Autoresponders on Autopilot
If you’ve ever looked into ManyChat or similar chatbot tools, you already know the appeal – someone scans a code or clicks a link, and they instantly get a personalized message, a freebie, a coupon, or a link to whatever you want to send them. Creating a ManyChat style autoresponder feels like magic, and it works great for marketing. What’s less appealing is the price tag, the required Facebook or Instagram integration, and the fact that you’re handing control of your audience interactions to a third-party platform. For a lot of small business owners and creators, it’s more infrastructure than the job actually needs.
Here’s the thing: if you have an iPhone, you can build a surprisingly capable version of this whole workflow yourself – for free, using tools you already have. By combining a simple iPhone Shortcut with a custom URL or a QR code, you can create a system where someone scans a code (or taps a link), and a pre-written message fires off automatically. No app download required on their end, no monthly subscription on yours. In this post, I’ll walk you through exactly how to set it up, step by step, with screenshots at every stage so you can follow along even if you’ve never opened the Shortcuts app before.
Step 1 – Building Your Link
The first thing you’ll need to understand is that this process will not work on social media. At least not in the traditional sense that many may be familiar with. This isn’t a ‘comment with INFO for more information’ or ‘dm INFO for more information’ type of autoresponder. What you CAN do is create custom links either in some very rudimentary HTML (to include in blog posts, etc) or create a QR code which your users can simply scan. These also work via text or email. Our tutorial below is going to walk you through how to create one using text (since our goal is to get phone numbers from leads) but is easily adaptable to work through email if you’re trying to capture email addresses. This is how to create them:
Weblinks
If you’re familiar with creating weblinks, either on blog posts or documents, or any system that allows you to enter a URL, there a simple way to Build your Link. Instead of entering a web url like http://www.google.com, you’ll enter a speciality:
For text, the URL might look something like the following. You would use this method if you’re wanting to capture phone numbers from your users.
sms:2815555555?body=Hello! I would like more information about your listing at 1234 Main St.Let’s break this down you so understand the pieces:
- sms:2815555555 prompts your phone to create a new text message to 2815555555
- ?body= tells your phone include what follows as the message
You will of course want to use your OWN phone number here, so be sure to replace that portion. On another note, for our example 1234 Main St will be our trigger. More on that later.
If however, you’re wanting to use this trick via email (for when you’re wanting to capture email addresses from your users) the link would look like this:
mailto:myemailaddress@gmail.com?subject=More about 1234 Main St&body=Hello! I would like more information about your listing at 1234 Main St.As before, let’s break down what this means:
- mailto:myemail@gmail.com prompts your phone to create an email to myemail@gmail.com.
- ?subject= tells your phone create a subject line of More about 1234 Main St
- &body= tells your phone to include the message of everything that follows
Be sure to change out the email address for your own. And again, that 1234 Main St in the body will act as our trigger. Simple enough?
Create a Custom QR Code
For those that aren’t familiar with basic html coding or don’t have a need to do so, a much simpler option is to simply create a QR code. Most people are familiar with them and there are hundreds of free options to do so including popular tools like Canva. I personally use QR Code Monkey.
In this case, you would simply type in the same text or email code from above into the Your URL box:
QR Code Monkey allows you to customize the appearance of your QR Code, including adding a logo, changing the shape and changing colors. Once you’re done, you simply click the Create QR Code button, click whatever format you want it in. In most cases, you’ll just want to Download PNG. You’ll then get a QR code similar to the following – go ahead and try it out!
Which then will automatically popup an outbound text message with the number filled in and the message ready to go. All the user has to do is click the Send button! You completed the building your link half of the process. Next up, we’ll use the Shortcuts app to create an autoresponder.
2. Creating the Autoresponder
Now that your QR code is ready to go, it’s time to build the engine behind it – the Shortcut that actually sends the message when someone scans it. This is where the magic happens, and honestly, it’s easier than it looks. The Shortcuts app can feel a little intimidating if you haven’t spent much time in it, but you’re really just snapping a few pieces together in the right order. Follow the steps below, use the screenshots as your guide, and you’ll have a working autoresponder in just a few minutes.
Step 1. Open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone, click the Automations button at bottom, then click New Automation.
Step 2. Click Message.
Step 3. Click the Sender button, and select Any Sender.
Step 4. Click Message Contains.
Step 5. In the Message Contains text box, enter the Trigger word. If you’ll remember from above, in this example we’re using 1234 Main St. It must match exactly the term you used in the link you created. Then click Done.
Step 6. Select Run Immediately. Then click Next.
Step 7. On the next screen, click Create New Shortcut.
Step 8. Click Send Message.
Step 9. On the next screen, click Message.
Step 10. Enter the message you want to automatically be sent back to your user. In our example, we’re using This is the information you requested… Then click the blue check mark to accept.
Step 11. Next tap AND hold (NOT just tap), then select Shortcut Input.
Step 12. From the Shortcut Input that pops up, select Sender. If it doesn’t automatically pop, you should see a swipeable tab at the bottom of the screen – just tap or swipe up. Once done, click the blue check mark at the top right to finish.
Now to Test
Now that both the link and the automation are done, we cant test it out right on our own phone:
Scan your QR code which will then popup a new text message, just click Send.
You’ll see it sent in your texts as any other text message would show up.
But in just seconds, you’ll get the auto-response text that you setup. Voila!
If all went well – you should now have a link and/or a QR code that when shared can deliver leads straight to your phone. In the case of sales, we all know that phone numbers – particularly mobile phone numbers – are gold. However, if you’re more interested in harvesting email addresses, a similar automation can be set up to respond to emails using triggers in the same way. If however your automation did not work, go back and double check your steps to make sure nothing was missed.
And that’s really all there is to it. What took ManyChat a venture-backed startup and a monthly subscription to build, you just put together in about 20 minutes with tools that were already sitting on your phone. Once it’s set up, the whole thing runs on autopilot – someone scans the code, the message goes out, and you never have to think about it again.
The best part is how flexible this is once you’ve got the basics down. Swap in a different message, point the URL somewhere new, generate a fresh QR code – you can have multiple versions running for different campaigns, products, or events without any added cost. If you try it out, I’d love to hear what you end up using it for.