2017 has been the year of ChatBots on Facebook Messenger without a doubt. Marketing strategies on Messenger have changed radically , which is why we want to share with you in this publication 5 ways to use a ChatBot in your business.
At its core, a ChatBot on Facebook Messenger is simply a computer program whose purpose is to automate conversations between users and the brand.
Chatbots have been with us for decades, before this technology was exclusive to programmers, developers or big budgets. Today this technology is available to SMEs and Entrepreneurs, opening up an excellent opportunity to implement strategies focused on Facebook Messenger.
Why use a ChatBot?
The chatbots in Facebook Messenger are only in a very early stage, therefore the businesses that take advantage of them from now on will have an unfair advantage over their competition , this innovation is equivalent to when the telephone began to be used, the Internet pages, the email to get clients.
If you are an entrepreneur or business owner, Messenger is a platform that you cannot ignore, your clients, future users and followers are on this platform that has a growing user base that exceeds 2 billion .
We know that when we say ” Program your ChatBot ” it may sound complicated but it really is very simple , with tools like ManyChat you can have a ChatBot configured in Facebook Messenger in no time and save you a lot of work.
You don’t have to be a big company and hire a team of developers to benefit from this tool. With the advances and tools that have been created to make this process simple, implementing a chatbot in your business is easier than you imagine.
Well used ChatBots add a lot of value and part of this value comes from the flexibility they have. When you create a ChatBot, you can customize it to fit your business, your customers’ needs, and a wide variety of purposes.
The first thing that should be defined is the main objective of the ChatBot… What do you want your Bot to solve ? What is the specific problem it will solve ?
To help you in your decision, we have prepared these 5 ways to use a ChatBot in your business:
1- Answer frequently asked questions and customer service
Bots have been very popular for providing customer service, we know that not everyone likes to talk to a Bot when we have a problem, but a well-configured Bot can solve a customer’s doubt at the moment or segment it to direct it to the appropriate area.
If your customer service team is getting the same question over and over again, a chatbot is a great way to automatically answer those questions and save your team time and effort to get on with issues that need a human, the only thing What you have to do is teach the Bot what it should answer.
One of the recommended practices for any Bot that is dedicated to providing service is to add a menu of options in which you can include:
- The location of your business
- contact button
- Frequent questions
- List of products or services
- Promotions or discounts area
- Company information
- Etc…
We advise you to let your users know from the beginning that they are talking to a Bot, you cannot fool a human especially when we talk about Customer Service, not everyone feels comfortable talking to a Bot.
2- Spread content with a personalized touch.
As we have commented several times, we always have to sell… we can also focus on sharing content, a chatbot is a perfect extension or channel for our Content Marketing strategy .
We really like to share content through this channel, you can simply share the content or you can entertain along the way. Another good example is the , which with its ChatBot helps us decorate the house and shares tips and ideas.
This is an ingenious way to generate traffic to your website and re-use your content in general without forcing it or turning it into SPAM.
In this way you will help your users to find relevant content and add a lot of value.
Best practices when sharing content with your ChatBot:
- Make sure your site is responsive (optimized for mobile)
- Selling should not be your main objective, just like Content Marketing , use your content so that people discover you.
- It includes a Menu, in this way users can easily find the content, whether they are looking for it or not.
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3- Prospect Nutrition
Users are normally looking for Companies that offer the most innovative solutions. ChatBots are an excellent tool to increase the level of interaction with your audience . You can prepare relevant content according to their interests.
We came across the Bot of La Buena Cheve , a site dedicated to the dissemination and promotion of craft beer in Mexico, Su Bot can help you find the best places where they sell craft beer in Mexico.
- They are also a good option to entertain your audience if your business lends itself to it. Some of the things you can do to increase your engagement:
- Jokes
- Games
- Tips
- reports
- Reminders of important dates
- Guides
- Relevant news
- etc…
4- Support your sales
ChatBots are not only used to send and receive information, they can also help you increase your sales. We know that a chatbot will never be as effective as a good salesperson, but they can certainly help your customers find the product or service they are looking for, even process sales from the same platform (in some countries).
Another good example is the 1-800-Flowers Bot which was specially designed to make it easy for users to order their flowers via messenger.
The Bot first asks for the name of the person who will receive the flowers, the phone number and the delivery address. The Bot then lets you select the category of products you are looking for and suggests relevant products
- Once the user selects a product, the Bot lets you schedule the delivery and allows you to make the payment directly from Messenger, the process is super easy and has allowed this company to position itself in the first places in the US market thanks to this implementation.
Best practices for sales support with a ChatBot:
- Make sure your ChatBot can answer frequently asked questions about products or services.
- As in your e-commerce, you can suggest related products or packages before finishing the sale.
- Remember to leave open the option to speak with a person from the team in case you have additional questions.
5- Segment your audience
A chatbot can play a very important role when it comes to analyzing your audience, optimizing sales and marketing strategies .
Thanks to the tag system included in tools like ManyChat, you can generate a sequence that, in addition to being entertaining, helps you identify the different aspects of your subscribers. In this way you will be able to identify patterns and qualities to be able to offer better services and above all, really relevant content.
conclusion
Your Bot must have a clear and defined purpose, when the purpose of your ChatBot is not well defined, it leaves the user with many options, and can easily get lost.
As we mentioned before, it is best to start with a problem to solve, when you have this point clear, you will clearly know which automations make sense and which do not.
If you are looking for people to discover you ( awareness ), start conversations ( consideration ), acquire new customers ( selection ), provide customer service ( loyalty ) or simply entertain your audience… implementing a ChatBot in your Facebook Messenger is an excellent alternative
