How Mindvalley Achieved A 522% Increase in Masterclass Sign-Ups Using Instagram Automation
Overview
Mindvalley is an ed-tech company focused on providing anyone anywhere the equivalent of an ivy league education at a fraction of the cost. The company primarily sells a subscription to its online courses that are marketed through free topical webinars and masterclasses.
Rooted in a commitment to enabling people to be the best version of themselves, Mindvalley helps over 17 million students around the world by sharing ideas and teachings from experts and authors who specialize in personal growth, spirituality, entrepreneurship and overall health and mental well-being.
Mindvalley teamed up with Natasha Takahashi of School of Bots two years ago to create its Facebook Messenger experience. When Instagram Beta launched, Takahashi knew it would be a great opportunity for the brand to provide superior customer support and generate leads for its signature masterclasses.
During the campaign, which ran from March to May in 2021, Mindvalley saw a 522% increase in Masterclass sign-ups from Instagram and lowered their support response time by 99% using Instagram Automation by ManyChat.
Results
- 522% increase in Masterclass sign-ups
- 99% decrease in response time on Instagram
- 7,296+ ManyChat contact list growth
Challenge
One of the key KPIs for the marketing team at Mindvalley is to drive up lead acquisition for its masterclasses. At the time they were dependent on swipe up stories and link in bio to drive people from awareness to the masterclasses. Since the team is fully behind innovation, they jumped on the opportunity to test out the Instagram Automation by ManyChat.
With over 1.3 million Instagram followers, people are constantly messaging the brand on Instagram with questions about its masterclasses. With the abundance of direct messages, the Mindvalley team saw Instagram Automation as one of the tools to help them respond to followers quicker than manually answering messages.
Goal
The goal of this project was to not only use Instagram Automation to increase masterclass sign-ups, but also provide a more personalized experience for followers and start conversations with them that would drive more engagement.
Approach
- Journey mapping. School of Bots worked with Mindvalley to create an automated campaign and conversation design. The chatbot building brand used ManyChat’s Flow Builder to map out all messages and actions in one place, and created a journey that led followers to sign up for masterclasses.
- Instagram Stories. Mindvalley used organic Instagram content to promote the upcoming masterclasses, publishing a mix of single-image Stories, feed posts, and interactive quizzes that used the Questions sticker to start conversations with customers. They used concise copy asking followers to DM them with a specific word, phrase, or emoji to chat with them in Instagram Messenger. They also placed a call to action (CTA) in the brand’s Instagram bio to extend the promotion’s reach.
- Keyword automation. When followers interacted with Mindvalley’s content, they were prompted to message Mindvalley in Instagram Messages with a keyword. This keyword would trigger an automated response from ManyChat.
- Data collection. Mindvalley took advantage of User Inputs to power the entire conversation, and collected demographic data about the person’s goals, challenges, and experience level with specific topics. Based on that information, they tailored message copy and offers to turn more people into leads.
- Live Chat. During any point of the conversation, the Mindvalley team could jump into a chat to support people further if needed. Using ManyChat’s Live Chat feature, they could see the person’s entire history with the company. This allowed the team to provide personalized customer care rather than just answer messages from Instagram’s native inbox.
How Mindvalley increased webinar sign-ups by 522% with ManyChat
Mindvalley launches new products and promotions every week. Free masterclasses are the top-of-the-funnel offer they use to attract and introduce new people to the brand. It’s a model they’ve perfected over the last decade, and is responsible for over $100 million in annual revenue. Millions of people attend their masterclasses each year.
Mindvalley has over 100 free masterclass funnels that sell online courses and their subscription product. Each week, they promote a different masterclass on Instagram with posts, Stories, and links in their bio.
They don’t promote products for direct sales on Instagram, and only promote free masterclasses, which they sell to people through pre existing funnels via email and Facebook Messenger bot channels.
Masterclass registrations are their most important success metric for Instagram overall. So Takahashi and the School of Bots team designed a Chat Marketing campaign using ManyChat to get more sign-ups.
The team created Instagram stories with CTA text telling people to message a specific word in order to gain access to a free Masterclass. For Donna Eden’s class on energy medicine, people were prompted to message the keyword “energy” to sign up.
When someone messaged that specific word, Instagram Automation triggered an automated conversation.
The conversation greeted the person and gave them two paths:
1. Sign up for the masterclass.
2. Learn more about the class.
If someone chose to sign up for the masterclass, the bot sent them to a Mindvalley registration page on the main website.
If someone chose to learn more first, the bot led them through a series of messages about the masterclass, highlighting key takeaways, instructor credentials, and the individuals who usually take the class. People were always given the option to learn even more or sign up throughout the conversation.
School of Bots also trained the Mindvalley team on how to use ManyChat’s Live Chat. This allowed human support to take over when needed. Support agents could also send people back into the bot once the issue was resolved. Additionally, the team was able to cut down response times through Instagram from one or two hours to instant support with Instagram Automation.
Conclusion
Mindvalley’s ongoing campaign continues to generate leads for the business by using Instagram Automation by ManyChat. The Chat Marketing campaign, which ran from March to May in 2021, resulted in:
- 522% increase in masterclass sign-ups
- 99% decrease in response time on Instagram
- 7,296+ ManyChat contact list growth