Tips on how to get 88% open charges and 56% click on charges with Fb Messenger bots
My colleagues recently shared the results of a marketing campaign they ran with Facebook Messenger bots, which is basically the Facebook version of email marketing.
The metrics shocked me: 88% open rate and 56% click rate! While I've had some great email marketing campaigns, it's hard to beat this result.
Why should you use Facebook Messenger bots?
Facebook Messenger bots are a growing part of the marketing scene. It's an exciting time to dive in and learn all about them.
As an early user of Facebook Messenger bots in your industry, you also have a huge advantage as a marketer.
You may have heard of a concept called first mover advantage, or FMA.
The idea is this: if you are the first to use a particular tactic or tactic, you win.
The early adopters of SEO were able to dominate the SERPs and generate massive organic search traffic. The early adopters of Facebook groups built massive followers. The early adopters of Twitter created huge brands and were influential.
The sooner you learn and use a new marketing tactic, the more likely it is that you will benefit from it.
It's the perfect time to start using Facebook Messenger bots.
When you send a prospect a Facebook message, the likelihood of them viewing and clicking through (CTR) is far higher than an email marketing message.
People are replying to Facebook Messenger messages in record numbers. I believe you can get 88% open rates on your Facebook Messenger bot campaigns. What I don't know is how long the good times will last
Here you can find out what you need to know about Facebook Messenger bots and how you can bring in these leads yourself.
What Facebook Messenger can do
First, let's be very clear about what Facebook Messenger bots are.
As mentioned above, using Facebook Messenger bots is similar to email marketing. Instead of email, however, you use Facebook messages.
If you've ever read my content, heard my lectures, or watched my videos, you will know that I am a die-hard email marketer. That hasn't changed.
What has changed is my view of Facebook Messenger. I now realize that Facebook Messenger has a huge reach, a higher level of interactivity, and more AI capabilities than email.
With Facebook Messenger bots, you can do the following:
- You can send messaging sequences to people in Messenger.
- You can create a sales funnel that drives sales right into Messenger.
- You can send downloads (such as resources and content upgrades) through Messenger.
- With AI, you can have automated conversations with real users in Messenger.
This list is just the beginning; There are a lot of other things you can do with it.
The rise of messenger bots doesn't mean emails are disappearing. It's just that messaging is the main method many people use to communicate.
What is a messenger bot?
Before I show you the details of creating a messenger bot, I think it would be helpful to talk about bots in general.
When most people hear the word "bot" they tend to think that it is something bad. It is true that there are bad bots. Some bots are so bad that they gave all bots a bad name.
According to Data Dome, software that protects you from falling victim to bops:
A bad bot is programmed to do a task that harms your business or your website visitors. It was created with bad intentions and either directly or indirectly degrades the user experience of the places it crawls.
Bad bots are usually created by cyber criminals, scammers, or anyone else involved in illegal activity. Your competitors can use bad bots to hurt you too. Bad bots either don't read the rules in the robots.txt file or just ignore them.
There are also good bots like these nice guys:
- Copyright bots
- Data bot
- Spider bots
- Trader bots
- Service bots
- Sales bots
The entire SEO industry depends on a bot.
Bots is short for "robots," and as you know, robots can do some pretty great things.
The bots we are talking about are not industrial robots or even service bots. They are sales bots. In particular, they are Facebook Messenger bots.
Until recently, such bots were mainly used in customer service functions. (Below, I'll show you some platforms for creating a customer service bot.)
If you've ever chatted with a "customer service representative" on Skype or Messenger, you may have chatted with a bot.
Messenger bots can do a lot more than just book a hotel in Bali or buy a pair of sandals for the summer.
Bots can help us with marketers getting higher open rates, click rates, leads, and sales.
Obviously, Facebook wants as many users as possible on Messenger so they provide a lot of their own customer service support to messenger bot providers and bot builders.
Unlike a cold email list where you can get spam lists from disgruntled customers, Facebook Messenger bots are a warm and welcoming opportunity.
