Have you received a message through Facebook Messenger from an FB Business Page that you follow? And if so, how did you feel and react when you received the message? Chances are you read the message through. After all, why would you follow a Facebook Business page if you weren’t interested in what they were offering?
Messaging has grown from a simple platform that allowed community members to directly contact one another to a significant factor in growing a business. Put yourself in the shoes of the Facebook Business page owner.
Messaging gives you the opportunity to communicate directly with your customers and address concerns, comments, and inquiries which they have brought to your attention.
One-on-One.
Facebook is the biggest social media platform on the Internet with more than 2 Billion monthly users. It is no surprise that its messaging platform, Facebook Messenger, has 1.3 Billion active users every month.
Given its size and influence, using Facebook Messenger is an effective channel to build your brand and grow your business.
3 Benefits Of Using Facebook Messenger For Your Business
Messaging is not a new concept. In its early days, messaging used to be called “live chat”. The concept was still a work in progress. In many cases, the “live chat” service took several days to respond to a message from a customer.
Technology companies have ironed out most of the kinks with the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) bots that could generate automatic responses, analyze the context of the message and provide possible solutions.
If you are not using Facebook Messenger, you are missing out on a number of benefits the platform has for your business.
1. Messaging Has a Higher User Base Than Social Media
A 2016 study conducted by Business Insider Intelligence titled “The Messaging Apps Report” revealed that the user base of the 4 top messaging platforms was bigger than the user base of the top 4 social media networks by a staggering 500 million users.
Another study this time by Pew Research Center showed that messaging was by far the most dominant form of communication preferred by youths aged 13 to 17 years old:
- Text Messaging – 55%
- Instant Messaging – 27%
- In-Person – 25%
- Social Media Sites – 23%
- Phone – 19%
- Messaging Apps – 14%
Previously known as Facebook Chat in 2008, Facebook Messenger has grown in form and function over the last decade. Its platform can be used to book appointments, reservations, purchases, and donate to charities.
2. Messaging Helps Build More Personal Relationships With Customers
The Internet and the popularity of mobile apps have redefined customer service as relationship management. Social media has become the bridge that connects businesses directly with their customers.
Messaging has taken it one step further – it has personalized relationships by allowing one-on-one interactions with the customer. As the business owner, you can have a direct conversation with your customer.
Conversation is a powerful tool because it removes filters and reduces the risk of misunderstandings and miscommunication. It creates collaboration with the customer, especially when it comes to resolving disputes. The customer becomes an integral part of the value chain.
With messaging, the customer will know right away if his message was seen and read. He will not be put on hold. Facebook Messenger is open 24/7. It is good practice to respond within 24 hours from receiving the message.
3. Better Managing of Your Messaging System
Facebook Messenger is a great way to centralize your messaging system. By having Facebook Messenger available on your Facebook Business Page, customers will have a direct channel to relay their concerns.
They may realize that messaging their complaints directly will merit a faster response time compared to public posting whereby the issue would just get lost with the other messages.
How To Use Facebook Messenger To Grow Your Business
1. Give Customers Top-Level Customer Support Services
Customer service is a very important area of growing a business. In a competitive industry, how you manage your reputation could be the difference between achieving success and languishing in failure.
Today’s consumers are not going to waste time calling your business number to voice out their complaints. They will not waste time writing a letter to send to you via fax, email, or regular mail.
Instead, they will go to social media.
Social media has given consumers a platform to air their grievances against businesses.
Whether the complaint has substance or not, there is nothing that will stop the consumer from posting negative messages on your Facebook page. Right or wrong, the business becomes a victim in the “court of social media opinion”.
Before you can address the complaint, the issue has gone viral and shared by other followers of your Facebook page.
And that’s just one negative post. What if there are others?
Facebook Messenger will not guarantee that customers will not post negative comments on your Facebook page. However, it will give them an option to raise the complaint privately.
