How Smart Businesses Are Using Facebook Messenger Bots to Win Over Customers
As we increasingly shift toward a digital world, new technologies arise that promise to be the next new way to save time and money. Chatbots, specifically Facebook Messenger Bots, might be able to do just that.
Are you interested in implementing Facebook Messengers Bots into your digital lead generation strategy? Here’s all you need to know about what they can do and how they can improve your business.
What is a Facebook Messenger Bot?
Generally, bots are described as a program that simplifies or automates a task.
Simply put, a Facebook Messenger Bot is software designed using artificial intelligence for automated communication with people. It reads ordinary language as structured data, which it then uses to understand and learn from. Additionally, it can store relevant information about the user.
Bots can communicate quite seamlessly with customers using friendly and sophisticated language. Instead of calling, emailing or searching, customers can just message the bot like they would anyone else they want to reach.
What Can Messanger Bots Actually Do?
Providing customer service and saving customers time are the main functions of such software, but bots can be used for a multitude of services, such as:
Customer Service and Qualifying Leads
Bots can answer inquiries customers have and assist with issues at any time they need. For example, being able to change reservations at a restaurant or learning about redeeming points directly.
Messenger Bots can also collect any preliminary data that the company needs from users. They can identify and advance the most qualified leads for human representatives.
E-Commerce Transactions
A bot can deliver special promotions and advertisements. Marketers can use the data bots to collect from a customer’s purchasing history and send the customer relevant information such as personalized coupons.
Collect Data
From an SEO standpoint, bots can help support organic results. They track commonly used and reoccurring searches or keywords to identify how customers phrase their inquiries. This information can then be incorporated into the site copy. This can also be used to identify frequently asked questions to form a foundation for blog content, videos, etc.
Increase Loyalty with Customers
One of the most important things Messenger Bots do is develop a connection and relationship with customers. Customer loyalty can be built through two-way conversations and providing helpful, relevant information to the customer. It can also build brand awareness by letting people know what your company does and what its core message is.
Why Messenger Bots are the Future
With Facebook Messenger having over 1 billion active users every month, it is no wonder that Messenger Bots can provide a unique service for so many customers and businesses. Being able to access the audience of one of the most-used apps in the world is indispensable.
The customer builds the business, especially when it comes to customer service. And with Messenger Bots, customers can access the services you provide more easily than ever:
- Bots can offer 24/7 services, making any company accessible at any time. This direct line of communication is exactly what people today want
- Messenger Bots respond instantly. Research shows that 35-50% of sales go to the vendor who responds to inquiries first but only 37% of companies respond to leads within an hour
- Statistically, 73% of people prefer to use live chatbots as opposed to calling or emailing. People feel prioritized when they can get immediate results and receive information only pertaining to what they asked for
This mean two important things:
- Customers are more likely to move down the marketing funnel of your business
- Transactions are less likely to be dropped off
Your business will have more sales just by making things more accessible and automated.
Messenger Bots can also use the data they have stored to reengage with customers. Did the shoes they purchased fit well? Are they interested in the latest promotion that has a similar style?
Bots can deliver relevant content that is personal to the customer. They can even remind users that they sent their aunt something for her birthday at this time last year! It is with these types of interactions that loyalty and connections are formed between the customer and business.
Customization for You
As a business, you can customize everything your bot can do, right down to the questions it can answer. If you find it daunting to start setting up your own Facebook Messenger Bot, here are some tools that can help (that vary in difficulty):
Bots are still a new technology they are still learning and improving today. You will still have to monitor your bots to some degree for questions it can’t answer, and you may need to help customers understand how to use them.
By monitoring the overall experience your customers have with your bots, you can add and make changes to improve the quality of your bot which can make your business run smoother and make users happier.