How Facebook Messenger Bots Work
There are several ways that Facebook Messenger bots can be used.
One way is to embed a link on your website that looks like a typical CTA. Rather than letting leads provide their email addresses, the CTA asks if they can message you on Facebook.
As soon as someone receives a message, each of their answers triggers a response or the next steps of the bot.
You can set your bots to trigger responses based on keywords your leads use in their message. For example, if you have a bot that will provide an address when someone tells you where your business is.
Another option is to create your own list of multiple choice questions. Each choice has a pre-written answer from the chat box. This helps retain leads and feels more like a conversation than an email.
You can also set up your Facebook Messenger chat bots to help with customer service.
For example, if you get a message from someone who says they can't access their account, your bot can pull in keywords like "access to account" and you'll have a bot ready to help you with that particular problem.
The bot may ask for clarification, provide resources or links to frequently asked questions, or let you know that your complaint will be sent to the technical team.
Here's a recent example from Uber Eats. I wrote them that an order had not been delivered. That was her first answer.
When I clicked on Ubert Help, I got the following response from the bot:
You can also use Facebook chats for:
How to Increase Open Rates with Facebook Messenger Bots
There are a variety of strategies you can use to increase the open rate of your Facebook Messenger. Some tips:
- Make sure your opening message is active. You want to hook your leash right away. You can do this by asking a question, talking about a product you think they'll enjoy, how you are helping them solve a problem (or a problem in their industry), and using the lead's first name.
- When you use the strategy of sending multiple choice questions to your leads, you are making sure that your questions are actually interesting. You want your reader to be curious and keep talking until it's time for them to make a buying decision.
- Personalize your Facebook Messenger bot. Depending on how well known your company is, it might be most effective if your automatic chats look like they are from your CEO. You can also create and name cute bots that will introduce themselves the first time they are used with a new person.
- Ask key questions. With every question you ask, keep your leads moving closer and closer to the conversion. Max van Collenburg walks you through a great example of this with Logo's chatbot.
Why should I use Facebook Messenger bots?
I'm showing you all of this information because I believe messenger bots (which include more than Facebook Messenger) are the next big thing in online marketing.
I am also totally convinced that bots can make your business more successful.
It's hard to argue with facts and data – like the 88% open rates and 56% click rates.
Here are some other facts that indicate the success of messenger bots:
- Every month 2.6 billion (yes, billions!) People use Facebook Messenger. Your ideal customer likely uses Messenger.
- Many potential customers do not like giving their email address away no more in exchange for your free download. Worse, they may completely ignore your marketing emails due to email fatigue.
- From a customer perspective, signing up for an email newsletter or campaign requires more steps and work than opening a Facebook Messenger thread.
- From your perspective as a marketer, building an email list takes a lot of work. Building a list of Facebook Messenger leads is a lot less work because of the lower friction. Messenger is a one-click subscription instead of typing your email, clicking send, confirm email, and so on.
- A messenger bot can have a sequence like an email campaign. Sequences can be as long or short as you like and have as many options (or more) as an email sequence.
- Messenger sequences are much faster than email campaign sequences. Typically, with a sequence of emails, you should wait a day or two before sending any more emails. Facebook Messenger lets you send whatever messages you want for the next 10 seconds, 10 minutes, and 10 days. Best of all, the answer is instant and you can have real live conversations with your leads.
- Interested parties can immediately participate in the live chat, which means that sales can be completed faster and more smoothly.
- Retargeting your messenger leads is easier and faster than retargeting email leads the leads are already on Facebook.
- Messenger bots have the same type of opt-in attraction as email lead generation forms – popups, slide-ins, buttons, fields, etc. You can even get a new lead if they leave a comment on your Facebook Leave page.
- Messenger is fully optimized for mobile devices or desktopsThis means that mobile configuration is no longer required for email messaging.
Getting leads using Facebook Messenger is easy, but creating chat bots can prove to be a little trickier. However, you can also create a chat bot with the help of software engineers or a beginner's tool.
