How to Set Up Follow to DM in ManyChat

Quick answer: Setting up Follow to DM in ManyChat takes about 15 minutes. You need ManyChat Pro, an Instagram Business or Creator account, and a welcome message. This guide walks through every step, then shows you how to track replies in DM Tracker, which connects to your Instagram account directly.

What You Need Before Starting

Before you set up Follow to DM, make sure you have:

1. Instagram Business or Creator account (personal accounts are not supported)
2. Facebook Page connected to your Instagram account
3. ManyChat Pro plan ($15/month minimum, Follow to DM is not on the free plan)
4. Your welcome message drafted and ready (we cover best practices below)

That list covers Follow to DM itself. DM Tracker is a separate signup that connects to your Instagram account on its own, so nothing there has to be in place before you build the flow.

If you already have ManyChat connected to your Instagram, you can skip straight to the flow setup.

Step 1: Connect Instagram to ManyChat

If you have not already connected ManyChat to your Instagram:

1. Log in to ManyChat at manychat.com
2. Click Settings in the left sidebar
3. Click Instagram under Channels
4. Click Connect Instagram Account
5. Log in with your Facebook credentials
6. Select the Facebook Page linked to your Instagram Business account
7. Grant ManyChat the required permissions (messaging, page access)

ManyChat will verify the connection. You should see your Instagram account name and profile picture appear in the dashboard.

If you hit issues: Make sure your Instagram account is set to Business or Creator (not Personal), and that it is linked to an active Facebook Page. ManyChat itself can connect to Instagram without a Facebook Page these days, but Follow to DM is one of the features that still runs through the Page connection, so this guide needs both.

Step 2: Create a New Follow to DM Automation

Now let us build the actual Follow to DM flow:

1. In ManyChat, go to Automation in the left sidebar
2. Click + New Automation
3. Under trigger type, select Instagram Follow to DM
4. Give your automation a name (e.g., “Welcome New Followers”)
5. Click Create

You are now in ManyChat’s flow builder with the Follow to DM trigger already attached.

Step 3: Write Your Welcome Message

This is the most important step. Your welcome message determines whether new followers reply or ignore you.

Click the first message block and add your text. Here are three proven templates:

Template A: The Question Opener

Hey! Thanks for the follow. Quick question: are you looking to grow your business with Instagram, or are you just getting started?

Why it works: It is short, personal, and asks a question that requires a reply. Two clear options make it easy to respond.

Template B: The Value Offer

Hey, welcome! I put together a free guide on [your topic] that I think you will find useful. Want me to send it over?

Why it works: It offers immediate value and makes replying easy (just say “yes”). The guide creates a reason to continue the conversation.

Template C: The Curiosity Hook

Hey! Just noticed you followed. Curious, what made you hit follow? Always love hearing what people are working on.

Why it works: It is genuinely curious and feels human. People love talking about themselves, so this gets high reply rates.

Key rules for your message:

• Keep it under 3 sentences. Long messages get skipped.
• Ask a question. Questions invite replies. Statements do not.
• Avoid hard selling. This is a first impression, not a pitch.
• Use natural language. Write like you text a friend, not like you are writing a brochure.

Step 4: Write for a Typed Reply (Skip the Buttons)

ManyChat lets you add quick-reply buttons below your message. Leave them off the welcome message. A typed reply reads as human, and the reply itself re-opens Meta’s 24-hour messaging window for the conversation that follows. A menu of buttons under a welcome DM reads as automation before the follower has typed a word.

Example setup:

Message: “Hey! Thanks for the follow. What brings you here?”

No buttons underneath. The question does the work, and the follower answers in their own words.

Buttons still earn their place on delivery and navigation messages. If your welcome message offers a free guide, a “Send me the link” button is the cleanest way to hand it over. Save buttons for those messages, not for the opener.

Step 5: Set the Timing

ManyChat lets you control when the message sends after the follow:

1. In the flow builder, click the delay settings on the trigger
2. Choose your timing:
   • Instant (0 seconds): Message arrives immediately
   • 1 minute: Slight pause feels more natural
   • 2 minutes: Good balance of speed and authenticity
   • 5 minutes: Maximum delay before the moment passes

Our recommendation: Set a 1-2 minute delay. An instant DM can feel robotic (“How did they message me that fast?”). A short pause makes it feel like a real person noticed the follow and reached out.

