Hi, ​@DesertLilyBilingualSpeech!

In a nutshell, a Manychat Contact is created once someone interacts with your profile, and it turns into a DM. And this happens if they're using keywords in your post comments or if they send you any kind of DM (in this case, a contact is created even if no keyword is used).

So, if someone...

• comments on your post and don't use a Keyword = NO Contact created
• likes, saves or shares your post/ story = NO Contact created
• comments a keyword in some post = Contact created
• sends you a DM (with or without a keyword) = Contact created
• responds to your story = Contact created

You just need to remember: if something triggers any automation and/or interacts with you via DM = Contact created!

Hi ​@Fabio Gaulke thank you for your answer. I have a follow up scenario. If person A - Erica, comments “freebie” to trigger an automation on one post- contact is created. 

But if Person A- Erica comments on a different post “help”, and triggers for a different automation, does this count as a new contact or one that’s established?

Is there a limit to how many “established” contacts you can have or does it save each interaction with the trigger words? 

I am just making sure I understand before setting up our first automation. 

Thank you, 

Luci 

Hi, Luci!

No, if Person A comments on a different post, no new contact is created. Once a contact is created for the Channel you're using (i.e: Instagram), future interactions will be “synced” to that same contact. 

It only creates a new contact if Person A interacts via another connected Channel.

(And you can manually merge them if you wish, resulting again in just one contact for more than one channel)

And there are no limits to the number of contacts you can have in your Manychat account. Just remember that Manychat bills you for the number of active contacts you have on your account.
More info about it here: https://manychat.com/pricing

And if you don't need to keep every contact info, you can delete the old ones instead of paying for them on the long run. 

Hope it helps!

Hey ​@DesertLilyBilingualSpeech, this is a really great question that I think a lot of people struggle with.  It is especially important since your contacts determine how much your monthly bill is :)

​@Fabio Gaulke  did an AWESOME job really nailing down the details of what constitutes a contact.  I think the only think I would add is to make sure there is crystal clarity around someone being a contact (i.e. they are in your account because you’ve interacted with them) and being subscribed to your messenger or DM list.

One of the most important things you can do in your automated communication on Instagram or Messenger is to get them to agree to receive messages from you.  Otherwise, the contact is not nearly as valuable.  Without getting them to subscribe to your messaging lists, your communication is limited to a 24 hour window.

For this reason, you’ll want to make your initial flows, and the flows you send within the first 24 hours, give users the chance to sign up for “updates” (i.e. sign up for your messenger or DM list).  Here is a Manychat article on how to do that on Messenger.

Once someone has signed up for updates, you can message them up to once per day.  I wouldn’t recommend that often, but as long as you provide value and communicate with respect, the opt in is super valuable.

Hope that helps a bit, and best of luck on your ManyChat journey.  We’ve been here for 8 years and it has been an awesome ride!

Matt Leitz
BotBuilders