You may think it’s only for family and friends, but according to Facebook, people and businesses are exchanging over 20 billion messages on Messenger each month. 

In June 2020, Facebook rolled out Business Page inbox on Messenger to make it easier for businesses to communicate with their customers. 

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1. What is a chatbot?

A chatbot is a software application that is programmed to simulate human conversation.

There are different types of a chatbot, as follows:

Rule-based chatbots are commonly used in a business, such as the ManyChat platform, which uses an interface with preset rules. The customer can select the replies, and the chatbot will direct the conversation to the predetermined answer.

AI (Artificial Intelligence) chatbots. Developers build this type of chatbot application. The bot application gets smarter the more human conversation it interacts with.

Live chat. This chatbot helps businesses to provide customer support to any questions a user asks in real-time. It can respond to a product/ service inquiry or sales inquiry. It is created with a predetermined reply or preset script.

2. What is conversational marketing?

Conversational marketing is a marketing channel using messaging apps such as Facebook (FB) Messenger, Whatsapp, WeChat, Slack, Telegram, SMS, and others. This conversation happens at customers’ preferred time and meets the customers’ goal of getting the answers they needed at that time. The messages can be delivered through live chat or automated using a chatbot.

3. What is Facebook Messenger marketing?

Facebook Messenger is a chat marketing channel in its infancy stage of the online digital marketing ecosystem. This communication tool falls into conversational marketing using messenger apps to communicate and help customers through chat throughout their buyer’s journey.

Facebook describes Messenger as the new social living room for the world. It is where people can hang out, share, chat, play games, or buy things; yet still being able to reach nearly everyone wherever they are.” More businesses are using messenger marketing to communicate with their customers online. 

Messenger marketing allows customers to be in control of the communication. It is less intrusive than other marketing communication types. It’s connected to your Facebook Business page; people can initiate a conversation with you through your Facebook account. And when that happens, it will help you as a business to get leads and more customers.

ManyChat.com Infographic: What is chat marketing? 

4. Why should you use messenger marketing?

The common ways to deliver valuable content to your readers are by broadcasting updates through social media and email marketing. Both worked well in the past but now, emails are mostly not opened.

Why Messenger?

According to Statista October 2020 data, Facebook ranked as the most popular social network worldwide (ranked based on active users in millions). Having Facebook messenger ranked second to WhatsApp for the top messaging app. Facebook messenger is now a part of a marketing strategy for businesses.

According to Facebook June 2020 data, 2.7 billion people use Facebook every month. It’s a free platform with 1.79 billion people using Facebook every day.

People are seeking meaningful connections and faster responses from businesses. Facebook did a survey with daily messaging app users across 4 markets (Brazil, India, UK, and US), in which they found out that “the majority of people had messaged a business in the past three months”.

Messaging Apps vs. Social media

While social media remain a vital part of your marketing strategy for brand awareness, it is no longer wise to rely on it as a broadcasting tool. Throughout the years, the organic reach of business pages has reduced with fewer people reached.

And it’s worth mentioning that people’s social media behavior has changed, and seeks one-to-one communication. Business insider’s September 2016 article, states, “The combined user base of the top four chat apps is larger than the combined user base of the top four social networks.” The four messaging apps combined (WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, WeChat, and Viber) have grown more than the top four social media apps (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn).

In March 2019, Mark Zuckerberg addressed the future of Facebook as privacy-focused for social networking, that “private messaging isn’t just important to Facebook’s future. It is Facebook’s future.” He stated, “Today we already see that private messaging, ephemeral stories, and small groups are by far the fastest-growing areas of online communication.”

SpoutSocial survey found that 90% of people turn to social media to communicate directly with a brand for customer support. People expect to hear back from businesses in less than 4 hours. With 70% of people most likely to purchase when a brand responds or reaches out to them.

5. Is email marketing dead?

Messenger marketing vs. Email marketing

Email marketing will remain a great tool to nurture leads. However, since marketing is a numbers game then we have to look into data. Messenger chat marketing shows a significant advantage due to its higher open rates.

According to Facebook September 2019 data, there are 1.3 billion people on Messenger.

MailChimp survey showed the average email open rate is 21.33% across all industries, compared to Facebook Messenger chat messages open rate at 88%.

I must say that combining SMS, email, and chat marketing will do your business a significant return. As marketers and business owners, we have to think of the user experience. Chat messages to be effective must be in a short copy and interactive that requires immediate responses. Therefore, if you are sending newsletters, you’d need to use email to allow a lengthy type of copywriting.

