In case you missed it, MobileMonkey scored the world’s largestFacebook Messenger and Chatbot summitwith 10+ incredible social media marketing heavyweights.Larry Kim,Mari Smith, andDennis Yuwere just some the speakers who graced our screens to teach us the future of digital marketing: chatbots.
Didn’t have time to tune in? Or too busy to sift through all the eight plus hours of sessions and speakers? Don’t worry, the Social PR Chat team curated the best tips and tricks from the entire event right here!
Founded in 2017 , MobileMonkey is on the front end of the chatbot revolution, which is forecast to be a billion dollar industry in less than 10 years. Kim started MobileMonkey after “seeing the need for a product that enables marketers to engage with customers via mobile messaging platforms.”
According toMindshare, 63% of people would consider messaging an online chatbot to communicate with a business or brand. Kim knew that chatbots would set up the next milestone to give businesses the opportunity to dramatically grow sales and leads, and so far, he has been right.
Imagine drastically increasing sales, leads, sign-ups, and your client contact list through Facebook. We know, it must sound too good to be true. Imagine if I also told you it didn’t require hours of coding, days replying to each individual customer, and slowly losing your sanity?
Chatbots are computer programs that are designed tosimulate conversation with human users, especially over the Internet. It is build to have a conversation in a natural language, understand the client’s intent and question, and answer based on a set of rules and guidelines set by an organization.
It may be hard to believe, but chatbots were first introduced as early as the 1960s. However, it’s 2018 that they are getting their time to shine with the drastic increase in text messaging applications and advances in language technology. According toeMarketer, more than a quarter of the world will be using messaging apps by 2019.
Chatbots allow for instant answers, 24-hour service, complaints to be quickly resolved and so much more. We are just scratching the surface with this incredible application, if you want to know even more about chatbots, check out MobileMonkey’sblog.
Now that you are an expert in all things chatbot, let’s see what the experts say on how to best optimize and utilize chatbots to grow your business.
According to Mari Smith, messaging is what people are doing more than social media. Businesses need to be responsive through messaging and respond as afriend. One hack for this is to intercept your chatbots every so often to add a more human touch. If you want your chatbots to be successful, they need to be authentic.
You do the math. Email marketing results in 5-10% open rates, while Facebook Messenger open rates range between 70-80% within the first hour. Add to the fact, Messaging is fundamentally less spammy and more engaging than email. Not only that, messaging provides instant answers when customers engage.
Facebook allows chatbots to engage with customers for 24 hours after customers initiate contact. The hack here from Kim is to focus on content that is more likely to elicit comments, such as yes or no questions. Once a customer has clicked yes or no, your 24 cycle begins over again and you can engage with that customer the entire period.
One of the most not so obvious but crucial tips from the summit came from best selling authorIsaac Rudansky. He recommends you should look at marketing messages as if you were talking to someone in person, don’t say anything you wouldn’t say in person to a customer’s face. Also, don’t be afraid to really talk about your products in long sentences, you don’t need to always be short. You are marketing to people interested in you, so they won’t be bored by what you have to say.
Samir ElKamouny foundedFetch and Funneland increased revenue by 329% by utilizing Facebook Messenger. His tip for optimizing your funnel is to survey your customers by offering rewards and incentives. You have to learn why your customers are falling off. Once you know, you alter the experience to match what they want. Samir recommends designing a bot to help customers get the answers they need.
This may seem obvious, but as MobileMonkey’s Product Marketing Manager Dan Golder says, “it will never be easier or cheaper to get Facebook Messenger contacts than today.” Chatbots are new territory and the guidelines are ever changing. Those who invest in them now are early adopters and have a chance to significantly grow their lead lists.
Business pages are first class citizens. Keep your profile page that is personal for you and don’t sell on it! Only sell on business pages. Have three entities at least, your personal page, your public figure page, and your business page.
Dennis Yu tells us consumers need seven touches to go from 1st touch to a conversion. Facebook Messenger marketing is great for top and middle of funnel touches because you obtain their contact information once and get touches in an effective way for free, which leads to sales.
Facebook algorithm marks “likes” for one point, “comments” for six points and “shares” for thirteen points while negative feedback is minus one hundred points. Comment Guard chatbots turn engaged commenters into lasting contacts, this helps to build brand awareness. Focus on gaining points with comments and driving those commenters to become loyal customers.
Anand Arivukkarasu, Product Growth Manager at Facebook Messenger says don’t think of chatbots just for selling. They provide end to end customer value for every step of the process. They can answer questions, spread awareness, re-engage and much more. Get creative with them!
This tip has an expiration date so get going! Virginia Nussey, the Chatbot blaster expert, says apply for subscription messaging before December 31st, 2018, when Facebook changes its policy. It takes two steps and less than ten minutes! You go to your page, hit settings, messenger platform, and hit request for subscription messaging. When three categories come up, you will most likely pick “news.”
We already touched on how you want your messages to sound casual, and emojis are key! Make sure you’re getting creative with their use, and research which emojis are the most popular before you post. In case you want a cheat sheet – here are the most popular emojis.
There you have it, the history, and takeaways for everything chatbot! If you aren’t a pro by now, make sure to follow thechatbot smartspeakers on their channels linked below!
Want the most up to date chatbot goodness? MobileMonkey hosts a live chatbot talk every Friday on MobileMonkey’s Facebook Group! Clickhereto join the conversation!
Want to catch the entire summit? Grab anall access passto watch now!