Business Technology

Why are Chatbots Necessary for Marketing through Messenger?

A survey by Business Insider revealed that by 2020, 80% of businesses will use or plan to use Chatbots in their marketing operations.

Despite the skepticism they generated at the beginning, the Chatbots have gained great relevance in recent years, showing many benefits to the businesses that have adopted this Digital Marketing channel.

Chatbots for Marketing and Sales

The growth of the use of Facebook Messenger Chatbots as a Digital Marketing tool is leveraged by the exponential boom of this messaging platform, which already exceeds two billion users

To this is added the fact that the number of messages between Consumers and Businesses on Facebook Messenger increased from 2 billion to 8 billion last year, which means that more and more people are using messaging applications, not just for Communicate with each other (as has been common for more than 10 years), but also do so to buy, request customer service or rate a product.

But, just a moment… What about other Digital Marketing channels like Email or Landing Pages, where you get Leads and Sales?

Good question.

It is true that Email Marketing is still a very effective Digital Channel, however, it is increasingly difficult to compete.

Platforms like Gmail and Hotmail have become more selective to filter what messages they let into your inbox. Harvard Business Review revealed that the average Open Rate of an email is 20%, while a private message has an average Open Rate of 98%.

On the other hand, landing pages (Landing Pages) to opt-in (subscribe) and get new Leads have become very predictable, it is clear that users think twice before giving their email since they know that sometimes they will receive promotions.

Therefore it is not uncommon to see in your CRM or database some emails that people do not use daily or do not check frequently, which can negatively impact your Open Rates and Click-Through Rates.

Facebook Messenger then emerges as a more friendly and direct alternative to communicate with your audience and where there is a greater probability of receiving relevant information and conversation (in double track) from users (we will see this in detail later).

However, it is important to say that neither the Landing Pages nor Email Marketing is obsolete. Facebook Messenger Chatbots are an excellent complement to help you expand your business.

Let’s take a look at the main advantages and benefits of using Facebook Messenger Chatbots for your business.

1] Increase Conversations with your Customers

We live in a world where Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly developing, where transactions occur automatically and people have begun to order what they want through virtual assistants.

What to do then before this new reality? The keyword here is Conversation.

Despite advances in automation tools, Chatbots should not be used to replace human conversations.

If we want to succeed in this new reality we must use the Chatbots to INCREASE the number of REAL conversations.

2] How to do it?

We can use a Facebook Messenger Chatbot to automate the following questions we should ask prospects or potential clients, but this conversation is not only between the consumer and the Chatbot. A Real person can enter the conversation (for example: in question number 4), and close a sale.

We can use the Chatbots in Facebook Messenger to establish more conversations and obtain valuable information from our consumers so that a Real person from your team can enter to participate only when necessary.

3] Get New Leads and Customers

Conversations or interactions with Facebook Messenger Chatbots can occur in two ways.

The consumer goes to Chatbot: For example when someone clicks on the button on your Fan Page and sends you a message to know more about your product.

OR

Chatbot goes Consumer: for example, we set a pattern in Facebook Ads aimed at a wide audience to encourage them to have a conversation with our bot, which will make a promotion.

Either option helps us build a list of Leads in Facebook Messenger.

Just as you have a list of leads in your CRM or Email Marketing Tool (Mailchimp, Hubspot, etc.), you can have a list of Leads in Facebook Messenger, who can later become your customers if you develop a Marketing strategy correct.

It is important to mention that you can also integrate Facebook Messenger Chatbots with other platforms, to feed your other Databases, taking advantage of the conversations you are having with consumers or potential customers.

4] Automate Tasks and Processes of your Business

If you are thinking of expanding your business and making it scalable, Facebook Messenger Chatbots can be of great help since it is a tool that you can use 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to start conversations without your direct intervention all the time.

Chatbots are excellent tools to process a wide number of requirements. Think for a moment about how many conversations or questions a customer service representative can answer at the same time: one, two, maybe three.

A Chatbot with the right programming can offer a great competitive advantage by serving many consumers at the same time, at a very low cost.

5] Get high-quality data for your business

One of the great opportunities that entrepreneurs or business owners have is to know their clients better and obtain reliable and quality information, in order to provide a better service or product.

While a traditional survey sent by email using Survey Monkey can have a Response Rate between 20% and 30 %, a study done last year shows that a conversational survey with a Chatbot can triple those values.

Facebook Messenger Chatbots also allow you to collect high-quality information about consumers or customers.

Let’s go back for a moment to the example of the Landing Page where there is a high probability that the user will give us his secondary email or the one he does not regularly check.

On the other hand, if we use a Facebook Messenger Chatbot to obtain an email, there is a greater probability of obtaining the person’s primary email, since when we ask that question, the same email is displayed in the Facebook Messenger conversation that the person uses to enter Facebook (the person tap or send and that’s it).

With the Messenger, Bots have many advantages over the e-mail.

These benefits are so powerful that eCommerce chatbots increase a company’s sales by 7 to 25 percent.

Here are some reasons.

1) Get Signups

It’s easier to get visitors to your website to sign up with a chatbot than to ask them to give you their email address. In addition, it’s about pressing a button rather than typing their email address.

2) Opening rate

Good opening rates range from 70% to 90%. Which is 2 to 4 times better than email.

3) Clickthrough rate

Good quality clickthrough rates range from 28% to 48%. This is much higher than single-digit clickthrough rates on emails.

4) User data

All conversations are an exchange of information. Bots are a simple and natural way to collect data and information about users. Whenever a customer does an action in your bot, you get to know his preferences.

5) Content Marketing

Bots harness the power of dynamic content over static content. Messenger chatbots are dynamic and can customize the content so that the customer gets exactly what they want without guessing. In addition, the bot can know what content the user has consumed, and naturally, bring it to the next step.

6) Personalization

Messenger chatbots allow you to customize your sales strategies to your target market.

7) Micro-targeting

Once you have some data on your users, it’s easy to send the right message to the right person at the right time. Just consider that you can use conditional statements when sending a message. For example, you can send a message to all men who love red polo shirts and have a birthday today.

8) Automation

Automation

Basically, a chatbot is a chat application. Which means he can make decisions based on the rules. The bot can respond automatically when spoken to, collect data, and send users the appropriate messages based on the user’s behavior. Email can not do that.

9) User base

Messaging applications have outperformed social media applications in popularity and use. Facebook Messenger reached 1.3 billion users in a fraction of the time it took Facebook to reach the same number of users.

For simplicity, your customers are already on Messenger and will soon be able to send a message to your company. In the future, Messenger is an indispensable communication channel for companies.

Are you ready to implement your Chatbot?

The Facebook Messenger Chatbots are here to stay, with the development of AI, they will become smarter and have more benefits for your business.

Building a Facebook Messenger Chatbot is very affordable today (there are many professionals who can do it for you), and the benefits may be equal to or greater than those mentioned in this article.

For more information, visit smartbotmarketers.com.

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About the author

Michael Austin

Michael Austin is a Internet Entrepreneur, Blogger, Day Dreamer, Business Guy, Fitness Freak and Digital Marketing Specialist. He also helps companies to grow their online businesses.