As marketers, we're always looking for more reach, more leads, more conversions.
The steady decline of organic Facebook reach, and the steady increase of Facebook ad costs, have presented some majors challenge for Facebook marketers in 2018, but there is a way to regain reach and engagement with Facebook users. And with fewer than 1% of business using this channel to connect with customers, it's one of the best-kept secrets, and a potential competitive advantage in digital marketing today.
If you want to grow your audience, drive traffic and conversions and deliver a better user experience, add Facebook Messenger automation to your Facebook marketing mix.
Here are seven reasons why the best marketers are turning to Facebook Messenger chatbots.
1. Facebook Messenger smashes News Feed algorithm reach
Facebook algorithm update announced earlier this year has radically reduced organic Facebook post reach - down to an average of 1-2% of Page fans.
Alternatively, content delivered via Facebook Messenger is seeing record-levels of engagement and visibility.
According to data from Facebook Messenger marketing platform MobileMonkey (my company), the average open rate for Facebook Messenger messages is 50-80%, and the average click rate is 20%. Worth considering in your process.
2. Facebook Ads that send to a Messenger chatbot get 4x-50x better ROAs
Mobile-friendly ads convert about 3x to 5x times more than desktop ads, and the vast majority of Facebook Messenger users are on mobile.
The ability to show ads through Facebook Messenger can be a boon for businesses vying to gain more visibility with potential customers - Facebook Messenger ads not only raise awareness of your brand, but they also create a customer record in your Facebook Messenger marketing platform that can become a direct line for personalized communication.
You could use Facebook ads to drive anonymous traffic to your website - this is the traditional way - or you could get a prospect's name, location and a way to send follow-up messaging with click-to-Messenger ads.
3. You can mass message Facebook Messenger contacts
As with email marketing, blasting out messages to your contacts can be a good way to increase brand awareness.
However, chat blasting has been found to be even more effective, as chat messages have a much higher open rate (remember, up to 80%) than email messages, organic social posts, and even paid search ads.
On Facebook Messenger, you can even chat-blast specific audiences. You can collect information from your users, then create custom definitions based on that information to segment your audience based on what they prefer or do. Then you can selectively market to them to increase your potential conversion rate.
4. Facebook Messenger chatbots grow your contact list
Facebook Messenger sees extremely high open rates - as noted, in the region of 80%. With those messages come responses, and with those responses comes a healthy, growing contact list.
You can also grow your contacts and leads as your number of conversations rise, thanks to your 24/7 chatbot availability.
And it's not just the fact that your chatbot can enable more direct responses, you can also use automation tools like Facebook Messenger's autoresponder on Facebook posts to boost interactions.
When you set up a Facebook post autoresponder, you can enable your chatbot to message everyone who comments on your Facebook page post. That added level of engagement can help you turn commenters into actual leads.
5. Chatbots seamlessly automate Q&As
You can also build a conversational chatbot for Facebook Messenger marketing with question-and-answer triggers.
Q&A triggers enable you to configure a chat experience based on keywords and common queries. The chatbot can then answer questions and handle requests.
For example, let's say you have a webinar coming up - you can set up a Facebook Messenger chatbot to handle webinar sign-ups, wherein the chatbot triggers will lead user through to where they can sign up.
6. A live operator can take over the chat at any time
Chatbots also enable you to scale your customer service.
With a chatbot, customers can get answers to basic queries 24/7, without wait times or expensive human operator staffing.
However, if there is a question that's too complicated for the chatbot to properly respond to, a live operator is still able to jump into the conversation to address that concern.
It's the best of all worlds. Personalized customer service and communications with automation tools that scale and grow.
7. Facebook Messenger chatbots can be built and launched without coding chops
Facebook Messenger marketing platforms like my software company MobileMonkey provide marketers with a coding-free solution for creating chatbots.
There's no need to wait for a developer to code anything - you can create chatbot lead funnels for your Facebook Page with drag and drop ease and a visual chatbot builder.
With so many reasons to invest in a Facebook Messenger chatbot, what are you waiting for? The opportunities are there, and with Facebook reach continuing to decline, and Facebook Messenger use continuing to rise. It's worth investigating new options like Messenger bots for your business.
A version of this post was first published on Inc.com.