How Wrekonize uses automations to grow his audience, not his workload

Creating great work is one part of building a creative business. Getting in front of the people who'll love it is another.

Whether you're sharing a new project, inviting people to join your Patreon, or simply trying to stay connected with fans, audience building may feel like a full-time job alongside your creative work. Finding ways to make that happen more efficiently can help you keep growing your audience without sacrificing the time you need to create.

That's exactly why songwriter, music producer, and creator Wrekonize started exploring and using automations.

Over the years, Wrekonize has introduced people to his music in just about every way imaginable. He handed out flyers on the street, hung posters around town, built a community on MySpace, and eventually found himself personally messaging new Instagram followers one by one. As new and better methods appeared, Wrekonize adapted his approach, always looking for better ways to connect with fans while putting in the work to build his community.

And that approach has evolved to include automations.

What’s automation exactly? Automations are tools that can help creators with repeatable tasks that would otherwise need to be done manually, creating more time for the work that only you can do.

Here's how Wrekonize built an automated workflow that works for him and a few ideas you can apply to your own creative business.

Start where your audience already is

By the time Wrekonize started exploring automations, he'd already found an outreach strategy that worked.

Whenever someone followed him on Instagram, he'd send them a personal message introducing himself and inviting them to check out his Patreon. Unlike handing out flyers to strangers, these were people who had already shown interest in his work. They'd found him, followed him, and chosen to hear more.

The outreach was absolutely worthwhile. The process was tedious.

Sending those messages one at a time was becoming one of the most repetitive parts of his workflow.

So Wrekonize started looking for a way to keep the experience while reducing the manual effort. He eventually found Manychat, an automation tool built to work with Instagram, giving him a more efficient way to continue his outreach strategy that was already working in the place where his fans were most active.

Instead of manually messaging every new follower himself, Wrekonize set up Manychat to automatically send each new Instagram follower a personalized direct message from his Instagram account. Written in his own voice, the message welcomes new followers, thanks them for connecting, and invites them to learn more about his direct-to-listener community. When followers click the button in the message, they're taken to Wrekonize's Patreon. This is where the magic happens—where they join Wrekonize’s community, then connect with him and fellow fans.

Look for the parts of your workflow that happen the same way every time. Those repeatable tasks are often strong candidates for automating.

Automate the task, not the relationship

Once Wrekonize identified where automation fit into his workflow, he focused on making the experience feel just as thoughtful as if he'd sent the message himself.

He considered when the message should arrive, how it should be written, including a button so they can take immediate action, what the button should say, and where someone should land after clicking it.

Pro Tip: Wrekonize also uses a custom domain, making it easy for his fans to remember and access his Patreon community.

He also thought through what might happen after the message was sent.

✅ Some followers click the button right away and continue exploring on their own.

💬 Others reply to the message instead. Wrekonize keeps an eye on those conversations so he can jump in personally. To him, those replies are an opportunity to connect with someone who's already interested in engaging.

⏳ And for the people who don't respond? He added a follow-up automation that checks back in after a period of time, giving them another opportunity to connect.

The automation handles the repeatable tasks. Wrekonize shows up for the conversations.

Does it work?

For Wrekonize, the results have been encouraging.

His automated workflow has helped create a consistent path from Instagram to Patreon while significantly reducing the amount of manual outreach he needs to do.

Getting folks into his Patreon helps centralize his offerings into one community called the Wreking Crew. This gives fans one spot to check out free previews, one-time purchases, paid membership, and more.

Manychat also gives him visibility into how people interact with his automation. One way Wrekonize measures the success of his automation is by tracking click-through rate. Reflecting on the results, Wrekonize shared:

"Next to the runs, you'll see 20.3% click-through rate, which is… insane. Like, normally when you send out an email, they're like, if you get 1% click-through, you're doing great! Or if you do a Facebook or Instagram ad, if you get 1%, 2%, 5%, you're swimming. So, 20%, I found to be an impressive number… because the thing is… it's not the flyers on the beach that you're giving out, this is targeted. This is people that are following you, they're into what you're doing, so your chance for success here, for getting people involved, is way higher."

The result is a workflow that helps Wrekonize reach interested fans more efficiently, track how they're engaging, and spend more time on the conversations that matter.

⚡ Try this:

Once you've identified a repeatable task, map out what someone will experience from start to finish.

• When should the automation happen?

• What action do you want someone to take next?

• If they respond differently than expected, how will you follow up?

Thoughtful automation goes beyond the task itself. It also considers the experience your fans have along the way.

Make sure your Patreon delivers on the invitation

Bringing someone to your Patreon is one step in the journey.

Helping them understand what they'll find there is the next.

Wrekonize puts just as much thought into what happens after someone joins his Patreon as he does into getting them there.

He welcomes new free members with a custom welcome note, shares a monthly calendar so people know what's happening in the community, and gives members opportunities to preview content from higher tiers, like replaying livestreams that were originally available only to paid members.

Each of those moments helps answer a simple question:

"What happens here?"

When new members can quickly understand what you create and what they'll experience as part of your community, it's easier for them to explore more of your work and decide whether membership is right for them.

⚡ Try this:

• Open your Patreon in an incognito window or ask someone who's never visited your page to take a look.

• Can someone new to your page quickly understand what you create, what happens each month, and where they should start?

• If not, consider adding a welcome note, highlighting key media, or sharing a monthly roadmap to help orient new members.

💡Pro Tip: For more ideas on creating a welcoming Patreon experience, check out Make your Patreon easier for fans to explore (and easier to stick with).

Extend the experience with Patreon Autopilot

The same thinking that helped Wrekonize make his audience outreach more efficient can continue after someone joins your Patreon.

Autopilot helps creators automate key moments throughout the member journey, like encouraging free members to explore paid membership, offering annual memberships, and reaching out before someone cancels.

Just as Wrekonize identified repeatable tasks in his audience-building workflow, creators can take the same approach after someone joins Patreon with Autopilot: allow the tool to automate repeatable tasks so you can spend more time on the interactions that benefit from a personal connection.

Build a workflow that grows with you

Automation isn't about replacing the work of building your audience. It's about making the parts of it that happen again and again become more efficient.

Wrekonize started with one repeatable task that was already valuable, found a way to make it more efficient, and continued refining it over time. As you explore automations, you too may find new opportunities to streamline parts of your workflow while keeping the personal connections that matter most.

Start with one workflow. Test it. Learn from it. Then decide what to improve next.

⚡ Key takeaways to try out:

• Choose one repeatable task you've identified and build your first automation.

• Once it's live, pay attention to how your fans respond.

• Treat it like an experiment and embrace small adjustments to your messaging, timing, or follow-up that can make a big difference over time.

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