Digital Marketing - Study Notes:
Facebook Messenger
As well as offering a direct messaging platform between users, Facebook Messenger is an effective business communication tool through which marketers can engage directly with customers. It allows:
- One-to-one or group private messaging between people
- One-to-one communication between customers and businesses
- Users to communicate via text, video, photo, and emoji, and
- Businesses to transact with customers
It’s important to note that Pages cannot initiate communication with users on Facebook Messenger. This is to protect users from potentially being spammed by businesses and provides a better user experience.
Benefits of Facebook Messenger
Facebook’s Messenger feature offers several key benefits to businesses. It allows you to:
- Give quick and quality customer service.
- Create purchase intent and sales.
- Drive leads.
- Allow people to directly reach out to you from the CTA button on your Facebook page.
- Build brand value and trust.
- Move crisis management and sensitive information out of the public realm.
Instant Replies
Instant Replies is an auto-response feature on Facebook Messenger. It allows for your business to send an instant reply to any customer that has privately messaged your Facebook Page. Because they are immediate and automatic, Instant Replies help improve customer experience and reduce pressure on customer service teams.
A Messenger Greeting, for example, automatically welcomes people to your Page with a customized message. There are a variety of personalization options when creating your Instant Replies or Messenger Greetings, including:
- Person’s first name
- Person’s surname
- Person’s full name
- Your website URL
- Your phone number
- Your address
It’s important to set up Instant Replies while you’re away or offline.
Instant Replies can also be used to create automatic answers to frequently asked questions. To create Instant Replies to FAQs:
- Choose Inbox at the top of your Page.
- Select Automated Responses in the left-hand menu.
- Choose Frequently Asked Questions and edit.
- Add a question and enter your response.
You can select Add Personalization to add your customer’s name, the admin’s name, a link to your Facebook page or website, or your phone number. You can also add an image or your logo, as well as a call-to-action button such as ‘Learn More’ or ‘Shop Now’.
On Instagram, Instant Replies and Away Messages are also available. These are controlled in Facebook Page Messaging Settings and will only work if you have connected your Facebook Page and Instagram Business Profile. You can do this in your Facebook Page Settings, in the Instagram section.
Back to TopAlison Battisby
Alison is a Social Media Consultant with Avocado Social, she is a Facebook and Instagram accredited social media expert and founded Avocado Social in 2014 having worked in the social media industry since 2008. Alison has worked with a wide range of brands including Estee Lauder, Tesco, and Pringles. Alison has traveled the world training companies including the BBC, Etsy, Canon, and Cambridge University Press. She offers social media strategy, training, and consultancy at Avocado Social across platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and TikTok.
