How to Use Funnels + Manychat to Supercharge Your Sales on Instagram

In this article:


What else should you be doing to maximize your sales? In short… a lot. But, don’t stress - we’re going to break it down for you step-by-step.

How to Launch Funnels

💡 Remember: funnel is a strategic sequence of landing pages designed to guide your audience from initial interest to becoming paying customers. The goal is to create a journey that nurtures leads and encourages conversions.

Here’s the playbook you need to launch funnels and maximize what you’re getting out of your audience.

Where can you use funnels? You can copy your each funnel link and use it on:

  • Your Pillar store
  • Instagram stories
  • Email newsletters
  • SMS campaigns
  • Meta/Instagram Ads
  • YouTube descriptions
  • And more!

How to create your funnel

Step 1: Sign In to Your Pillar.io Account

  • Open your web browser and go to Pillar.io.
  • Click on the "Sign In" button at the top right corner of the page.
  • Enter your login credentials and click "Sign In".

Step 2: Click Funnels on the Sidebar

  • Once logged in, Click on "Funnels" in the left-hand sidebar menu:

Step 3: Create a New Funnel

  • Click the "Create New Funnel" button

Step 4: Add the First Step in Your Funnel

  • Click "Add Funnel Step" button:

  • Click on an item to select the first page in your funnel sequence.

  • For example: you can start your funnel by offering a Freebie Lead Magnet!
  • Customize the first page of your funnel

Step 5: Add More Steps to Your Funnel

  • Add as many steps to your funnel sequence as you'd like. Each steps' sequence number will be labelled on the right side of the builder:

Optional: Use an Existing Funnel Template

  • If you're not sure how to build your own funnel - just use a pre-existing template! You can find these at the top of the page here: pillar.io/funnels
  • Some common funnels include:
    • Bridge Funnel - ask visitors for contact info then show them an engaging video
    • Embedded Form Funnel - collect info with a freebie then send potential customers to a form (Pillar integrates with Google Forms, JotForm, Typeform, and more!).
    • Reverse Bridge Funnel - show visitors an engaging video then ask them for their contact info.

How to Leverage Automation with ManyChat

Ever see one of those Instagram posts saying: comment “guide” and I’ll send you my e-book?

99% of the time - those posts are powered by a tool called Manychat.

This tool allows you to automate responses to comments or likes on your posts, making it easier to engage your audience without the manual work.

You’ll want to get a Manychat account and a Pillar account so you can launch Instagram DM automations + sales funnels.

For example, we ran a successful campaign at Pillar that generated 6,500 unique downloads for a free e-book. Feel free to copy this format.

By using Manychat, we were able to automatically message a funnel link to those who comment on our post.

The funnel link prompts users to provide their email in exchange for the free e-book:

Note that we got over 6,500 unique email submissions for this freebie. These are stored in the Pillar Customers tab.


After collecting emails, the funnel re-directs the visitor to a page where they could upgrade and pay for our paid content. You can do the same Manychat + Funnel “upsell” technique!


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