Automation is Our Love Language: 3 Fun Ways to Use Manychat this Valentine’s Day (With Templates!)

Valentine’s Day is here once more! Whether your audience is hopelessly romantic, aggressively single, or just here for the discount chocolate on Feb. 15, you have a golden opportunity to make engagement work for you.

Let’s automate the love. 

With a few fun Valentine’s Day ideas from Manychat, you can slide into DMs (ethically), spark engagement (without begging), and turn fleeting holiday hype into actual sales and long-term audience growth (and money).

And speaking of love, who doesn’t love THAT?

Want tactics? 

We got ‘em.

Want templates? Also those. 

You can use Manychat to make your audience fall in love with your brand — and maybe even make that next purchase.

Here are a few ways to use the holiday to your advantage.

1. Let them choose their perfect Valentine’s date (and sneak in a freebie)

People are feral for a good poll, especially about them. 

This automation hijacks your comments section and turns it into a gladiator pit of opinions while sneakily stuffing lead magnets straight into your audience’s grubby little hands. More engagement? Like a swarm. More followers? They’re stampeding in. DM interactions that don’t just rot in the void? We’re talking conversions, baby. 

How it works

1. Post a Reel or Story asking, “What’s your ideal Valentine’s date?” Options: Romantic Dinner, Movie Night, or Weekend Trip.
2. Set the snare: assign a keyword trigger. The second someone comments, they get an instant DM. There is no waiting, no ghosting, and only immediate, delicious interaction.
3. Deliver a freebie based on their choice! Movie night? Send a movie rec list. Weekend getaway? Give a discount code for their next adventure. 
4. Follow up with a slick, no-pressure CTA. Course, paid offer, newsletter sign-up, whatever keeps them in your world without setting off their ick alarms.

Why this works for your brand

Three reasons: 

1. Turns mindless scrollers into engaged, frothing-at-the-mouth followers.
2. Leverages Instagram’s algorithm to show your post to more people.
3. Sneakily funnels them toward monetization while they think they’re just having fun.

Upgrades

Take it even further with these ideas: 

• Gamify it: add a mystery “wild card” option to access something exclusive.
• UGC boost: ask them to share their choice in Stories and tag you.
• Funnel fuel: now you know what they love. Use that intel to retarget them with laser precision post-Valentine’s.

Tips and tricks

Keep the process smooth for you and your audience: 

• Incentivize participation with a BONUS freebie for everyone who shares your post.
• Set up a follow-up sequence to check in with participants after downloading the freebie.
• Offer a surprise bonus gift to anyone who completes all the steps and DMs you about it.

Try it out!

2. The Pick-up Line Giveaway

Giveaways work, but laziness kills engagement. If you’re still running “Like & Comment” contests, your 2015 Facebook promo energy is showing — and your audience is already bored. This alternative forces interaction in a fun, meme-worthy way while you collect leads like a digital Casanova.

How it works

1. Bait the hook. Drop a Reel/Story and tell followers to DM a keyword to enter.
2. Make them sweat. Before they get in, Manychat makes them submit their best pick-up line. No effort, no entry. Flirt harder, people.
3. Winner? We got you. The randomizer does its thing and auto-DMs the lucky charmer their prize.
4. Non-winners get a cheeky discount code because rejection stings less with a sweet deal.

Why this works for your brand

1. A giveaway that requires people to work for it results in much more engagement — no more brain-dead “Like & Comment” nonsense.
2. This approach can turn your DMs into a hilarious, viral conversation.
3. a It’s built-in lead collection strategy because every pick-up line is a new contact in your list.

Smooth upgrades

• Make it viral! Have followers vote on the best lines.
• Collab for clout. Partner with another creator to double the audience reach.
• Ask entrants for their email/phone to build your email list.

Tips for maximum engagement

• Post the best (or worst) lines later to keep the chaos going.
• Run a flash giveaway within the main giveaway to boost last-minute entries.
• Rank the funniest/most tragic lines and reward the MVP.
• Make it seasonal: Adapt this for other holidays (cheesy Thanksgiving toasts? Halloween pickup lines?).
• Create engagement chains; DM entrants with “Rate this pick-up line” polls for extra interactivity.

Give it a test run!

3. The Matchmaker Product Quiz (Personalized Funnels That Print Cash)

People are drowning in too many choices, so they’re hesitating, overthinking, and ultimately not buying. Enter: our matchmaker product quiz. It makes shopping effortless, cranks up engagement, and keeps them glued to your DMs so Instagram’s algorithm starts worshipping you.

