How to Boost Sales with Facebook Messenger & Chatbots

Marketing has changed a lot since its infancy.

It used to be one message for the masses. Nowadays, people are looking for more of a personalized experience.

So how do you individually market to people on a mass scale?

Before we dive into the answer, we wanted to highlight two tools people are using and then we’ll give you an example.

One tool businesses have started using to talk directly with the people they are marketing to is Facebook Messenger.

The reason this is working so well is because Facebook Messenger allows you to get that one-on-one communication with your audience – on their phone and whenever is convenient for them.

It allows people to communicate with your business safely within Facebook, which makes them feel comfortable and in control.

What are Chatbots?

Facebook Messenger has already gained massive popularity as a messaging app and now businesses are connecting yet another tool to supplement their communication through this channel – chatbots.

While they may sound complex, chatbots are pretty simple. Chatbots are software programs developed to simulate intelligent conversation through written or spoken text. So instead of you having to carry on hundreds or thousands of chat sessions, the chatbot does most of the work for you.

These bots are paving the way for how we will communicate, shop, travel, book things, and use other services online in the future.

Using Facebook Messenger and Chatbots to Increase Sales

Since it is hard to describe what is going on with programming in general, it is better to show you a specific example. Here is how one company used a chatbot to grow their list and their ecommerce sales, plus the steps you would take if you would like to step one up like it.

While there are many ways to use Facebook Messenger and chatbots to engage your potential customers and get more conversions, this one used a retargeting audience to send personalized messages offering a discount.

(RELATED: How to Design Campaigns for the Non-Buyers with Retargeting)

The nice part is as long as you are respectful and don’t over do it, you can continue to communicate and make offers in the future.

1. Set Up a Facebook Messenger Campaign

To set up this type of campaign, follow these parameters:

1. Create a new ad campaign and set your objective to “Traffic” 
   
   
2. Edit Placements to only Facebook Feeds 
   
   
3. Set traffic destination to “Website or Messenger” 
   
   
4. Target people who have visited your website and exclude anyone who made a purchase
   
   
5. Optimize for link clicks 
   
   
6. Create your ad

Here’s a great example done by Ezra Firestone, partner in BOOM! by Cindy Joseph:

This is what the retargeting ad looks like in the Facebook mobile feed, which is offering a coupon after messaging the keyword through Messenger.



Once someone clicks on "Send Message" in the ad, a chat box will pop up with a pre-written message: 

2. Set Up a Chatbot

For this part, you might want to invest in a chatbot software system, such as ManyChat. While you can develop chatbots with Facebook Messenger’s developer docs, ManyChat makes it easy and has additional benefits.

Whichever way you go about creating your bot, you’ll want to set keywords to trigger responses. For the BOOM! example, they used the keyword “coupon” to trigger a response that provided the corresponding coupon code.

It’s advised that your automated response includes your coupon code AND a link to your shop – so they have no reason not to go now!

While the set up may seem complex, the idea is simple.

These visitors are already familiar with your product and now just need a reason to take the plunge. Here’s the basic breakdown:

Just like in our last article about retargeting ads, this is a way to get people who have abandoned their shopping carts back onto your website and completing their purchase.

(RELATED: How to Design Campaigns for the Non-Buyers with Retargeting)

Interested in boosting your sales with Facebook ads? Call us at (407) 682-2222 for a free strategy session.