORS:
This episode is brought to you by:
This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses.
Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo.
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About the host: Kunle Campbell
An ecommerce advisor to ambitious, agile online retailers and funded ecommerce startups seeking exponentially sales growth through scalable customer acquisition, retention, conversion optimisation, product/market fit optimisation and customer referrals.
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