Do not go beyond 5 minutes. The longer you wait, the more the follower’s attention moves on.

Step 6: Set Conditions (Optional)

ManyChat lets you add conditions to your Follow to DM trigger. This is useful for:

Exclude Existing Subscribers

If someone unfollows and re-follows, ManyChat’s default behavior sends the welcome message again. Add a condition: “If subscriber is new, send message. If subscriber already exists, skip.”

Filter by Source

If you are running Instagram ads, you might want to send different welcome messages to ad-driven followers vs organic followers. Use conditions to route them to different flows.

Time-Based Rules

You can restrict Follow to DM to only send during certain hours. For example, if your business is in the US, you might only send between 8am and 10pm EST so followers do not get a DM at 3am.

Step 7: Test Your Automation

Before going live:

1. Click Preview in the flow builder to see how the message looks
2. Have a friend or team member follow your account from their personal Instagram
3. Verify the message arrives, the timing is correct, and any delivery buttons work
4. Check that any follow-up flows trigger correctly

Do not skip this step. A broken link, missing image, or confusing message in your welcome DM is your first impression with every new follower. Test it.

Step 8: Publish and Go Live

1. Toggle the automation to Active in ManyChat
2. Your Follow to DM is now live
3. Every new follower will receive your welcome message

ManyChat’s dashboard will show you how many messages were sent. It will not show you how many people replied, who is still waiting on an answer, or which of your setters actually worked the conversation.

For that, you need the next step.

Step 9: Connect DM Tracker to Track Results

ManyChat shows you message volume. DM Tracker shows you what happens after the message lands.

Connect Your Instagram Account

1. Sign up at app.dmtracker.ai
2. Connect your Instagram account. DM Tracker connects directly through Meta’s official Instagram API, and you approve the connection on Instagram’s own screen. It takes about two minutes.
3. Your account needs to be Instagram Business or Creator, the same requirement Follow to DM has. Switching from personal is free inside the Instagram app.

Time: about 5 minutes end to end. $39/seat/month with a 14-day free trial. No ManyChat connection on the DM Tracker side, nothing else to buy.

One thing to know up front: tracking starts the moment you connect. Instagram does not let any tool import old message history, so what you see is everything from connection forward. Connect before you flip Follow to DM live and you capture the campaign from message one.

(If your workspace was set up on the older ManyChat-based connection, it keeps working, and you can move it over in Settings > Connections whenever you want.)

What DM Tracker Tracks

Because DM Tracker syncs your account’s DMs directly, every conversation Follow to DM starts shows up without you wiring anything together:

• Live team inbox: welcome-message replies land in a shared inbox and your team answers from the dashboard
• Reply rate: what percentage of new followers write back (DM Tracker’s aggregate across 2.1M+ tracked leads runs at a 37% average reply rate, a fair line to beat)
• Per-teammate credit: every reply is credited to the setter who sent it, so the leaderboard reflects who actually worked the DMs
• Follow-up reply rates: reply rate measured per follow-up, so you can see whether touch two or touch three is doing the work
• Tags and filters: label Follow to DM conversations and isolate them from the rest of the inbox in the contact table

The deal side lives on a separate kanban: the sales pipeline moves each conversation through First DM Sent, In Conversation, Meeting Offered, Meeting Booked, and Closed, with drop-off between stages so you can see exactly where new followers stall.

The Follow-Up Board

When a new follower replies to your welcome DM and then goes quiet, the conversation sits on DM Tracker’s follow-up board, a separate kanban with stages for your first, second, third, and fourth follow-up on timing you set. Overdue contacts surface at the top.

Follow-ups are detected for you. Send from DM Tracker or from the Instagram app on your phone, and the board marks that touch done either way. The timer counts from your latest sent message, not from when you remembered to update a spreadsheet.

This matters because Follow to DM starts hundreds of conversations. Without a system tracking the second and third touch, most of them die after the first exchange.