How it works

1. Post a Story or Reel telling followers to DM you a keyword like “MatchMe” to start the quiz.
2. Ask 3-4 fun, fast questions. What’s your skin type? Biggest struggle? How much effort are you willing to put in before bedtime? (Be honest, we see you.)
3. Drop their perfect match. Based on answers, they get a custom product recommendation (with a Shop Now button, obviously).
4. Create some urgency. Limited-time discount? Bonus gift? Push them to purchase RIGHT NOW.

Why this works for your brand

1. Eliminates decision fatigue, making purchases more manageable.
2. Keeps DMs active, which Instagram loves (boosting visibility).
3. Creates hyper-personalized shopping experiences that feel exclusive.

Smooth upgrades

• For premium products, offer a free consultation call.
• Add a countdown timer in DMs for limited-time offers.
• Offer VIP access to an exclusive club for repeat buyers.

Tips for maximum engagement

• Offer badges or exclusive discounts to quiz participants.
• Ask them to flex their results in Stories — instant UGC, free promo.
• Feature micro-influencers taking the quiz & using the product — social proof is your best friend.
• Send follow-up messages with product tips based on their results.

Here’s your template!

Valentine’s Day Kit: Because We Love You (And Also, You Need This)

Want to steal these flows without lifting a single, overworked finger? We got you. The Manychat Valentine’s Day Kit hands you pre-built automations on a silver platter, so you can plug, play, and start raking in engagement TODAY. Choose Your Valentine’s Date, the Pick-Up Line Giveaway, and our Matchmaker Product Quiz are ready for your creative spin!

How to get it

1. Sign up now and choose your favorite template. Hell, try them all.
2. Customize it in 10 minutes (yes, really).
3. Sit back and let automation work while you collect leads, engagement, and sales as you fall passionately in love with us.

This approach is your zero-effort, maximum-impact shortcut to Valentine’s Day marketing domination. Grab it. Now.

Treat Yoself: How to Milk These Automations Year-Round

Holiday gimmicks are cute, but you need automations that work beyond Feb. 14. Luckily, you can recycle these flows so your engagement and revenue don’t dip once the heart-shaped candy goes half-price. 

• Date picker → Seasonal polls: Rerun this for spring break plans, summer vacays, or “What’s your dream business?” polls. 
• Pick-up line giveaway → Caption contests: Turn this into a “Best Comment Wins” game for product launches or memes.
• Skincare Quiz → Product matchmaker funnels: Expand beyond skincare — match people to books, courses, services, coaching plans, fitness routines, whatever.

Some Other Unexpected Ways to use Manychat

1. The “ghosted lead” DM revival

Tired of followers flirting with your brand and then disappearing? Automate a follow-up DM sequence for people who engaged but didn’t convert. Send a “Hey, still interested?” DM with a limited-time bonus or freebie. It works like a charm (or a guilt trip, whatever gets them back).

2. The “What’s your biggest struggle?” poll

Want content ideas straight from your audience? Create an interactive poll where followers answer your niche-related struggle question and get a free guide. Run an Instagram Story poll where people vote on their biggest struggle in your niche. Follow up with a DM linking them to a free guide or mini-course solving that problem.

3. The “exclusive beta test” invitation

Are you launching a new product, course, or service? Offer select followers an invite to test it, building hype and collecting testimonials before launch. Post a Story asking, “Want to be a beta tester?” and automate DM invites to selected participants. Send VIP testers a private feedback form and exclusive discounts for being part of the test group.

4. The “behind-the-scenes access” club

Make followers feel special by creating a DM-exclusive VIP club where they get early access to content, discounts, or sneak peeks of upcoming releases. Offer a DM-only VIP list where people get sneak peeks, unfiltered thoughts, and unhinged BTS content. Add a monthly “members-only” discount code to reward engaged users.

5. The “trending topics quick reply”

Jump on trends fast by automating replies to specific comments about viral topics, making your brand part of the conversation without manually responding to every post. Set up an automation to reply to comments with a spicy take on a viral trend. Follow up with a DM sharing exclusive content on the topic.

Now, Just Hit GO

Automations let you scale your business without selling your soul. And Manychat makes it absurdly easy.

Grab a template, set up your automations, and make this the most engaged (and profitable) Valentine’s yet. Your DMs will be thirstier than a reality TV contestant; your engagement will skyrocket, and your sales? 

Let’s just say they’ll be smoother than your best pickup line.