Most manufacturers don’t have the sources to supply 24/7 on-line customer support and gross sales help on Fb Messenger, not to mention on their web site. Fortuitously, chatbots don’t have to sleep (or eat lunch). Fb Messenger bots can reply buyer questions, observe packages, make product suggestions, and even shut a sale any time of the day or night time.
Fb is the most-used social media platform on the planet. If you have already got a store arrange on Fb, you’ve taken the precise step to hitch an ever-growing on-line market. You’d be lacking out on stable gross sales alternatives should you don’t think about including a Fb Messenger chatbot to your group.
Learn the way to make use of Fb Messenger bots (a.ok.a. Fb chatbots) for customer support and social commerce beneath. Create a streamlined expertise to your buyer and followers, and stand out out of your competitors.
Bonus: Obtain a free information that teaches you the way to flip Fb site visitors into gross sales in 4 easy steps utilizing Hootsuite.
What’s a Fb Messenger bot (a.ok.a Fb chatbot)?
A chatbot is a chunk of automated messaging software program that makes use of synthetic intelligence to converse with folks.
Fb Messenger bots dwell inside Fb Messenger, and may converse with among the 1.3 billion individuals who use Fb Messenger each month.
Chatbots are like digital assistants. They are often programmed to know questions, present solutions, and execute duties. They’ll present a custom-made on-line procuring expertise and even make gross sales.
The advantages of utilizing Fb Messenger bots for enterprise
Meet prospects the place they’re
First, let’s have a look at some fast stats to set the stage for the way a lot of your potential viewers is accessible by means of Fb Messenger:
- Chat and messaging are the most-used varieties of web sites and apps, adopted by social networks.
- The variety of messages despatched to companies on Fb has doubled prior to now 12 months.
- Greater than 375,000 folks from over 200 international locations interact with bots on Messenger each day.
- Fb Messenger has the third-most energetic customers of any app, beat out solely by Fb and Whatsapp
- Greater than 100 billion messages are exchanged on Meta apps each day.
- Individuals spend a mean of 3 hours each month utilizing Fb Messenger (and 19.6 hours a month utilizing Fb itself).
- Meta studies the potential promoting viewers for Fb Messenger is 987.7 million folks
- Most individuals (69% within the U.S.) who message companies say having the ability to take action improves their confidence within the model.
The purpose is that your viewers is already utilizing Fb Messenger, and so they count on to have the ability to work together together with your model there when visiting your Fb web page. Chatbots can improve your charge of response, making it simpler for folks to get the data they count on in real-time, on a channel they already use.
As a bonus, Fb Messenger has sponsored adverts, which could be focused to individuals who have beforehand been in contact together with your Web page. Use these adverts in tandem together with your chatbot to focus on high-intent prospects.
Save time to your group and your prospects
Clients count on 24/7 availability, and so they hate ready on maintain. In addition they ask most of the identical questions time and again (and over) once more.
If you happen to’re spending a whole lot of time serving to folks observe deliveries, verify your return coverage, or guide appointments, a bit of automation will go a great distance. Clients will be capable to entry the data they want, even should you’re unavailable.
They’ll save time with instantaneous solutions to their questions, and also you’ll save time by letting your Fb Messenger chatbot reply the simple questions, like on this instance from Canadian retailer Simons.
This frees up extra time for people to handle extra sophisticated Messenger conversations that transcend the capabilities of a Fb chatbot.
Automate gross sales
Don’t restrict your Messenger bots for Fb to customer support requests.
Greater than 16% p.c of individuals use social media messaging and dwell chat companies for model analysis. And 14.5% say a chat field to talk with an organization is a driver of their on-line purchases. This all results in actual enterprise outcomes: 83% of shoppers say they might store for or purchase merchandise in messaging conversations.
With the precise script, a Fb Messenger chatbot could make gross sales. Conversational commerce permits for customized suggestions, lead qualification, and upselling.
As your bot greets potential prospects, it could possibly determine their wants, ask primary questions, present inspiration, and direct high-quality results in your human gross sales group.
Your Fb chatbot also can comply with up with individuals who abandon the conversational commerce course of, like on this message Joybird’s bot despatched 24 hours after finishing the sofa-style quiz.
The dos and don’ts of utilizing Fb Messenger bots
DO set expectations clearly
First, ensure the person is aware of they’re interacting with a bot. Introducing the bot generally is a good solution to begin. You may even give it a reputation, like Decathlon does right here.
Then, make it clear what the bot can and may’t do. Program your Fb Messenger chatbot to take the lead in guiding the person by means of the expertise by asking questions or utilizing prompts that transfer the interplay ahead.
If the bot wants time to course of a request, use the typing indicator (three dots) to verify your buyer is aware of issues are nonetheless taking place, as seen on this instance from Tiffany & Co.
If you happen to want time to answer or go the dialog alongside to an individual, make that clear, too, and set expectations about when the client can count on a response, like Bumble’s Fb bot does right here.
A mini-don’t as a part of this tip: Don’t discuss with your Fb chatbot as “dwell chat” or use different terminology that means it’s an actual individual.
