𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬: 𝐀 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

Facebook Messenger Bots and conversational AI, in general, is taking the world of marketing by storm. Now, you can instantly connect with your audience, communicate with them directly and do it all without hiring 24/7 support staff.

If it sounds too good to be true, hold on tight because the reality is anything but science fiction. In fact, some say that conversational AI is set to replace app technology altogether. 

And while tools like Facebook Messenger Bots should be only a small piece of your overall marketing strategy, the time is now to get on board.

So, if you’re a modern marketer and you don’t know where to start with Facebook Messenger Bots, we’re here to point you in the right direction. 

What are Facebook Messenger Bots?

Facebook Messenger Bots are conversational AI tools that allow a computer to interact with your customers in an amazingly human-like way. 

A message from a Facebook Messenger Bot pops up automatically (or based on certain triggers) when a user checks out your Facebook business page. Usually, these automated messages ask, “How can I help you?” or “Would you like to make a booking?”

Without the need for a human staff member to be on-call 24/7, Facebook Messenger Bots provide customer service automatically.

Perfect for businesses who use Facebook to generate leads and engage customers, Facebook Messenger Bots are easy to use and show promising results for marketers.

Benefits of Using Facebook Messenger Bots

As of 2018, Facebook had around 300,000 active Facebook Messenger Bots. Compared with the 1.3 billion people who use Facebook Messenger each month, it’s clear that only a tiny fraction of businesses are taking advantage of conversational AI technology.

So, why aren’t many businesses jumping on board? Aren’t there heaps of benefits of using Facebook Messenger Bots? The answer is yes and getting in ahead of the curve should actually be seen as a benefit, not a downside.

The benefits of using Facebook Messenger Bots include:

• Low barrier to entry
• Cheap to build
• Minimal competition
• Direct audience communication
• Save time and money on customer service
• Generate leads
• Handle transactions and bookings
• Re-engagement marketing

Low Barrier to Entry

Compared to building an app where you take bookings, answer queries or do anything else that might serve your business, creating Facebook Messenger Bots have a far lower barrier to entry. Not to mention, people already know how to use Facebook Messenger…

Cheap to Build

Plus, when you use conversational AI tools to help you build Facebook Messenger Bots tailored to your business needs, you’ll be spending a fraction of the price compared to building an app.

Minimal Competition

As we already mentioned, only a fraction of Facebook Messenger users is taking advantage of Facebook Messenger Bots. You’ll be one of the first to jump on this trend without much competition. 

Direct Audience Communication

And not only that but your Facebook messages using conversational AI bypass email inboxes (which are thought to be the best kind of direct communication with your audience). One study showed that Facebook Messenger marketing messages were opened 3.5x more than marketing emails.

Save Time and Money on Customer Service

Another massive benefit of using Facebook Messenger Bots is the fact that you’ll save time and money on traditional customer service. Most customer questions can be answered using conversational AI meaning you can hire fewer customer service staff to only answer complicated queries. 

Identify Your Audience

You can also get a better idea of audience demographics and identify leads using Facebook Messenger Bots. In some ways, they’re like an interactive survey if you use them well.

Handle Transactions and Bookings

Whether you’re a physio taking bookings, a pizza restaurant offering delivery or a boutique selling clothes, you can do it all using Facebook Messenger Bots. And it all happens within the Messenger app which seems to have lower drop-off rates and better up-selling capabilities compared to websites.

Re-Engagement Marketing

Finally, since conversational AI technology is able to retain information over time, it’s an amazing way to re-engage previous customers. And again, with better open rates compared to re-targeted marketing emails, it’s an amazing way to personalise a marketing message.

Tips for Using Facebook Messenger Bots

Ready to create Facebook Messenger Bots within your company’s Facebook page? Of course, you do! But first, here are a few tips to keep in mind.

• Create your Facebook Messager Bots using a conversational AI tool
• Have a clear message and expectations
• Facebook Messenger Bots should NOT overflow inboxes
• Use segmentation
• Be transparent
• Have human customer service on-hand

When first starting out with Facebook Messenger Bots, there’s no need to take a DIY approach. There are countless conversational AI tools out there that offer drag and drop capabilities to make setting up your bots easy and bug-free.

But even when you use these amazing conversational AI tools, make sure your message is clear. Create simple flows using yes or no answers or even taking advantage of emojis to keep the conversation flowing in a way the AI can understand.

Here’s a good example. 

Just keep in mind that your Facebook Messenger Bots should not be bombarding your customers. This can easily lead to frustration and is simply bad for business. So, stick to a few backs and forth flows that help you actually hit conversion targets.

Another good idea is to be transparent with your audience. In other words, let them know they’re talking to a bot, not a human. People are more comfortable interacting with conversational AI than you might think. But, they’re not ok with being lied to.

All in all, be sure to use segmentation to personalise messages, make sure the expectations are clear on both sides and have systems in place for human customer service to take over when things get too complicated for the AI.

How to Build Facebook Messenger Bots

Again, you could hire a developer to code a chatbot for you or you could simply use an easy drag-and-drop system to create chatbots that work via Facebook Messenger. The truth is, you probably have more important things to do, right?

Contact us today and we’ll show you how to get started with Facebook Messenger Bots and other amazing conversational AI tools for your website and more!