Step 10: Set Up A/B Testing

This is the step that separates serious operators from everyone else.

How A/B Testing Works

1. In ManyChat, add a Randomizer block right after the Follow to DM trigger
2. Create two (or more) branches, each with a different welcome message
3. Set the split ratio (50/50 for two variants, 33/33/33 for three)
4. Tag each variant in DM Tracker so you can track them separately

Example Setup

Variant A (Question opener): “Hey! Thanks for the follow. Quick question: are you looking to scale your business or just getting started?”

Variant B (Value offer): “Hey, welcome! I have a free guide on Instagram DM selling that I think you will find useful. Want me to send it over?”

Variant C (Curiosity hook): “Hey! Just noticed you followed. What are you working on right now?”

Tracking Results

In DM Tracker, tag each conversation by variant (e.g., “Welcome A”, “Welcome B”, “Welcome C”). After 100+ followers per variant, filter by tag and compare reply rates.

If Variant B gets a 42% reply rate and Variant A gets a 28% reply rate, you have your winner. Pause the losing variants and run 100% on the winner, then test a new challenger.

That is how you improve Follow to DM performance month over month. Most people never do it because sends are the only number in front of them.

For a deep dive on A/B testing, see our Follow to DM A/B Testing Guide.

What ManyChat Does and What DM Tracker Does

The two tools sit on the same Instagram account and do different jobs.

ManyChat runs the top of the funnel. The Follow to DM trigger, the welcome message, the delivery buttons, the conditions, the randomizer. That automation layer is what puts the first message in front of a new follower.

DM Tracker runs the CRM layer. Inbox, follow-ups, pipeline, analytics. It does not send anything, and it needs no connection to ManyChat: it syncs your Instagram DMs directly, so it already sees the conversations Follow to DM opened.

One Instagram rule shapes how you work either way: the 24-hour reply window. Instagram lets you reply within 24 hours of a person’s last message, and that applies to every tool. Inside the window you answer from DM Tracker. Outside it, one click hands the thread to the Instagram app so you finish there, and incoming messages keep syncing regardless. Keep the welcome message human and the whole thing stays within what Instagram allows, which we break down in is Follow to DM safe.

Troubleshooting Common Setup Issues

”My Follow to DM is not sending”

Check these in order:

1. Is the automation toggled to Active?
2. Is your ManyChat account on the Pro plan?
3. Is your Instagram account a Business or Creator account (not Personal)?
4. Is your Instagram connected to a Facebook Page?
5. Did the test follower actually follow (not just view your profile)?

”Messages are sending but nobody is replying”

Your message probably needs work:

• Is it too long? Keep it under 3 sentences.
• Does it ask a question? If not, add one.
• Is it too salesy? Tone down the pitch.
• Try A/B testing 2-3 different versions.

”I am getting replies but losing track of conversations”

This is the most common problem and exactly why you need a CRM. Connect DM Tracker to your Instagram account and every conversation, every follow-up, and every stalled lead sits in one place instead of your notifications.

What to Do After Setup

Follow to DM is running. Messages are sending. Now what?

Week 1: Monitor and Adjust

Check your DM Tracker statistics daily for the first week. Look at:

• How many new followers per day?
• What is the reply rate?
• What are people replying with? (This tells you if your message resonates)

Week 2: Start A/B Testing

If your reply rate is below 30%, test a different message. If it is above 40%, test to see if you can push it higher. There is always room to optimize.

Ongoing: Review Weekly

Every week, check your statistics dashboard:

• Reply rate trend (is it improving or declining?)
• Follow-up success rate (are you converting quiet leads?)
• Team leaderboard (who is handling Follow to DM replies best?)

The businesses that win with Follow to DM are the ones that treat it as a system, not a set-and-forget feature.

Related guides:

• What is Follow to DM? The Complete Guide
• Follow to DM Reply Rates: What to Expect
• How to A/B Test Your Follow to DM Messages
• 30 Follow to DM Welcome Messages That Actually Get Replies
• ManyChat CRM: The Missing Layer
• How to Track ManyChat Conversions