Facebook Messenger Bots

Savvy business owners have been using Facebook to market their businesses since its
creation. It’s only been recently that Messenger has become a primary focus. With over a billion
downloads of the Facebook Messenger app and the ability to automate messaging through
artificial intelligence-based chat bots, it’s no wonder marketers are taking a closer look at this
means of reaching their audiences.

A chat bot works similar to an email autoresponder service, delivering messages automatically
and immediately upon being triggered. It can even deliver multiple messages like a real
conversation, asking questions that walk users through various processes. This is possible
because chat bots recognize keywords, which automatically trigger specific messages. This is
especially helpful to business owners who have limited staff and time.

Creating Custom Experiences for Your Audience

Using Facebook Messenger bots is a great way to get and keep your prospect’s attention and
turn those prospects into buyers.

• Build list to grow audience. When someone interacts with your Facebook Messenger
bot, they are automatically added to your Messenger mailing list. They can also join by
using a ‘send me a message’ type button on your website, by commenting to subscribe
and more.
Once you have them on your messenger list, you can request their email address so
prospects are added to your main autoresponder list. This allows you to contact
prospects as often as you’d like.

• Engage your audience. Messenger bots allow you to engage your audience as if you
were right there with them, even though you may be hundreds of miles away from your
computer. Automatically push new content to your followers by notifying them when you
publish new content. If you own a brick and mortar business, you can broadcast special
offers to local customers.
Travel venues can use bots to help customers book flights, hotel reservations, car
rentals and more. New stations can use bots to send the latest news and weather
reports. Retail stores can use bots to take orders, track shipping, handle general
customer support, and more.

• Create custom experiences for customers. People like to feel as if they’re talking
directly to you and that you are paying close attention to their needs. When you set up
your bot messages, you can ask questions and word responses in a way that users will
never know you’re not sitting at your keyboard responding to them directly.
The messages that viewers receive are based on the answers they provide or selections
they choose. This makes the entire experience feel personal. It also builds trust with
customers, as they are guided through a more engaging sales funnel.
Ways to Use Messenger Bots

There are many ways to use Facebook Messenger bots. The options and combinations you can
create are limited only by your imagination. Any message(s) you can automate can be used.

• Automatically deliver content. Giving away something for free? Set up a messenger
bot to send the thank you message with download link, asking questions before delivery
so you and keep your prospect in your funnel longer.

• Manage guest invitations to an event. Set up you bots to manage invitations to your
next webinar. Simply set it up and invite people to your event, having them go to your
Facebook page and take an action – click a link, comment, etc. Once they take action,
Messenger will automatically send them a message and add them to your private
Messenger list. This allows you to

• Share coupon with your followers. Set up a custom bot to, automatically, deliver
coupon codes to those people who request them.

• Collect email addresses. Any time you set up a Messenger bot, you can ask for the
prospect’s email address prior to delivering the requested information.

• Provide an FAQ. Messenger bots can easily hand business questions that are asked
frequently and that do not need a personal touch. Questions about business policies
such as refunds and terms of use, inquiries about hours of operation and more can be
answered automatically. If set up properly, these basic support questions can
automatically escalate more important issues to a customer support agent.

• Provide customized suggestions. Handy services such as custom menu planning,

• Automate purchasing and order tracking services. Customers can place orders from
food to clothing or anything in between automatically. They can receive automated
updates about shipping delays, delivery, and more.

• Book appointments. From Uber pickup to a massage, your followers can book
appointments with you automatically.
These are just a few of the many ways Facebook Messenger bots can be used to reduce your
workload and deliver automated, instant responses to your prospects and customers.

Bot Building Tools

While Facebook has some bots you can use when setting up your business page, you can get
even more functionality, and potentially better results, using third-party chat bot tools that
require no coding or programming skills. These programs have many features and some fairly
good reporting data. This enables you to test, track, and keep an eye on your growth.
Manychat is easy to set up and use. Its clean interface, tutorials, and built-in bot tester, you can
quickly get your bots up and running. While you can start with the free version, it’s highly
recommended you upgrade to the pro version because of the additional functionality.

Chatfuel is another great bot building tool that integrates with a variety of services including
Google, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and a whole lot more. It too has a free and paid Pro
version. For some, Chatfuel may seem a bit intimidating but it’s not as hard to use as it first
seems. It too has a built-in bot tester so you can test things before you open it to the public.

