Monty Lans is that guy: The strategist that creators and small business owners turn to when they’re ready to grow on Instagram without burning out.
He’s a coach. A content pro. And the king of making marketing feel effortless.
But even Monty hit a wall: his DMs were a full-time job.
Answering messages at 2 AM. Manually sending links like it was 2016. Leads slipping away while he scrambled to keep up.
That is, until he found Manychat.
The Challenge
Monty’s DMs were on fire… but not in a good way.
“My wife saw the top of my head at the dinner table more than she saw on my face because I had my head down, replying to messages,” he recalls.
He was trying to run a business and manage every message manually. It was exhausting and expensive.
“I was losing time because I was always behind my phone trying to respond to DMs,” Monty explains. “But I was also losing leads because it took me so long to reply to some people, because I was so busy replying to other people.”
Even when he wanted to share something helpful, like a freebie, he had to manually DM every person: One. At. A. Time.
Until Instagram said “slow down” and flagged him for sending too many messages.
Manual messaging turned into real-world platform penalties. Not cute.
The Goal
Monty’s goal? Get off the DM hamster wheel. For good.
- No more midnight replies
- No more lost leads
- No more copy-paste chaos
“There’s only so much we can do within the time that we have as human beings, and I didn’t want to spend my entire day behind the phone responding to DMs.”
How it Works
That’s right: the full breakdown, no gatekeeping.
Step 1: Keep the tone human
Monty was hesitant about DM Automation at first. He didn’t want to sound robotic.
But with Manychat, he used his own voice, lingo, and vibe, so the automations felt like him.
“People still felt like they were talking to me, even when I wasn’t the one behind the phone.”
Step 2: Drop a keyword, get the goods
He set up a comment-reply automation, posted a Reel, and told his audience to comment with a keyword, like “hooked.”
And boom! As soon as folks dropped a comment, Manychat instantly DMed them a freebie: a guide with 100+ content hooks.
“That one automation brought in a couple thousand leads,” Monty smiles.
Want to copy it? Just use our “Auto DM links from comments” template and let it do the work.
Step 3: Get personal when it counts
Manychat tracked who clicked, opted in, and engaged in the automation with real data, so if Monty wanted to follow up manually, he knew who was interested.
“It’s not a guessing game anymore.”
Step 4: Sell smarter with low-ticket offers
Next, he tested it on a $10–$20 digital offer: The Reels Vault. Packed with 300 juicy content ideas. So, he ran another simple automation: comment a keyword, get the link.
“Hundreds of people opted in. I made a few thousand dollars off of one post.”
Step 5: Tweak, test, repeat
Monty’s not precious about his flows. If it’s too wordy, he trims. Too dry? He adds personality, punch, or a touch of humor.
“It’s trial and error. But Manychat makes the conversion process so much easier.”
The Results
- 2,000+ leads from one lead magnet
- A few thousand dollars in revenue from a $10-$20 product
- Instant replies while leads are still hot
- Zero copy-paste messaging madness
- Personalization that actually feels human
Why This Works (and Why You Need it Too)
The old way: Manual replies. Missed leads. Burnout. Crying in a corner.
The new way: Comment. Auto-reply. Instant connection. And close the dang sale.
“You can collect leads 24/7 while they’re hot, so you don’t miss them when they’re most interested or most excited about whatever it is that you’re offering,” Monty adds.
Monty’s also using Manychat to grow his audience.
By turning on the Follower Check feature in Manychat, which checks if an account is following you before sending your goodies, he’s building a list and a following at the same time.
“There are certain freebies now and resources that I’ll create content around that I know people are interested in, and I’ll use the follow automation to just turn those people into followers,” he explains. “It increases the audience by 31% on the average.”
Use the “Grow Followers with a Freebie” template to turn your best content into a literal follower magnet.
Swipe This Strategy
Want Monty’s system? It’s yours.
Step 1: Create a freebie your audience actually wants
Step 2: Use the “Auto DM links from comments” template
Step 3: Tell people to comment your magic keyword
Step 4: Let Manychat send the freebie in the DMs
Step 5: Track the results, tweak the copy, repeat what works
Low effort. Big energy. Zero link-in-bio nonsense.
| 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 ever before. | Step 3: Secure the bag! 💅No, really. Get more sales from Instagram every time you post. |
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