When Nicole Burke launched Gardenary in 2015, she wasn’t just growing gardens; she was growing a sustainable business. 🌱
Her business has taught thousands of students how to garden and has trained countless gardeners to start their own garden-consulting businesses.
But as her audience sprouted, so did her biggest problem: With 1 million+ Instagram followers, her inbox was overrun. DMs piled up. And sales weren’t keeping up with the flood of interest.
The dirty truth was that Nicole was spending more time in her DMs than in the garden.
So, she did what any smart gardener would do: She found the right tools. And with Instagram DM automation, she turned engagement into revenue.
Now, she’s bringing in $1.5M and has built a self-sustaining IG sales system. Here’s how she did it.
The Challenge
Nicole had a blossoming community of garden lovers, but things got messy when it came to turning that interest into sales — and replying to folks on Instagram.
“One of the worst things that happens in business, especially as you grow, is you’re unable to reply to everybody. And that’s a time when you lose your momentum and lose your people,” Nicole says. “There’d just be hundreds of DMs that were just left hanging.”
So, Nicole was:
- Getting overwhelmed by the number of DMs she received.
- Spending too much time manually responding to the same questions and sending the same links.
- Trying to grow her email list and increase sales, but struggling to get people to click the link in bio.
The Goal
Nicole set out to grow a hands-off sales system on Instagram to:
- Automate Instagram DMs to respond instantly to FAQs and freebie requests
- Capture email addresses
- Guide customers to the right product or offer
- Free up her time while still nurturing relationships
How it Works
Nicole’s strategy was ready to plant the seeds for automated sales.
Step 1: Get folks to comment a keyword
Nicole used Instagram Reels to offer freebies, workshops, and courses.
She’d post a Reel about a gardening tip, garden equipment, or freebie, and tell followers to comment a keyword like “COURSE” to get a link to Gardenary’s herb-growing course.
“Before we try to get the sale, we first get the lead,” explains Nicole. “So every video that we post has a resource.”
She would also automate the same keyword in her Stories, and if someone DMs her the keyword.
Step 2: Automate the DM process with Manychat
As soon as folks comment, Manychat slides into their DMs with:
- A friendly message saying, “Hey, here’s what you asked for. Do you want it?” with a button for them to tap to move the conversation along.
- An ask for their email address and phone number.
- An instant delivery of the freebie: no waiting, no hunting for links.
“Now we have an opportunity that doesn’t rely on the algorithm to get in touch with people who follow us and have shown interest in what we’re sharing,” adds Nicole.
Step 3: Follow up automatically
People get distracted. They comment, they get a DM, but they don’t always click right away.
Nicole used Manychat’s automatic follow-ups to gently remind them a few minutes or hours later, and 80% of folks would tap and opt-in with their email address and phone number!
This extra nudge meant higher conversions, more engaged leads, and more sales.
The Results
Nicole created a thriving business with:
- $4.5M in revenue and counting
- Tens of thousands of new email subscribers captured through Instagram
- More engagement, more reach, and more sales
“Now, it’s at least 50% of our lead source comes from Manychat,” Nicole says. “Manychat also allows our videos to be seen by more people because the algorithm loves it when lots of people are commenting.”
Why This Works (and Why You Need it, Too)
The old way: Post a Reel and manually respond to DMs until your thumbs fall off.
The new way: Attach a resource to every post or Reel, automate DMs, capture folks’ emails and phone numbers, and increase your chance of landing a sale each time you post on Instagram.
Swipe This Strategy
If you’re still stuck in your DMs, it’s time to automate. Here’s how to get started:
- Post with purpose: Offer a freebie, course, or discount with your short-form video.
- Drop the magic keyword: Train your audience to comment for instant access.
- Automate the follow-up: Capture emails, send links, and nudge them to take action.
- Watch your sales bloom: Earn more engagement, more leads, and more money!
Gardenary is literally a real-life example of you reap what you sow. Nicole planted the seeds with automation, and now she’s harvesting a business that grows itself.
Now it’s your turn.
| Step 1: Sign up for Manychat (oh, did we mention it’s free?!) Join 1 million+ smart brands and sign up for a risk-free trial. No lock-in contracts here. | Step 2: Build your first automation (with a lil help)Choose from one of our ready-to-go templates and get it up and running faster than pulling weeds after a good spring shower. | Step 3: Secure the bag! 💅No, really. Get more sales from Instagram every time you post. |
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