The Complete Guide to Using Facebook Chatbots for Business
Most brands don’t have the resources to offer 24/7 online customer service and Facebook Messenger sales support, let alone their website. Luckily, chatbots don’t need to sleep (or have lunch). Facebook Messenger bots can answer customer questions, track packages, make product recommendations, and even close deals at any time of the day or night.
Facebook is the most popular social network in the world. If you already have a shop on Facebook, you have made the right move to join the ever-growing online marketplace. You’re missing out on good sales opportunities if you don’t consider adding a Facebook Messenger chatbot to your team.
Below you will learn how to use Facebook Messenger bots (aka Facebook Chatbots) for customer service and social commerce. Create an optimized experience for your customers and followers and stand out from your competitors.
What is a Facebook Messenger Bot (also known as a Facebook Chatbot)?
A chatbot is an automatic messaging program that uses artificial intelligence to communicate with people.
Facebook Messenger bots live on Facebook Messenger and can communicate with some of the 1.3 billion people who use Facebook Messenger every month.
Chatbots are virtual assistants. They can be programmed to understand questions, provide answers, and complete tasks. They can provide a personalized online shopping experience and even make sales.
Benefits of Using Facebook Messenger Bots for Business
Meet customers where they are
First, let’s take a look at some quick stats to understand how much of your target audience is available through Facebook Messenger:
- Chat and messaging are the most used types of websites and apps, followed by social networks.
- The number of messages sent to businesses on Facebook has doubled over the past year.
- Every day, more than 375,000 people from over 200 countries interact with bots on Messenger.
- Facebook Messenger is the third most active user among all apps, behind only Facebook and Whatsapp.
- More than 100 billion messages are exchanged daily in meta apps.
- People spend an average of 3 hours per month using Facebook Messenger (and 19.6 hours per month on Facebook itself).
- Meta reports that the potential advertising audience of Facebook Messenger is 987.7 million people.
- The majority of people (69% in the US) who send messages to businesses say that being able to do so increases their brand trust.
The thing is, your audience is already using Facebook Messenger and they expect to be able to interact with your brand there when they visit your Facebook Page. Chatbots can increase your responsiveness by making it easier for people to get the information they expect in real time over the channel they are already using.
As a bonus, Facebook Messenger has sponsored ads that can target people who have previously been in contact with your Page. Use these ads in tandem with your chatbot to target high intent customers.
Save time for your team and your clients
Customers expect 24/7 availability and hate waiting on standby. They also ask the same questions over and over (and over).
If you spend a lot of time helping people track a shipment, check a return policy, or make appointments, a little automation will go a long way. Customers will be able to access the information they need even if you are not available.
They’ll save time with instant answers to their questions, and you’ll save time by letting your Facebook Messenger chatbot answer simple questions, like this example from Canadian retailer Simons.
Source: Simons
This frees up more time for more complex Messenger conversations that are beyond the capabilities of a Facebook chatbot.
Automate sales
Don’t limit your Facebook Messenger bots to customer service requests.
More than 16% percent of people use social media messaging services and online chats for brand research. And 14.5% say company chat is the driving force behind their online shopping. All this leads to real business results: 83% of consumers say they will shop or buy goods in messengers.
With the right script, a Facebook Messenger chatbot can sell. Conversational commerce allows for personalized recommendations, lead qualifications, and upsells.
When your bot greets potential customers, it can identify their needs, ask simple questions, inspire, and send high-quality leads to your sales team.
Source: Joybird
Your Facebook chatbot can also connect with people who opt out of conversational commerce, like in this message that the Joybird bot sent 24 hours after the couch-style quiz ended.
Pros and Cons of Using Facebook Messenger Bots
Be clear about expectations
First, make sure the user knows they are interacting with the bot. Getting to know a bot can be a good start. You can even give it a name like Decathlon does.
Source: Decathalon Canada.
Then clarify what the bot can and cannot do. Program your Facebook Messenger chatbot to guide the user by asking questions or using hints that move the interaction forward.
If the bot takes time to process a request, use the typing indicator (three dots) to make sure your client knows something else is going on, as shown in this example from Tiffany & Co.
Source: Tiffany & Co.
If you need time to respond or transfer the conversation to the person, also make that clear and set expectations for when the client can expect a response, like the Bumble bot on Facebook does here.
The mini-ban in this tip: Don’t call your Facebook chatbot a “live chat”or use other terminology that implies it’s a real person.