While the above are currently the most widely used and recommended tools, there are many
others available.

Surveybot focuses on generating surveys for your viewers. It’s easy to use.

Gupshup allows you to create bots and poste them to different platforms outside of Messenger
such as Gmail. But this service is limited in that it doesn’t have a broadcasting feature.

Motion.ai has a visual builder that makes it nice to work with. It has a bot store and a community
where users can share templates and get help. This tool is harder to learn than some others
and you may need a higher level of technical experience.

Again, these are just a few of the many options available. When choosing a platform, keep in
mind not only your current needs but future needs as your bot visitor list grows.

Best Practices for Using Messenger Bots

Using Facebook Messenger bots is pretty straightforward. However, there are things you can do
to get the best results from your efforts.

One goal or purpose. Each bot you set up should have a specific purpose. It should focus on
what your customer needs and how they can benefit from what you are giving them.

Consider the buyers journey. Regardless of why you’re creating a bot, you need to consider
the steps your viewers will take in order to reach the goal you set for them. You may only need
one bot to handle the entire journey, but in some cases, you may need different bots for
different stages of their journey. Ask yourself, who are you trying to push into your messenger
sequence? What are their needs?

Think like the customer. When setting up your bots, consider what questions customers might
ask. What phrases will they use when asking the questions? What information will you require
from them in order to assist them? Generate a list of these questions and sub-questions so you
map out everything you may need to address in order for them to make a decision.

Check your speech pattern. Just because you’re using artificial intelligence, doesn’t mean
your messages have to sound like it. Write your messages in the same way you write your other
content so it feels like you are behind the keyboard helping them personally.
Keep in engaging. Your messages should be casual and engaging as if you’re talking to a
friend or family member. You can use images, gifs, voice messages, emojis and more to make it
seem more realistic. In order for them to stay engaged, you have to give them the opportunity to
respond regularly. Allowing them to respond every two to three message you send will keep the
conversation flowing.

Keep it short. A large portion of viewers read your messages on their phones so keep your
messages short. Ask simple questions that people can respond to with few words or a click of a
button.

Test and tweak. A bot is a work in progress. You’ll need to monitor how customers are using it
and what may or may not need to be tweaked. Perhaps your customers would prefer fewer
steps, menu options, different layouts, different wording, voice, or tone. Test a few to see which
works best for your viewers.

Provide value. As with all other types of marketing, you want to provide as much value as
possible when engaging with your audience. Over-deliver by sharing free information and tips or
going the extra mile for viewers.

Add a contact button to your site. Using one of the embeddable widgets, you can add a
button to your website, which tells visitors to send you a message. This allows people to join
your messenger list right from your website or blog post.

Quickly respond to live messages. When you have questions outside of the automated
sequence or when a bot escalates a customer to speak with you live, answer these as quickly
as possible. This helps build trust and long-term relationships with your prospects and
customers.

Facebook Messenger bots give you a range of options and enable you to leverage technology
to automate your business and market in a way you could never do by yourself manually. In
order to get ahead of the competition, you have to learn how to work smarter, not harder and
these bots help you do just that.

With this information along with this month’s tools, you’ll find just how useful Facebook
Messenger Bots can be for your business.

Let’s Talk About the Facebook Messenger Bot Templates

Appointment or Reservation Template

This template is used when a visitor needs to make a reservation or schedule an appointment.

Coupon Support Template

This template is for a customer asking for a coupon or discount code to purchase a product.
Customized Suggestions Template

This template can be used in a variety of businesses to help your visitors narrow down their
options to get what they need.

Customer Support Templates

Use these templates to help you automate your support questions, processes and answers for
your visitors.

FAQ Template

Use this template to setup and automate the most Frequently Asked Questions in your
business.

Follow Up Template

Use this template to follow up with your potential customers to give them the small nudge they
may need to make a purchase.

Order Tracking Templates

Use these templates for messages that will connect to your sales system to send your
customers automatic updates.

Product Purchase Template

Use this template for visitors that want to place an order.

Request for Information Template

This template can be used to request any type of information, from contact details and hour of
operation to a freebie download.

Return/Refund Policy Template

Use this template for customers that are asking for a return or a refund based on your policies.

As you can see, everything included in the Facebook Messenger Bots Templates will help you
get started automating your communicate with your visitors and customers and save you time.