Let me tell you about my own experiences.
How to make your own interactive Facebook Messenger bot
At this point in the article I suspect that most readers will go on bail.
I understand.
Creating something, especially something that sounds as complicated as a bot, will drive some readers away.
However, you should know that creating a Facebook Messenger bot doesn't have to be too complicated.
There are two ways to create chat bots:
- The Programmer's Way
- The easy way
If you have programming experience and are comfortable with Python, Flask, and Heroku, you can create your own Facebook Messenger bot.
If you're like me and don't know how to code then you can go the easy route.
I will use the resources for both methods together.
First, let's look at the programmer's method. Then we will talk about the easy way. If you are not a programmer, you can skip this first section.
The programmer's method of creating a Facebook Messenger bot
Rather than providing a step-by-step tutorial, I'll give you the best resources I've found on the topic:
1. Facebook Messenger Bot Tutorial: Step-by-step guide to creating a simple Facebook chat bot
Hartley Brody has many helpful resources for messenger bots. This article provides a really helpful starting point.
2. GitHib – Create your own Facebook Messenger bot
This Github guide is aimed at beginners and advanced users alike.
3. (YouTube series): Create your own Facebook bot
For a nice visual lesson, check out this YouTube tutorial. The video walks you through the stages of creating a bot on the Facebook Messenger Platform API.
4. Facebook developer – Messenger platform
Facebook is committed to helping developers and programmers create messenger bots.
Best for advanced programmers, their tutorial shows the basics of creating a working bot in 15 minutes.
The coding is fine especially if this is your jam.
Note, however, that this requires extensive programming skills, not to mention the man hours.
The Easy Way to Create a Facebook Messenger Bot
Marketers who aren't programmers (aren't most of us?) Can use tools and programs online. Creating a chat bot is as easy as any marketing SaaS or tool you've used.
To create my first Facebook bot, I used MobileMonkey. I found it easier than Mailchimp.
There are other options too, which I'll explain at the end of this article.
First, go to MobileMonkey.com.
First, I clicked the green "Get MobileMoney Free" button.
Then I clicked the blue "Get MobileMonkey Free" button. This page has two CTAs. You can also click the "Request your free account" button.
Of course, I had to approve what MobileMonkey can do on my Facebook page.
First, I went through a quick and easy onboarding process to connect my site to a bot.
After that, return to MobileMonkey to enter some additional details:
Now that you've got everything set up, it's time to monitor your audience, create a website chat widget, use growth tools, and use the other useful tools.
Other platforms for creating Facebook Messenger bots
Obviously, MobileMonkey isn't the only company that offers easy-to-create Facebook Messenger bots.
Here are some other options for your consideration.
1. Chatfuel
Chatfuel is one of the leading innovators in the chatbot industry and you can find all the resources you need on their blog.
One of the best features of Chatfuel is that it has a wide variety of templates for various chat functions.
2. ManyChat
ManyChat, a popular platform for building Facebook chatbots, has both free and paid plans.
3. Botsify
Botsify is another AI-centric bot platform ideal for customer service functions. Botsify is used by some of the bigger brands like Apple and Shazam.
If you are a programmer, you will be delighted with the integrations via plugins. If you're not a programmer, you'll love the drag and drop template designer.
4. Bot list
Bot list is the best resource for finding and experimenting with bots. They are the "app store" for conversation software.
5. Bot Academy
Bot Academy is an educational resource for Facebook Messenger bots with lots of helpful articles, data, and studies.
Conclusion
Facebook Messenger bots are a mashup of social, mobile, and instant messaging performance. Marketing is going in exactly this direction.
The last thing you want is to get antiquated – confused about why your old school marketing techniques don't work as well as they used to.
As a digital marketer, it is important that we are adaptable and flexible.
Facebook Messenger bots are the future and it's time to start using them. If you don't want to do this on your own, you should hire my agency.
Let me know about your experiences with Facebook Messenger bots or your questions about them.
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