If you had the chance to reach over more than a billion new customers for your small business, would you take it?
Clearly, the question is rhetorical — who would turn down an audience like that? But if you’re not using Facebook Messenger as an integral part of your marketing strategy, you’re missing out on roughly 1.2 billion monthly users.
Messenger isn’t just for making weekend plans with your friends. It has become a streamlined marketing platform for businesses small and large, and it’s something you should be capitalizing on immediately. Here’s how.
Use Greetings and Automatic Replies
When a customer gets in touch with you on Facebook Messenger, they’re expecting a near-instant response — and often, the company who responds to their question or concern fastest will earn their business.
But you have a life outside of your small business, or at least an inherent need to eat and sleep every so often. Unless you have a dedicated social media team available 24/7, you’re not going to be able to respond to every customer immediately.
The answer? Greetings and automatic replies. These can be fully customized, and they trigger automatically. When a customer goes to your Messenger page, your chosen greeting will pop up before they ever initiate a message. This shows them you’re listening, and you can use greeting text to tell them a bit about what they can do or ask on your Messenger page.
An automatic reply can educate your visitors about your hours of operation, direct them to your website or FAQ page, or let them know how long you typically take to respond.
You can even set the auto-responder to notify people when your business is closed or when you may take longer than usual to respond due to holidays or vacations.
Use Facebook Messenger Links and Codes
A true cross-channel marketing strategy requires you to combine different marketing mediums, so wouldn’t it be helpful if you could direct people to your Messenger page from your business card, direct mail flyers or email signature?
With Messenger links and codes, you can!
Your Messenger link is simply me.m/[username]. You can use this on your website, your emails – basically anywhere online. One click, and your customers will come straight to your Messenger page.
Your Messenger code, on the other hand, can be found at the bottom of your inbox by clicking the “Information” icon. It looks a bit like a round QR code with your profile picture in the center of the circle, and you can embed it on your website or download it as a graphic file to use on your business card or other printed materials. Your customers then use a scanner app to “read” the code – and still end up on your Messenger page.
Target Your Friends and Neighbors
Want to try some serious hyperlocal marketing? Facebook Messenger can do that! Local awareness ads can be customized to target people who are already in your area, encouraging them to get in contact with you.
Just add a “Send Message” button to these ads and you’re pulling people straight through your doors!
Adopt a “Chatbot”
Chatbots are cute little electronic creatures that live in your computer and do the hard work for you, responding to questions, giving information, providing content, and in some cases, even making recommendations based on customer input or behavior.
Better still, bots are now able to integrate with Facebook Analytics for Apps, which means you’ll be able to view reports and get demographic reports on the people who interact with your page.
Close the Deal
With Facebook Messenger, you can advertise, sell and accept payment straight through the page, using the customer’s Facebook payment method. This currently is only available to businesses in the United States, and access is by application only – but there’s nothing to lose by trying!
With over a billion monthly users, Messenger isn’t just about messaging anymore. It’s a full-fledged marketing portal, and if you’re not using it yet, it’s time to get started today!
Interested in learning about more marketing initiatives? Send Mischa Communications a message! We don’t have bots, but we do have real, live people interested in making you the biggest small business you can be!