6. How does Facebook messenger marketing work?

How does it work? As a business, you’ll need to have a Facebook business page. Set your profile with the “Send Message” button; in this way, any followers or customers that visit your page would be able to contact your business without filling out a form.

You download the Messenger app on your phone or access it on your web browser at messenger.com. You can also access it through your Facebook account.

You can build your audience list, nurture your leads, send updates, and respond to your customer’s inquiries through Messenger.

Just like your email inbox, Facebook messenger inbox will show a person’s Facebook profile. And you can communicate manually through your inbox or use an automated messenger chatbot.

7. What are the ways to use messenger chatbot in your business?

Messenger chatbot is a game-changer in marketing. MobileMonkey and ManyChat are two of the most popular chatbot building platforms in the industry today.  Both platforms offer templates that can be customized to your specific business needs.

It helps provide outstanding customer service. It can provide an immediate response to frequently asked questions 24/7. It allows businesses with customer support and live chat.

Neil Patel explained on his blog how you can use Facebook messenger to sell more eCommerce products. It dramatically helps eCommerce businesses for product inquiry, recover abandoned carts, coupon delivery, and more.

Messenger chatbot is an excellent tool for lead generation and nurturing your subscribers to capture customer data and deliver helpful content to the bot subscribers.

You can use Facebook messenger for online events with sign-up registration, sending reminder notifications, and increasing engagement during your Facebook live. Kelly Noble Mirabella, Owner and Founder of Stellar Media Marketing and Educational Partner and the trainer for the new ManyChat course, joined Stephanie Liu, owner of Lights, Camera, Live the show to share tips and tricks on how to use Facebook messenger marketing for Facebook Live events.

8. Why do you need to consider Messenger marketing for your business in 2021?

Mike Yan, CEO of ManyChat, stated, “Mobile has eaten the world.” during his speech Conversations 2020 Keynote “How to Thrive in the Mobile Era.” He further mentioned that the new way of thinking about how to do marketing is “mobile-first.” Last year, November 2019, mobile website traffic surpassed the desktop.

Data from eMarketer

Ecommerce sales worldwide happen on mobile. In 2019, 45% of eCommerce sales in the US occurred on mobile devices (Data from eMarketer). In 2021, eCommerce on mobile will overtake desktop.

 Mobile messaging is the most used app in the world that will surpass social media apps in 2020. So how are you going to talk to your customers on mobile? People love to connect one-on-one.

So the new rules of marketing: Think mobile-first and go omnichannel. And in the mobile world, you have to talk to your audience on all channels: Email, SMS, and messaging apps. And ManyChat can offer all these three tools to succeed in the new way of marketing for 2021.

If you’d like to learn more about how to use ManyChat, I partnered with Matt Leitz of BotBuilders. Click here for a FREE webinar to join training on “How to Generate Leads and Revenue with an Automated Chatbot.” Matt Leitz – BotBuilder company is the bot builder behind the ManyChat and Grant Cardone’s messenger chatbot.

Messenger chat marketing is not the future, it is here now.

And using ManyChat will allow you to go multichannel to connect with your audience via Facebook messenger, SMS, and email with only $10/month for the PRO plan for up to 500 subscribers. ManyChat also offers a Free plan which limited features, which includes: up to 1000 contacts, Basic Quick Start Templates, Two Drip Sequences, Audience Segmentation (10 Tags), Four Growth Tools, Visual Flow Builder, Rich Media Conversations, Unlimited Broadcasts, and Landing Pages & Web Widgets.

Conclusion

You have this opportunity now to use Facebook Messenger for entrepreneurs. As a business owner, you need to meet your customers and connect with them on the platform convenient for them. It will allow you to get leads through your social media efforts and help you establish a one-on-one connection, develop rapport, and nurture loyalty. 

Let me know how you’d use the Messenger chatbot for your business.

About the Author

I’m Alena Matig-a, wife and mom of 3. I’m a Physical Therapist/DPT, a Freelance Content Writer, and an Inbound & Conversation Marketing Specialist.
I help entrepreneurs, and small business owners with lead generation, client acquisition & retention through blog content and chat/conversation marketing focused on Inbound philosophy. I’m passionate about keeping business owners’ freedom and flexibility and reduced their overwhelm with online marketing while growing their business.