Guest Blog

3 Facebook Messenger Marketing Strategies You Can Try Today

One of the hidden gems for any Facebook or CRM marketer is Messenger. Why? Aside from the more than 2 billion monthly users, there are clear use cases with amazing metrics.

When you are looking to work on your mobile marketing strategy, then this post is written for you. Here are 3 Messenger Marketing Strategies you can try today:

1. Lead Generation
2. Content Deliver
3. User Re-Engagement

1. Generate Leads

Messenger bots are a great way to capture rich profile information and turn users into hot leads.

What do you need?

• Click to Messenger Ads  (to drive traffic)
• Bot Flow Builder (to capture leads)
• CSV export or Users API (to manage leads/custom audiences)

Let’s take a typical car brand that runs Facebook Ads to promote new models and invite users to book a test drive.

In this particular example, we will replace the static form behind the button ‘Sign Up’ with a proactive Messenger Bot.

Step 1. 

When setting up the Facebook Ad, you can choose between ‘Messages’ and ‘Conversions’ as objective. Both can be used to create Click to Messenger Ads.

Tips for Success:

• Use the messages objective to reach people most likely to reply to your business’ messages. Use the conversions objective when you can actually track the conversion in- or outside Messenger.
• Capture your audience’s attention with click to Messenger ads that follow creative best practices for mobile.
• Setup the content that will greet people in Messenger. Add images, Quick Replies, and buttons to encourage interaction.
• Be responsive. Make sure your community management team responds to messages that require a ‘human’ touch.

To simplify things, we choose ‘Messages’ without Conversion Tracking. You can continue to create your Ad and configure your Messenger Setup.

For a very simple 1 or 2 step interaction, you can use Facebook’s standard functionality. We recommend using the JSON to trigger a dedicated Bot Flow.

In this case, we will use Maxwell to create:

• a JSON Structured Message for people who click on the Ad
• a Bot Flow to capture leads
• a CSV export

Step 2. 

Using the Bot Flow Builder you are able to define the first welcome message.

After you have created the welcome message, you can copy and paste the JSON into the Facebook Ad Manager.

Step 3.

Go back to the Maxwell Builder to define the Bot Flow.

Step 4.

When you have completed the template, hit the publish button and you can go live with your campaign.

Step 5.

All chat transcripts and user info can be exported directly from Maxwell and shared with the individual dealers. Alternatively, you can follow up inside Messenger for an even smoother experience.

It’s that simple! You have just replaced a static landing page with a fun, engaging messaging experience. More importantly, we have seen customers double conversion rates through this approach.

2. Deliver content

Ever wondered how you can magically increase your newsletter open and click rates? Stop optimising your email campaigns for minimal uplift and consider using Messenger broadcasts to truly take a big leap forward.

What do you need?

• Messenger Plugin (to drive traffic)
• Bot Flow Builder (to manage subscribers & broadcast content)
• Content Feed (to let users search/receive content)

Hubspot wanted to find out if there are better alternatives to email for delivering content. Rather than asking people to signup for their newsletter through a form, they offered the option to get the content via Messenger. After four weeks of testing, they found a clear winner. The Messenger strategy results in a 242 percent higher open rate and a 619 percent higher click rate.

Here’s how a Messenger Newsletter Opt-In looks like.

You can implement a Sent to Messenger plugin to generate subscribers from your existing website/app traffic. Like Hubspot, you too will be amazed by the metrics and opportunity to build closer relationships with your readers/customers.

Are you involved with CRM and Marketing Automation? Be sure to keep track of the above developments as Messenger offers a unique way to instantly activate a subscriber base with relevant updates/news. As an overall communication channel, I expect the role of e-mail to deteriorate further in 2018. Therefore, don’t wait with defining your Messenger marketing strategy.

3. Re-engage potential customers

When a prospect comes knocking on the door with an active purchase intent you have a limited window of opportunity to close the deal. Since everyone is busy you need to stand out. Messenger allows you to do just that.

What do you need?

• Messenger Ad and Custom Audience (to re-engage users)
• Bot Flow Builder (to drive sales)

When customers visit your website and view products or potentially add them to a basket, you have the opportunity to re-engage them. Building Custom Audiences offers the most effective way to retarget people on Facebook.

Besides utilising the Facebook pixel, you can create a custom audience with the lead generation setup and Maxwell’s CSV export. Just remember to capture the email address as Facebook requires these for creating the audience.

Once you created your Messenger Ad and Custom Audience you can direct Ad traffic to a thread between the potential customer and your page. To guide such conversations you can build custom bot flows.

This can be a great way to provide further details about your products or services and work towards a sale. For example, a potential customer considers buying a better mattress. By engaging the prospect on Messenger you can suggest products, provide specifications and let a customer service agent answer any open questions.

More than in any typical website chat, you’ll be able to assist the sale and uncover new insights to improve your customer journey going forward.

Maxwell offers an intuitive builder, to build bot flows without writing a single line of code. If you actively advertise on Facebook and are looking for better ways to engage users on mobile, check out their solution.

How would you use Facebook Messenger?

As more and more people prefer messaging above other communication channels, the potential for you to market your products and services through Facebook Messenger becomes even greater. There is now a whole ecosystem of platform owners and developers working on improving Facebook Messenger as a channel for commerce. For example, Facebook launched native payments for Messenger in the US, which allows your customers to purchase your products and services without leaving the Messenger app.

I believe Messenger will open opportunities for new, instant customer experiences and drive a whole new market segment of in-chat commerce. Such an app-within-an-app model will be key for enabling frictionless commerce where you can use the same profile to buy across multiple merchants with less effort than purchasing from standalone websites or apps. Having said that, here are the three ways you can get started with Facebook Messenger marketing:

1. Lead Generatio
2. Content Delivery
3. User Re-Engagement

How would you use Facebook Messenger for your marketing? I would love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and aspirations!