The next technology revolution has already arrived in the form of Artificial Intelligence. For marketers and businesses, it offers more flexibility, deeper insights on consumers based on faster data retrieval, the ability to automate tasks and also vast improvement in customer service with fewer human interventions. In fact by 2020, 80% of brands will be using chatbots for customer service and interactions.
Facebook Messenger Bots
There are 2 billion monthly users on Facebook and nearly 20 million businesses using Messenger as a marketing and customer-service channel. But changes in Facebook algorithm have put a stress on the organic reach of Facebook pages as the focus on a user’s News Feed has shifted to posts by friends and those sponsored by companies. This has opened up the opportunity for marketers to increase advertising spend on Facebook and also leverage Messenger Chatbots so that businesses do not lose any acquired visibility.
With the increased interest on paid sponsorships through Facebook there will be an inevitable increase in the cost of all the paid metrics. So potentially it will cost businesses more to reach even a thousand people or to get few clicks. The most successful alternative solution to reach more users on Facebook and engage with them is to get on Messenger and use chatbots. Unsurprisingly the most popular and powerful platform for chatbots right now is Facebook Messenger.
Marketing Activities To Pursue On Facebook Through Bots
Social media bots are now being used in every stage of the marketing funnel to raise awareness about your brand, drive engagement, help you acquire new leads, and enable transactions. Facebook messenger chatbots enable businesses to develop an interactive user experience, deliver more relevant content, and automate customer service.
Chat
Facebook Messenger bots are programmed to answer questions conversationally and in real-time. They do much more than just answer repetitive user FAQs, they come across as more of a friend and less of a customer service agent in their interaction. More brands are using the new Facebook Messenger Chat plugin in their websites and blogs to develop a deeper connection with their audience right from their site. And unlike the typical live chat, the interaction is frictionless because Facebook already knows you and can therefore re-engage. Pizza Hut uses Facebook messenger chatbots to prompt customer questions, help users view their current deals and much more.
Subscription List
Marketers have to put in so much effort to drive traffic to landing pages, and ask for emails only to get minimal engagement and open rate. How about creating a chat subscription list with a Messenger chatbot? Chatbots direct users to a channel that is most efficient for your audience and your brand. The numbers prove its effectiveness. The typical open rate on a marketing email is around 20%, whereas the typical open rate on Messenger is closer to 80%. And theclick-through rates (CTRs) on Messenger marketing is in double digits in comparison to emails that are in the 2%-3% range.
Notifications
There are more people using mobiles than desktop now and most check their notifications as soon as they wake up. Therefore there is nothing better to elicit a response from a user than delivering your message directly through a push notification coming from Messenger. Sending a message on Messenger ensures maximum reach as users get notified both via push notification and within the Facebook app.
Lead Generation
Messenger bots are useful for capturing rich profile information and turning users into leads that can be pursued. You can change the messages objective to target people who are most likely to be interested in your communication and use the conversions objective to track conversions in or outside Messenger. Grab your audience’s attention with click-to-Messenger ad and design the content to greet people and encourage interaction in Messenger. For instance, you can run Facebook Ads to promote your new makeup product line and invite users to book a makeover. Instead of static form behind the button ‘Book Now,’ you can have a proactive, engaging messaging experience with a Messenger Bot.
Content Delivery
Bots can boost your site traffic by delivering relevant content based on context and sending tailored personalized messages to users. While the most common approach to delivering content for readers has been email, in a recent experiment run by HubSpot it found that using Facebook Messenger is a better alternative. Instead of having to fill a form to get gated content through email, HubSpot offered users the option to get the content via Facebook Messenger. Surprisingly most people preferred the latter channel for content delivery. Brands can create a chatbot to deliver content using ChatFuel without having to code. Read this guide from Chatfuel on building a Messenger chatbot with ChatFuel.
Businesses can also help their audience find the most relevant content using Facebook Messenger. Companies like Food Network, and TechCrunch have Messenger chatbots that helps their followers pull out articles that they are interested in and want to read. To better tailor conversations around your interest area, subscribe to specific topics or authors and the bot will send you related news. This is the most non-salesy way of delivering personalized content to your target audience. Though developing such a chatbot requires more sophistication than a simple content delivery bot, it can be done with templates and tools like ChatFuel, ManyChat, and Botsify.
Sales And Customer Service
Bots can be created to act as customer service agents for a seamless customer experience. You can even design bots to issue support ticket, survey your audience, book appointments, send custom updates and reminders, process transactions and send order notifications. Bots can truly help users to facilitate sales and improve conversions. For example, with Mastercard’s social bot can help you check account transactions, while the Staples’ chatbot answers any product related questions and can run through orders and check stock availability for you. The bot of 1-800 Flowers in Facebook Messenger, makes the process of ordering flowers online to be sent to a specific address hassle-free by giving options that users can click-through to pick the flower arrangement they like the most and want to order.
Bots can be integrated with email marketing services for nurturing campaigns, and also for upselling and cross-selling products. Even post-purchase, bots can be used quite effectively in follow-up and re-engagement. You can use Facebook’s prompted messages to re-engage customers and let them know about your new products.
Sum Up
Any organization that takes time to understand Facebook Messenger bots and execute them well, will have better insight into their customers and this will really help them ramp up customer engagement and service. If your business has a presence on Facebook then you really should be harnessing the strength of bots to create additional value for your brand. DirectiveGroup can help you take full advantage of this new audience growth tool. Get in touch with our digital marketing experts at 866-925-9524.
