Most manufacturers don’t have the sources to supply 24/7 on-line customer support and gross sales assist on Fb Messenger, not to mention on their web site. Happily, chatbots don’t must 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 evening.
Fb is the most-used social media platform on the earth. If you have already got a store arrange on Fb, you’ve taken the suitable step to affix an ever-growing on-line market. You’d be lacking out on strong gross sales alternatives in case you don’t think about including a Fb Messenger chatbot to your workforce.
Learn the way to make use of Fb Messenger bots (a.okay.a. Fb chatbots) for customer support and social commerce beneath. Create a streamlined expertise in your buyer and followers, and stand out out of your competitors.
Bonus: Obtain a free information that teaches you methods to flip Fb visitors into gross sales in 4 easy steps utilizing Hootsuite.
What’s a Fb Messenger bot (a.okay.a Fb chatbot)?
A chatbot is a bit of automated messaging software program that makes use of synthetic intelligence to converse with folks.
Fb Messenger bots stay inside Fb Messenger, and may converse with a number of 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 will present a custom-made on-line buying expertise and even make gross sales.
The advantages of utilizing Fb Messenger bots for enterprise
Meet prospects the place they’re
First, let’s take a look at some fast stats to set the stage for the way a lot of your potential viewers is accessible by Fb Messenger:
- Chat and messaging are the most-used kinds of web sites and apps, adopted by social networks.
- The variety of messages despatched to companies on Fb has doubled previously 12 months.
- Greater than 375,000 folks from over 200 international locations interact with bots on Messenger day-after-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 day-after-day.
- Folks spend a median 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, they usually 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 knowledge they count on in real-time, on a channel they already use.
As a bonus, Fb Messenger has sponsored adverts, which will 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 in your workforce and your prospects
Clients count on 24/7 availability, they usually hate ready on maintain. Additionally they ask most of the identical questions time and again (and over) once more.
In the event you’re spending loads of time serving to folks observe deliveries, test your return coverage, or guide appointments, just a little automation will go a great distance. Clients will have the ability to entry the knowledge they want, even in case you’re unavailable.
They’ll save time with immediate solutions to their questions, and also you’ll save time by letting your Fb Messenger chatbot reply the straightforward questions, like on this instance from Canadian retailer Simons.
This frees up extra time for people to deal with 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% % of individuals use social media messaging and stay 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 customers say they’d store for or purchase merchandise in messaging conversations.
With the suitable script, a Fb Messenger chatbot could make gross sales. Conversational commerce permits for personalised suggestions, lead qualification, and upselling.
As your bot greets potential prospects, it might determine their wants, ask primary questions, present inspiration, and direct high-quality results in your human gross sales workforce.
Your Fb chatbot also can observe 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, be sure the person is aware of they’re interacting with a bot. Introducing the bot generally is a good technique to begin. You’ll be able to 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 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.
In the event you want time to answer or cross 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 check with your Fb chatbot as “stay chat” or use different terminology that means it’s an actual particular person.
DO maintain 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 kind a prolonged reply with their thumbs.
Buttons, fast replies, and menus could make the dialog move extra simply than asking the client to kind at each stage. Right here, KLM gives eight potential choices to drive the dialog with the bot.
Permit the client to kind particulars when wanted, however all the time present default solutions or choices to select from when your Fb Messenger bot asks a query.
DO keep your model voice
Whilst you wish 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 normal tone. In case your model is informal and pleasant, your bot needs to be too.
That mentioned, maintain it easy. Don’t use slang or jargon that may confuse customers. Strive studying your bot’s prompts out loud to a colleague to verify they’re clear.
And all the time use a tone acceptable to the duty at hand. In the event you’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 depends upon its potential to acknowledge when a human being is required. Automated conversations are speedy and responsive, however they will’t exchange human connection.
Clients ought to have the choice, at any level within the dialog, to attach with an individual. Your chatbot ought to have the ability to acknowledge a request for human assist, which builds belief, even when it’s exterior the anticipated move of dialog.
On this instance from La Vie En Rose, the bot understands the requests regardless that it doesn’t move 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 desires to obtain advertising and marketing messages. Customized product suggestions is likely to be useful, however be sure to have permission earlier than sending them.
Provide folks a technique to opt-in to ongoing messaging earlier than you contact them. And you’ll want to provide a transparent technique to choose out of future communications. Your bot ought to acknowledge language that looks like a request to choose out and both ask to substantiate or implement the unsubscriber request.
Fb places this bluntly of their pointers for builders: “Don’t change the kind of information you ship with out consent. If folks signed up for a particular 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 assist and gross sales. It robotically connects to your product catalog to supply personalised 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 cross the dialog on to a human agent. The Fb Messenger expertise is great 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 cross the dialog on to a human agent. The Fb Messenger expertise is great for purchasers with the assistance of Heyday.
And in case you have a Shopify retailer, take be aware: 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 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. Slightly than managing a complete dialog, it’s helpful for out-of-office replies or messages that set expectations about if you’ll have the ability to reply.
It’s fast to implement and straightforward to start out with in case 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. Whilst you can construct a Fb Messenger bot totally free, loads of the extra complicated (and attention-grabbing) instruments are solely obtainable with Chatfuel Professional accounts.
4. MobileMonkey
This free software encompasses a visible chatbot builder for Fb Messenger designed for non-technical customers. You should use it to construct Q&A periods in a Fb Messenger chatbot.
There’s additionally a “Chat Blast” characteristic, much like Chatfuel’s “broadcasting” characteristic, that means that you can ship messages to a number of customers without delay. (Bear in mind: Solely do that in case you have permission!)
5. Messenger for Builders
In case you have the strong coding information required to code your personal Fb chatbot, Fb gives loads of sources to get you began. And they’re all the time working with their developer group to provide you with 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 help you arrange some primary automated responses to frequent requests and occasions in Messenger. For instance, you’ll be able to 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 if you’re away out of your desk.
Have interaction with buyers on their most popular 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 occasions and promote extra merchandise. See it in motion.