The consumer may realize that by posting directly on your Facebook Page, his complaint will get lost among other complaints. By sending his complaint via Facebook Messenger, it will be easier found, identified, and indexed by the business for immediate attention.
A displeased customer is almost always an irate one. He does not want to think he did not get what he paid for. The best way to mollify an irate customer is to attend to the complaint right away and have it resolved as soon as possible.
Facebook Messenger gives you the opportunity to resolve the issue directly and immediately while building your reputation as a business that cares about its customers.
2. Get Found Right Away – Share Your Location
A survey conducted by Deluxe revealed that 50% of consumers prioritize location when searching for information on a retailer from their smartphone. Similarly, 38% of consumers want accurate information on a retailer’s location when searching on their PCs.
Facebook Messenger makes it easy for you to share your location to potential customers:
- Select the conversation.
- Click on the 3 dots located at the bottom of the screen.
- Click “Location”
- Use the pin to mark your current location or use Messenger’s search function.
- Click “Send”
Facebook Messenger is a great complement to your online business listing. If the information in your online business listing has not been updated, Messenger will be an effective fall-back option.
Also, you can send your location to potential clients that you have a scheduled meeting with.
For example, you are in the real estate business and you asked a prospective buyer to meet at a coffee shop. If the prospective buyer is not aware of the coffee shop or wants to know the specific branch, use Facebook Messenger to send him the exact details of the location.
3. Create Another Medium For Delivering Content
Website opt-ins are an effective way of delivering content to qualified customers. Facebook Messenger provides customers an easy and practical medium for receiving content from your business.
A study conducted by HubSpot showed that delivering content via Facebook Messenger resulted in an open rate of 80% and a click-through rate of 13%. The numbers represented an improvement of 242% in open rates and 616% in click-through rates over email.
The advantage of using Messenger to deliver content is that you can add a personal touch and further build on establishing a strong, trusting relationship with your customers.
Let’s assume you are in the business of selling succulent plants. A succulent plant grower might send you the following message regarding one of your articles:
“Hi. I am presently trying to grow Faucaria Tigrina. Can you please send me the article you posted on how to water Faucaria Tigrina? Also, I’d like to know what kind of pot I should buy for proper drainage.”
You can respond with a personalized message as follows:
“Here is the article on Faucaria Tigrina which you requested. Thank you for following us on Facebook and good luck growing Tiger’s Jaws! If you have any other concerns, please do not hesitate to message us.”
Customers love it when you give them personalized attention. It shows that you highly appreciate them as people and not just as contributors to your monthly sales quota.
4. Increase Productivity By Using the Chatbots
Messaging platforms use chatbots – programs that are designed to respond automatically to messages. Chatbots have undergone their own evolution.
Early in their inception, chatbots were limited to responding with default messages. While default messages was an assurance to customers that their message was received, they did little to improve relationships.
Over time, chatbots were designed to send messages that were customized based on the keywords indexed from the message. Programmers were able to improve Machine Learning (ML) to a point that the chatbots were able to issue a response that fit the situation.
Today’s chatbots, including those of Facebook Messenger, can do a variety of tasks:
- Deliver personalized content
- Respond to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Complete and confirm purchase orders from customers
- Distribute marketing copy and advertising materials such as promos
By maximizing the use and functionality of chatbots, you can do more things with less time and improve business productivity.
Conclusion – Facebook Messenger Will Help You Build Your Brand
Social media, content, video – these are marketing channels that have been proven to increase awareness on your business, its products, and services.
Integrating Facebook Messenger will take your digital marketing efforts to another level because nothing builds your brand better than having one-on-one interactions with your customers.
Facebook Messenger makes your business more accessible to customers. You are literally within reach – at the palm of their hand. It cuts the number of steps needed to reach the customer.
All you have to do is keep Messenger open and wait for notifications. For faster customer service, use the chatbots to respond immediately.
If you want to learn more about Facebook Messenger and how to include it in your digital marketing strategy, feel free to give us a call or an email. We will be glad to take you through the in-depth process of using Facebook Messenger for the best results.
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