The post describes how to create a chatbot for customer service or social commerce using Facebook Messenger. Learn how to create an efficient user experience for your customers and followers here. Distinguish yourself from the rest of the crowd.
You would be missing out on excellent sales opportunities if you didn’t have a team that answers customer inquiries 24/7. Unfortunately, most small businesses can’t afford or simply don’t have the resources to run a 24/7 online customer service.
Good thing that chatbots are now part of the ecosystem. They don’t need to sleep (or take a break). Facebook Messenger bots can communicate with over 1.3 billion people who use Facebook Messenger every month.
Learn how to utilize Facebook Messenger bots (also known as Facebook chatbots) for customer service and social commerce here and make sure your customers and followers have a seamless experience and differ from your rivals.
What is a Facebook Messenger bot?
The Facebook Messenger Bot is an automated messaging app that utilizes artificial intelligence to communicate with people. Known as a chatbot, it can be programmed to answer questions, provide answers, and fulfill tasks. They can provide customers with a personalised online shopping experience, as well as make sales.
What are the advantages of using Facebook Messenger bots for business?
Customers should be met at the point of their need.
Let’s first take a look at some quick numbers to get an idea of how many of your potential customers can be reached through Facebook Messenger:
- Messenger is the most used app, followed only by social networks.
- Messages sent to businesses has doubled this year.
- There are more than 375,000 people from all over the world who chat with bots every day.
Consumers are already using Facebook Messenger when visiting your Facebook page, and they expect to be able to interact with your brand there. Chatbots can increase response rates, making it easier for people to obtain the real-time information they want on a channel they already use.
In addition to regular ads, Facebook Messenger allows you to target previous Page contacts with sponsored ads. Use these ads in conjunction with your chatbot to target high-intent customers.
Save time and effort for your team and your clients.
Customers expect services to be available round the clock, and they are annoyed by long wait times. They also ask the same questions over and over again (and over again).
Customers will be able to access the information they need, regardless of your availability, if you automate a few of the tasks you currently do. Spending a lot of time helping people track deliveries, check their return policies, or book appointments will be a big time saver.
Using a Facebook Messenger chatbot, customers can get instant answers to their questions, saving you time as well as letting you focus on the more difficult queries,
Having a human intervene in more complex Messenger conversations that go beyond the capabilities of a Facebook chatbot frees up time for humans to address them.
Sales can be automated.
It’s a mistake to limit your Messenger bots for Facebook to customer service requests.
16% of people use social media messaging and live chat services to conduct brand research, and 14.5% say that a chat box that allows them to speak with a company is a factor motivating their online purchases. These actions lead to real business results: 83% of consumers say they would shop for or purchase products in messaging conversations.
You can make sales through a Facebook Messenger chatbot with the right script. Conversational commerce allows for personalized recommendations, lead qualification, and upselling.
Your human sales team can receive high-quality leads from your bot as it greets potential customers, asking basic questions and providing inspiration.
Using Facebook Messenger bots is not difficult, as long as you follow the proper procedures.
Setting expectations should be done clearly.
Bots should be clearly identified as such, preferably at the beginning of the interaction. In this example, Decathlon appropriately names its bot ‘Zaphira’.
Make sure the user knows what the bot can and cannot do. Make sure the user moves through the experience by asking questions or using prompts in your Facebook Messenger chatbot.
Decathlons in Canada are a source of information.
Use the typing indicator (three dots) to let your customer know that things are still happening if the bot needs time to process a request.
It’s also critical to make clear when you’ll get back to the customer or pass the chat on to someone else, as Bumble’s Facebook bot does here.
It’s time to take action.
It’s crucial to remember that your Facebook chatbot should not be called “live chat” or referred to in any other manner that would lead a customer to believe they are communicating with a human.
Keep it simple
According to Facebook, people usually interact with Messenger bots on their mobile devices. Avoid forcing them to read large amounts of text or type lengthy replies on a small screen with their thumbs.
Instead of forcing the customer to write everything, buttons, quick replies, and menus can make the conversation flow more easily.
When your Facebook Messenger bot asks a question, always provide default answers or options, unless the customer wants to type in the answer.
Maintaining your brand’s consistent tone is important.
Your Facebook Messenger chatbot should sound like a bot, but still be clear that it is one. Use the same tone as you do on your website, and maintain the same phrasing to avoid confusion. If your brand is casual and friendly, your bot should be as well.
Keep things straightforward. Avoid confusing terminology and slang when constructing your bot. Test your bot’s prompts by reading them aloud to a buddy.
Always use a tone that is appropriate for the job at hand. If you are requesting personal information like a flight number or an address, take a more professional tone.
Human agents should handle complicated inquiries.
A Facebook chatbot’s success relies on its ability to recognize when a human being is required. Automated conversations are speedy and responsive, but they cannot replace human connection.
A chatbot should be able to recognize a request for human help, even if it is outside of the expected flow of conversation, to build trust with customers.
Please do not send junk messages.
There is only one major don’t when it comes to Messenger bots, and that’s it. Don’t spam.
Marketing messages should not be sent to customers who requested assistance unless they are receiving personalized product recommendations.
Before you contact people, offer them an opt-out option. Your bot should recognize words or phrases that signal a desire to opt-out, and either ask for confirmation or act on the unsubscribe request.
The World Health Organization provides the source for this information.
According to Facebook’s developer guidelines, ‘don’t alter the type of information you send without permission. If people signed up for a specific alert, honor their preferences.’
6 tools for building effective Facebook Messenger bots.
Heyday is a Facebook Messenger chatbot for customer support and sales that uses conversational AI. With this bot, customers are provided with product suggestions from your product catalog by automatically connecting to it.
With Heyday, customers can get FAQs answered in multiple languages and know when to pass the conversation to a human agent. Customers benefit from the Facebook Messenger experience with Heyday’s help.
Heyday is an excellent Facebook Messenger customer service FAQ chatbot in multiple languages, and it understands when it is necessary to pass the conversation on to a human agent.
If you have a Shopify store, take heed: Heyday sells a chatbot that is specially designed to assist Shopify customers with customer service. It is available for $49 per month, making it a terrific starting point if you have a modest budget.
14 days free trial is available.
Streamchat live chat platform.
There are many Facebook chatbot tools out there, but Streamchat is one of the most basic. It is used for simple automations and autoresponders. Instead of managing a whole conversation, Streamchat is good for out-of-office replies or messages that establish a timeline for when you can respond.
You can get started with a chatbot quickly and easily if you are just beginning to dip your toes into the waters.
Create a chatbot with Chatfuel.
Chatfuel has an intuitive visual interface with editable front-end and customization options. You can build a Facebook Messenger bot for free, but a lot of the more complex (and interesting) tools are only available with Chatfuel Pro accounts.
MobileMonkey
It’s a free visual chatbot builder for Facebook Messenger, suitable for non-tech savvy users. You may utilise it to develop Q&A sessions for a Facebook Messenger chatbot.
Chatfuel
Chat Blast allows you to send messages to multiple users at once, just like Chatfuel’s “broadcasting” function. (Remember: Only use this if you have permission!)
Facebook Chatbot
If you possess the coding skills necessary to build your own Facebook chatbot, Facebook provides plenty of resources to get you going. They are always working with their developer community to come up with new ways to improve the user experience.
Although it’s not technically a Facebook Messenger bot, Facebook Creator Studio allows you to create some simple automated replies to common requests and events in Messenger. For example, you may set up an away message, offer contact information, or create a list of frequently asked questions and answers. Because there is no artificial intelligence involved here, you can get some autoresponder functionality to keep Messenger working properly when you are away from your desk.