DO hold it brief
Based on Fb, most individuals work together with Messenger bots on their cellular units. Don’t make them learn huge chunks of textual content on a small display or sort a prolonged reply with their thumbs.
Buttons, fast replies, and menus could make the dialog stream extra simply than asking the client to sort at each stage. Right here, KLM offers eight potential choices to drive the dialog with the bot.
Enable the client to sort particulars when wanted, however at all times present default solutions or choices to select from when your Fb Messenger bot asks a query.
DO keep your model voice
When you need to be clear that your Fb Messenger chatbot is a bot, you need it to sound like your bot. Use turns of phrase your prospects count on out of your web site, and keep the identical basic tone. In case your model is informal and pleasant, your bot must be too.
That stated, hold it easy. Don’t use slang or jargon that may confuse customers. Attempt studying your bot’s prompts out loud to a colleague to verify they’re clear.
And at all times use a tone acceptable to the duty at hand. If you happen to’re asking somebody to supply private particulars like a flight quantity or their deal with, take a extra skilled tone.
DO let human brokers deal with sophisticated inquiries
A Fb chatbot’s success is dependent upon its potential to acknowledge when a human being is required. Automated conversations are speedy and responsive, however they’ll’t change human connection.
Clients ought to have the choice, at any level within the dialog, to attach with an individual. Your chatbot ought to be capable to acknowledge a request for human assist, which builds belief, even when it’s exterior the anticipated stream of dialog.
On this instance from La Vie En Rose, the bot understands the requests regardless that it doesn’t stream logically from the bot’s immediate.
DON’T spam
There’s actually just one main don’t on the subject of Messenger bots, and that is it. Don’t spam.
Don’t assume {that a} buyer who reached out for assist needs to obtain advertising and marketing messages. Personalised product suggestions may be useful, however be sure to have permission earlier than sending them.
Provide folks a solution to opt-in to ongoing messaging earlier than you contact them. And you’ll want to supply a transparent solution to choose out of future communications. Your bot ought to acknowledge language that looks like a request to choose out and both ask to verify or implement the unsubscriber request.
Fb places this bluntly of their pointers for builders: “Don’t change the kind of data you ship with out consent. If folks signed up for a selected alert, honor their preferences.”
6 instruments for constructing efficient Fb Messenger bots
1. Heyday
Heyday is a conversational ai chatbot that works as a Fb Messenger bot constructed for buyer help and gross sales. It mechanically connects to your product catalog to supply customized product suggestions to prospects.
Heyday additionally resolves customer support inquiries as a FAQ chatbot in a number of languages and understands when it’s essential to go the dialog on to a human agent. The Fb Messenger expertise is superb for purchasers with the assistance of Heyday.
customer support inquiries as a FAQ chatbot in a number of languages and understands when it’s essential to go the dialog on to a human agent. The Fb Messenger expertise is superb for purchasers with the assistance of Heyday.
And if in case you have a Shopify retailer, take notice: Heyday sells a model of their chatbot that’s particularly designed to assist with customer support for Shopify shops. At solely $49 per thirty days, It’s the right place to start out if in case you have a smaller finances.
2. Streamchat
Streamchat is without doubt one of the most simple Fb chatbot instruments on the market. It’s meant for use for easy automations and autoresponders. Relatively than managing an entire dialog, it’s helpful for out-of-office replies or messages that set expectations about while you’ll be capable to reply.
It’s fast to implement and simple to start out with should you’re simply dipping your toes into the chatbot waters.
3. Chatfuel
Chatfuel has an intuitive visible interface complemented by editable front-end and customization choices. When you can construct a Fb Messenger bot totally free, a whole lot of the extra advanced (and fascinating) instruments are solely obtainable with Chatfuel Professional accounts.
4. MobileMonkey
This free software contains a visible chatbot builder for Fb Messenger designed for non-technical customers. You should utilize it to construct Q&A classes in a Fb Messenger chatbot.
There’s additionally a “Chat Blast” function, just like Chatfuel’s “broadcasting” function, that lets you ship messages to a number of customers directly. (Bear in mind: Solely do that if in case you have permission!)
5. Messenger for Builders
If in case you have the stable coding information required to code your individual Fb chatbot, Fb offers loads of sources to get you began. And they’re at all times working with their developer neighborhood to give you new concepts to enhance the person expertise.
6. Fb Creator Studio
Whereas it’s not strictly talking a Fb Messenger bot, Fb Creator Studio does will let you arrange some primary automated responses to frequent requests and occasions in Messenger. For instance, you possibly can arrange an away message, present contact info, or arrange a listing of FAQs and solutions. There’s no synthetic intelligence taking place right here to allow dialog or gross sales, however you may get some autoresponder performance to maintain Messenger working at a primary stage while you’re away out of your desk.
Interact with customers on their most well-liked channels, like Fb, and switch buyer conversations into gross sales with Heyday, Hootsuite’s devoted conversational AI instruments for retailers. Ship 5-star buyer experiences — at scale.
Flip customer support conversations into gross sales with Heyday. Enhance response instances and promote extra merchandise. See it in motion.
