Setup Uncertainity

Hey Steve, welcome! Here's how to set this up step by step:

1. Create the automation

Go to Automations tab → + New Automation. You can either click "Auto-DM links from comments" in the Start Here section, or start from scratch and select the Post/Reel Comments trigger. Choose the specific IG post where you're asking people to comment "Wine."

2. Set the keyword trigger In the trigger settings, add "Wine" as the keyword. Add variations too "wine", "WINE", "Wine!" — so you catch everyone regardless of casing.

3. Public comment reply

Add a Reply to Comment action, this is the public response like "Sending over my Free Guide now. Check your DM!" Important: add 4-5 different variations of this reply. ManyChat will rotate them so Instagram doesn't flag you for posting the same comment repeatedly.

4. DM with the PDF

Add a Send Message (DM) action in the same flow. ManyChat recently added native PDF attachment support for Instagram, so you can attach the PDF directly in the DM. Alternatively you can host it on Google Drive/Dropbox and send the link, both work.

5. The follower requirement

You're right that IG has DM restrictions for non-followers. ManyChat has a built-in option for this, in the Quick Automation settings you can require the user to follow you before the DM gets sent. If they haven't followed yet, ManyChat will prompt them to follow first before delivering the guide. So your CTA telling them to follow is exactly the right move.

6. Next-day upsell

For now, doing this manually is actually better for conversions when you're starting out. If you want to automate it later (Pro plan), you can add a Smart Delay in the flow. BUT important caveat: Instagram has a 24-hour messaging window, a Smart Delay does NOT reopen that window. So if you set a 24-hour delay, the message may not deliver unless the person interacts with you again within that window. One workaround: in your initial DM, add a button they have to tap to get the guide, that interaction opens the 24-hour window from the point of tap, giving your follow-up more time to land.

Hope that helps!

​@Bar Bits Best way of setting this up is by asking someone’s email before you send the PDF. That way you build your own audience (an email list). Here’s how you can do that:

Hello Joren…. thanks for the video. Easy to understand. I do have two questions. 
In the initial stage when a user comments (a specific word), it triggers a message to ask permission to DM them a free guide. However, if the user doesn't follow me on IG, it won't allow me to DM them. So shouldn’t  I ask the user to follow me first. 

Second, when the first DM is sent,  you are asking for their first name, and then in a second DM, you are asking for an email address. Cant I ask for the first name and email address in one DM rather than creating an extra step? 

Thanks, Steve 

​@Bar Bits To answer your questions:
1. If the user doesn’t follow you, you can still send the message. That’s not a problem. But what can happen is that it appears in the “Requests” folder. So you need to tell your users in the Public Reply (comment in the comment section) that they also need to look in the requests folder.
2. Nope, you need to ask in two