Most manufacturers don’t have the assets to supply 24/7 on-line customer support and gross sales assist on Fb Messenger, not to mention on their web site. Luckily, 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 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 best step to hitch an ever-growing on-line market. You’d be lacking out on strong gross sales alternatives in case you don’t contemplate including a Fb Messenger chatbot to your crew.
Learn how to make use of Fb Messenger bots (a.ok.a. Fb chatbots) for customer support and social commerce under. Create a streamlined expertise in your buyer and followers, and stand out out of your competitors.
Bonus: Obtain a free information that teaches you how one can flip Fb 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 stay inside Fb Messenger, and might 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 personalized on-line purchasing expertise and even make gross sales.
The advantages of utilizing Fb Messenger bots for enterprise
Meet clients the place they’re
First, let’s take a look at some fast stats to set the stage for a way a lot of your potential viewers is accessible via 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 nations have interaction with bots on Messenger daily.
- 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 daily.
- Folks spend a mean of 3 hours each month utilizing Fb Messenger (and 19.6 hours a month utilizing Fb itself).
- Meta reviews 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 fee 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 advertisements, which might be focused to individuals who have beforehand been in contact together with your Web page. Use these advertisements in tandem together with your chatbot to focus on high-intent clients.
Save time in your crew and your clients
Prospects count on 24/7 availability, they usually hate ready on maintain. Additionally they ask most of the similar questions time and again (and over) once more.
In case you’re spending numerous time serving to folks observe deliveries, verify your return coverage, or ebook appointments, just a little automation will go a great distance. Prospects will be capable of entry the data they want, even in case you’re unavailable.
They’ll save time with prompt 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 difficult 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 best script, a Fb Messenger chatbot could make gross sales. Conversational commerce permits for personalised suggestions, lead qualification, and upselling.
As your bot greets potential clients, it may determine their wants, ask fundamental questions, present inspiration, and direct high-quality results in your human gross sales crew.
Your Fb chatbot may also 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 that the consumer is aware of they’re interacting with a bot. Introducing the bot generally is a good solution 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 might’t do. Program your Fb Messenger chatbot to take the lead in guiding the consumer via 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 occurring, as seen on this instance from Tiffany & Co.
In case you want time to answer or move the dialog alongside to an individual, make that clear, too, and set expectations about when the shopper 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 “stay chat” or use different terminology that means it’s an actual individual.
DO hold it quick
Based on Fb, most individuals work together with Messenger bots on their cellular gadgets. Don’t make them learn huge chunks of textual content on a small display screen or kind a prolonged reply with their thumbs.
Buttons, fast replies, and menus could make the dialog movement extra simply than asking the shopper to kind at each stage. Right here, KLM gives eight potential choices to drive the dialog with the bot.
Permit the shopper 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
When 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 clients count on out of your web site, and keep the identical basic tone. In case your model is informal and pleasant, your bot needs to be too.
That mentioned, hold 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 case you’re asking somebody to offer private particulars like a flight quantity or their tackle, take a extra skilled tone.
DO let human brokers deal with difficult inquiries
A Fb chatbot’s success will depend on its skill to acknowledge when a human being is required. Automated conversations are speedy and responsive, however they’ll’t substitute human connection.
Prospects ought to have the choice, at any level within the dialog, to attach with an individual. Your chatbot ought to be capable of acknowledge a request for human assist, which builds belief, even when it’s outdoors the anticipated movement of dialog.
On this instance from La Vie En Rose, the bot understands the requests though it doesn’t movement logically from the bot’s immediate.
DON’T spam
There’s actually just one main don’t in relation to 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. Personalised product suggestions is likely to be useful, however ensure you have permission earlier than sending them.
Supply folks a solution to opt-in to ongoing messaging earlier than you contact them. And you should definitely supply a transparent solution to decide out of future communications. Your bot ought to acknowledge language that looks like a request to decide out and both ask to substantiate or implement the unsubscriber request.
Fb places this bluntly of their tips for builders: “Don’t change the kind of data 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 mechanically connects to your product catalog to offer personalised product suggestions to clients.
Heyday additionally resolves customer support inquiries as a FAQ chatbot in a number of languages and understands when it’s essential to move 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, Heyday has a Shopify integration too!
2. Streamchat
Streamchat is among the most elementary Fb chatbot instruments on the market. It’s meant for use for easy automations and autoresponders. Reasonably than managing a complete dialog, it’s helpful for out-of-office replies or messages that set expectations about if you’ll be capable of reply.
It’s fast to implement and simple 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. When you can construct a Fb Messenger bot totally free, numerous the extra complicated (and fascinating) instruments are solely accessible with Chatfuel Professional accounts.
4. MobileMonkey
This free instrument encompasses a visible chatbot builder for Fb Messenger designed for non-technical customers. You need to use it to construct Q&A periods in a Fb Messenger chatbot.
There’s additionally a “Chat Blast” characteristic, just like Chatfuel’s “broadcasting” characteristic, that permits you to ship messages to a number of customers without delay. (Bear in mind: Solely do that in case you have permission!)
5. Messenger for Builders
When you have the strong coding data required to code your individual Fb chatbot, Fb gives loads of assets to get you began. And they’re all the time working with their developer group to give you new concepts to enhance the consumer expertise.
6. Fb Creator Studio
Whereas it’s not strictly talking a Fb Messenger bot, Fb Creator Studio does mean you can arrange some fundamental 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 occurring right here to allow dialog or gross sales, however you will get some autoresponder performance to maintain Messenger working at a fundamental stage if you’re away out of your desk.
Have interaction with consumers 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 instances and promote extra merchandise. See it in motion.
