Manychat Instagram Summit 2025: Reels, Results, and Real Conversations (Day 2)

What I Learned from the Manychat Instagram Summit

After diving into the first three sessions of the Manychat Instagram Summit (read Part One here), I was blown away by how much actionable advice was packed into the next round of speakers. This section focused heavily on growth, engagement, and conversion — from mastering reels to building loyal communities and creating smarter sales funnels inside Instagram itself.

Here’s what stood out most.

Session 5: Reels, Reach and Results with Brock Johnson

Brock Johnson, growth expert and founder of Instagram ClubHub, started by pointing out the obvious but often ignored truth:

social media isn’t what it used to be.

Instagram has entered its “TikTokification” era. The algorithm now prioritises immediate interests over long-term preferences. That means even if someone has followed you for years, you might not show up in their feed unless they’ve engaged recently.

It sounds harsh, but Brock’s reminder was refreshing — the playing field is level, but it’s also more crowded. Success doesn’t happen overnight, but consistency and smart strategy still win.

So what’s working right now?

Brock broke it down into the 3 biggest growth drivers:

✅ Reels

✅ Recommendations

✅ DMs

And within that, one factor matters more than anything: shares.

A single share can add up to 400 extra views. Saved posts might make you feel valuable, but shared posts make you visible. If people share your content, Instagram gets a direct signal that it’s worth showing to more people.

To boost shares, Brock shared his S.H.A.R.E. framework:

S – Simplify

Don’t overcomplicate your message. Keep it short, relatable, and easy to understand. Use simple visuals and avoid jargon.

H – Hook

Keep your hook between 5–9 words. Short, sharp, and often using negative phrasing works best (e.g. “Stop doing this in your Reels” or “Avoid this Instagram mistake”). Pay attention to what hooks make you stop scrolling and use that insight to shape your own. I found this so interesting, because when you're writing for WEB as a copywriter, the golden rule to try and frame things as positive as possible! Socials is the opposite. Cool! Room for my inner cynic to come out 😂

A – Authentic

Polished is out. Personality is in. Your audience connects more with face-to-camera clips than over-edited videos. You’ll learn more by posting consistently than by leaving drafts sitting unpublished. (Find out more in my Create with Confidence course!)

R – Relatable

Be specific. Real-life situations and honest moments resonate far more than broad, safe messaging.

E – Entertaining

Whether you teach, inspire, or make people laugh, the point is to keep them watching. Even educational content needs a little tension or curiosity to stay engaging.

One of my favourite reminders from this session:

“Published, not polished.”

Stop overthinking, post the thing, and refine as you go.

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Session 6: Launch Tomorrow, Build Loyalty with Abigail Pumphrey

Abigail Pumphrey from Boss Project and The Strategy Hour Podcast shared one of the most practical talks of the summit, especially for people wanting to launch courses.... (that's me!)

Her focus? Turning skills into sellable offers without overcomplicating things.

She started with a challenge:

“The only thing stopping you from monetising your skills is not knowing how to structure it.”

According to Abigail, the best-selling entry offers solve one specific, pressing problem — fast.

To test if your offer is strong enough, run it through these three filters:

1. The Urgency Test – Is this a problem your audience needs solved now?

   • ❌ “Helping business owners get more organised.” (Too vague)

   • ✅ “Helping freelancers set up a simple invoice system today so they stop losing money.”

2. The Quick Win Test – Can your offer get results in minutes, hours, or days?People don’t buy progress. They buy results. Templates, checklists, and tools outperform lengthy strategies.

3. The Complete Solution Test – Does it solve the whole problem?Don’t leave buyers hanging. For example, don’t just teach lead magnet ideas — give them the template and the automation setup to start collecting leads instantly.

Abigail explaining the basic 2-click funnel

Her simple offer formula is gold:

“I help [who] solve [specific problem] by [how] so they can [result].”

Example:

“I help online businesses connect their Facebook and Instagram accounts by providing a step-by-step checklist they can follow.”

Is that you? Check out my course on connecting your Facebook and Instagram accounts here.

Abigail also shared smart post-purchase tips: skip the boring “thank you” page and replace it with a video message setting expectations and inviting buyers to your email list or survey.

Finally, she touched on offer alignment — mapping out your offers across the buyer journey so you’re not just selling once, but nurturing repeat customers.

Visibility → Nurture → Retention.The goal is to guide your clients from strangers to loyal advocates. This has been a recurring theme from nearly every speaker, and it's important!

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Session 8: How I Built a $90M Content System with Natasha Willis

Natasha Willis, co-founder of School of Bots, closed my day with a deep dive into DM funnels — and why they’re outperforming traditional landing pages. This has by far been my favourite session, with heaps of insights into what makes a successful Instagram funnel.

Here's what I took away from Natasha's session.

The “link in bio” era is fading fast. It’s too many steps, and people lose interest. Instead, Natasha recommends turning DMs into your new conversion machine.

Here’s how her system works:

1. The Opt-In

Encourage people to comment a keyword to trigger a DM (e.g. “Comment GUIDE to get the freebie”).Use 50% reels and 50% carousels for best results.

A good target is 50+ comments on your post, and 70% click rates on your first DM.

2. Lead Capture

Once they’re in your DMs, confirm interest, then invite them to your email list within 24 hours.

For products under $100, keep it simple. For higher-ticket offers, collect first name, email, and ask a qualifying question like “What’s holding you back from creating content?” (That example was for me in my notes, yours would be different!)

3. Conversion

Follow up with an automated email sequence — share the offer link, testimonials, countdowns, or educational content.

Aim for 40% open rates and 20% click rates.

Her takeaway was clear:

“People are already having conversations in their DMs. Use that to sell naturally.”

And yes, AI tools like ChatGPT, Zapier, and Manychat can help automate all of this without losing that personal touch.

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Final Thoughts

If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by the constant algorithm changes, let this be your reminder — Instagram rewards connection, not perfection.

Post more of what feels natural. Focus on what your audience actually needs help with. And when in doubt, keep it simple and keep showing up.

The next time you’re staring at your drafts folder wondering if something is “good enough,” remember Brock’s line — Published, not polished.

If you want to learn how to set up your own phone content system, plan your creator vision, and start creating confidently, you can sign up for my course Create with Confidence, where I walk you through it all step by step. We're a few seats away on the waitlist to creating this course.