KEEP IT SHORT
According to Facebook, most people interact with Messenger bots on their mobile devices. Don’t force them to read large chunks of text on a small screen or type long answers with their thumbs.
Buttons, quick replies, and menus can make conversations easier than asking the customer to type at every step. Here KLM offers eight possible dialogue options with the bot.
Source: KLM
Allow the customer to provide input when required, but always provide default answers or choices when your Facebook Messenger bot asks a question.
Maintain the voice of your brand
While you want your Facebook Messenger chatbot to be a bot, you want it to sound just like your bot. Use the phrases that customers expect from your website and keep the same overall tone. If your brand is laid-back and friendly, your bot should be as well.
However, keep it simple. Don’t use slang or jargon that might confuse users. Try reading your bot’s hints aloud to a colleague to make sure they are understandable.
And always use a tone appropriate to the task at hand. If you are asking someone to provide personal details such as a flight number or address, use a more professional tone.
DO let agents handle complex requests
The success of a Facebook chatbot depends on its ability to recognize when a person is needed. Automated conversations are fast and responsive, but they cannot replace human communication.
Customers should be able to contact a person at any time during a conversation. Your chatbot should be able to recognize a request for help from a person, which builds trust even if it goes beyond the expected flow of the conversation.
In this example from La Vie En Rose, the bot understands queries even if they don’t follow logically from the bot’s prompt.
Source: La Vie en Rose
DO NOT SPAM
When it comes to Messenger bots, there really is only one major prohibition, and that’s it. Don’t spam.
Don’t assume that the customer who asked for help wants to receive marketing messages. Personalized product recommendations can be helpful, but make sure you have permission before submitting them.
Invite people to sign up for continuous messaging before you contact them. And be sure to offer a clear way to opt out of future messages. Your bot should recognize the language that looks like an unsubscribe request and either ask for confirmation or implement an unsubscribe request.
Source: World Health Organization.
Facebook is explicit about this in its developer guidelines: “Don’t change the type of information you’re submitting without consent. If people subscribe to a particular alert, consider their preferences.”
6 Tools to Create Effective Facebook Messenger Bots
1. Heyday
Heyday is an AI conversational chatbot that works like a Facebook Messenger bot built for customer support and sales. It automatically connects to your product catalog to provide customers with personalized product recommendations.
Source: Rise
Heyday also allows customer support requests in the form of a chatbot with FAQs in multiple languages and understands when a conversation needs to be transferred to a human agent. The Facebook Messenger experience is great for customers using Heyday.
customer service requests in the form of a chatbot with FAQs in multiple languages and understands when to transfer the conversation to a human agent. The Facebook Messenger experience is great for customers using Heyday.
Get Heyday Free Demo
And if you have a Shopify store, take note: Heyday sells a version of their chatbot that is specifically designed to serve Shopify store customers. At just $49 a month, this is the perfect place to start if you’re on a tight budget.
Try it free for 14 days
2. Stream chat
Streamchat is one of the most basic Facebook chatbot tools. It is intended for use in simple automations and autoresponders. Instead of driving the entire conversation, this is useful for out-of-office responses or messages that set expectations for when you can respond.
It’s easy to implement and easy to get started if you’re just diving into the water of a chatbot.
3. Fuel for chat
Chatfuel has an intuitive visual interface complete with editable interface and customization options. While you can create a Facebook Messenger bot for free, many of the more advanced (and interesting) tools are only available with Chatfuel Pro accounts.
4. Mobile monkey
This free tool is a visual Facebook Messenger chatbot builder designed for non-technical users. You can use it to create Q&A sessions in the Facebook Messenger chatbot.
There’s also a “Chat Blast”feature similar to Chatfuel’s “broadcast”feature that allows you to send messages to multiple users at the same time. (Remember: only do this if you have permission!)
5. Messenger for developers
If you have the solid coding knowledge needed to build your own Facebook chatbot, Facebook provides plenty of resources to get you started. And they are always working with their developer community to come up with new ideas to improve the user experience.
6. Facebook Contributor Studio
Strictly speaking, this is not a Facebook Messenger bot, but Facebook Creator Studio allows you to set up some basic automatic responses to common requests and events in Messenger. For example, you can set up an absence message, provide contact information, or set up a list of frequently asked questions and answers. There’s no AI here to let you talk or sell, but you can get some auto-responder features to keep Messenger running at a basic level when you’re away from your desk.
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