Check if a Contact Already Exists on the Platform

Check if a Contact Already Exists on the Platform
By Elena Krasnoslobodtseva ·
7/14/2025
·
5 min. read

In this article

ManyChat is a service that allows you to create bots and automate conversations with your customers across different channels, such as Instagram, Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and more. By connecting ManyChat to Albato, you can send data to over 800+ apps, including AI tools like ChatGPT and Grok.

In this instruction, you will learn what to do when you want to message a contact who signed up through a form on another platform, such as Facebook Ads. But you’re not sure if this contact already exists in ManyChat. If the contact exists, you can update it with the most recent information you’ve collected. We described the automation in the instructions below. Follow these steps to set it up.

 

Step 1. Connect ManyChat with Albato

Follow this guide on how to connect Albato with ManyChat.

 

Step 2. Create an automation and define the trigger

Here’s how to check if the contact already exists on the platform.

  1. Go to the Automations tab and click on Create New Automation.

manychat1.png

  1. Click on the first step of your automation and select the Facebook Lead Ads Trigger.

manychat2.png

  1. Choose your connection, the page, and the desired form.

manychat3.png

  1. Next, add the ManyChat step to search for a contact by name.

manychat4.png

  1. When mapping the field, use the name you received from the lead on Facebook.

manychat5.png

  1. Add a step to send a message to this contact.

manychat6.png

In this example, we will send a message, but this structure can also be used to add a tag or other actions related to contacts in ManyChat.

  1. Specify the contact ID and the message you want to send. Other fields are optional.

manychat7.png

  1. Add a Break tool. This will ensure that after the contact is found and the message is sent, the automation will be stopped.

manychat8.png

  1. If the contact doesn’t exist in ManyChat, after the Break step add the Create a Subscriber step.

manychat9.png

  1. Fill in the fields of this step by mapping the information that will come from Facebook. Set the Consent phrase field to YES.

manychat10.png

  1. Add another action to send a message.

manychat11.png

  1. Use the contact ID generated in the previous step.

manychat12.png

  1. Now the entire structure is set up.
 

Step 3. Define the Error Handler

This feature lets you set what happens with the automation whenever an error occurs. In this scenario, if the contact doesn’t exist in ManyChat, an error will occur at the contact lookup step.

If you configure the Error Handler correctly, you make the flow skip to the Create Contact step and then send the message. This ensures the automation works for both new contacts and those that already exist in ManyChat.

  1. Click on the three dots next to the Search for a contact by name step and select the Error Handler.

manychat13.png

  1. Set it so that whenever an error occurs, the automation skips to the Create Contact step.

manychat14.png

Now your automation is ready, and you can check if a contact already exists in ManyChat. It will either create a new contact and send a message or update the existing contact, for example, by adding a tag if needed.

If you have any questions, contact support via the live chat on our website.


Elena Krasnoslobodtseva
Elena Krasnoslobodtseva
LinkedIn
Content Manager at Albato
All articles by the author
Writes step-by-step guides for users

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