Did you know that Facebook Messenger is used by over 1.3 billion users making it the top four most-used platforms worldwide? Crazy. Is your business a part of that already?
Facebook Messenger is excellent for customer service and finding new clients for your business. It’s free, easy to make, and is used by billions of people that are potentially your clients. You just have to master the art of optimizing your Facebook Business Messenger Account for gaining new customers.
All you have to do to benefit is use this platform right, and you will see that as you continue reading!
What is Facebook Messenger?
First and foremost, do not be confused. Your Facebook Business page is different from your Facebook Business Messenger. Think about it this way, picture this. Your business is a tree, and a tree grows both under the ground and above the ground. Now your Facebook Business page is focused on developing above the ground. Postings, statuses, updates, images, customer feedback, etc. Think of your business messenger as the root, you are focused on attracting the customers personally and underground style. So in order to make your tree (business) grow, you have to invest both in growing it out and growing it deeper.
Facebook Messenger or most commonly known as “Messenger” is an App connected to Facebook. This one is more focused on messaging and one-on-one communication. Most of the time, client-to-business. It is very similar to the messenger people use. But as you read on, you will see how you can utilize and use this to gain more customers!
You can leverage Facebook Messenger for your business in order to respond to consumer questions concerning sales and service in a timely and pertinent manner. Quickly and accurately. Additionally, you can develop third-party chatbots for Messenger.
Setting Up An Account
You will need to make a Facebook page to use Facebook Messenger; that is the only way. So if you already have an existing Facebook page for your business, you have no problem with those because you are automatically on Facebook Messenger too.
So if you do not have a Facebook page yet, here is what you need to do:
- Visit this page here.
- Fill out the fields and enter the right information about your business.
- Make sure your Business Name is right and accurate.
- Enter your details in the bio tab such as your business tagline or other social media accounts and then click ‘Create‘.
- Type your NAP (name, address if there is a physical location, phone number) and add the available hours, and hit ‘Next‘.
- Next, insert a profile picture and a cover photo.
- Lastly, let your friend know that you have an account and ask them to like your page.
There you of, now you have your business Facebook page! And this means that you also have your Messenger Automatically. The next thing you need to know is how to optimize your Facebook Business Messenger for gaining new clients.
Your Name on Messenger is the same name you have on your Facebook Business Page. So make sure everything you put on your Facebook Business Page is accurate because it will always reflect on your Facebook Messenger too.
Optimizing your Facebook Business Messenger for Attracting New Customers
In this section, you will see why you need to optimize your Facebook messenger business account and how to do it.
Why should I need to Optimize my Business Messenger?
This is one of the most common mistakes of many business owners who have Messenger for their business make. They do not really pay attention to messenger and optimizing it. You should optimize your business messenger account for the following reasons:
To Provide Exceptional Customer Service
When you have your account optimized, it means it has auto-replies or replies at least after an hour. Customer service is important everywhere. But the good thing about messenger is you do not have to stay up in front of the computer and wait for customers to message your page. You can set up autoresponders on messenger! (will be discussed more later).
Exceptional customer service is when the clients never have to wait or at least wait long for replies to their queries. Think about this thought always to be determined to provide good customer service. “if it’s not your business in 5 mins, it’s going to be another one“.
To Boost The Interest Of Potential Customers
One of the things that boost the interest of potential clients is posts on your Facebook page. When they click the post and become interested and want to see more they will most likely click the page name and go to your Facebook page. When this happens, our business should be sending a message once they reached your business page. Something like “Hi, Sebastian! Welcome to Wake ‘n Bake. We are happy to serve you.” And then you can put choices, what are the products they want to avail such as cakes, cupcakes, how many layers. Or offer sales and promos for the month or for first-time buyers and etc. all through an autoresponder. (which will be discussed later)
Now, the potential client is interested and is more likely to buy your products or inquire because you already offered good deals. You didn’t post them or appear desperate. You just took advantage of the fact that they visited your Facebook business and they might be interested.
To Keep the Momentum of the Interest
The momentum of the customers starts when they become interested. At that moment, you should be able to keep it. Like in boosting their interest, just keep the question or the conversation coming between your business and the client as long as they are willing to answer and they are participating. Because these types of clients will eventually make a purchase.
For example, Sebastian answered all your questions regarding what product he is interested in. Now you can ask him more such as, what is the occasion they celebrate, who is this for and etc etc. Through your messenger, just keep replying and talking to them and utilize their interest in your business and products until they are ready to place the order for the goods or services you provide.
To Make the Customers Feel Important
Messenger is very personal since it is a communication built mostly for one-on-one communication (though it has a group chat feature). And when a business talks to a customer with unautomated messages and bot replies they feel important. This is extremely crucial in having a business. Your clients are the reason why your business exists and it is the bare minimum to make them feel that you hear them and you care.
Through the messenger app, you can talk to them privately regarding any concern they have and acknowledge it and make sure to do better or to change things that are needed to be changed for improvement. There is power in privacy and one-on-one communication.
To “Get” the Customers
Customers are most likely visiting numerous businesses on the internet and on Facebook. Now, how do you get them using messenger? When you reply fast. But it doesn’t stop there, you reply fast and attend to their needs. Imagine when a client jumps from page to page because the replies are extremely slow so they keep on moving from one business age to another.
Make sure that your business is the type of page that they will never have to level once they get there because your messenger is always alert and on point in messaging them and attending to their needs. No excuses. Not every client is willing to wait for your goods or services unless they are not in a hurry(which most clients are because they hate waiting). Again, if it’s not your business in 5 mins, it’s another one.
Characteristics of Optimized Business Messenger and Messaging For Gaining New Customers
An optimized business account is one that:
Replies Fast
No one wants slow replies and no one wants to wait. Make sure to be able to reply as soon as possible to every customer query from your business. Use the help of chatbots to be able to reply at the very first moments but make sure to catch it and personalized it as soon as you can.
Attends to the Needs of the Customer the Same Moment they Started Talking to them
Whatever the needs of the customers, attend to them immediately. Yes, even complaints. Whatever they need, matters. Do they have questions, rants, do they want to see products to compare and etc? Regardless of the intent of the query, answer it in the best way possible.
Being Able to Finish a Transaction
Your goal should always be to make the potential clients end up being your sure clients. Every conversation goal on messenger should be to close a deal or finish a transaction or complete a purchase. After attending to their needs you can slide some products that you think they might like or some services you think they might need.
Let the Customers Know About Deals that Suit their Type of Customer
You can offer deals to them according to their position on the sales funnel. For example, if they are regulars and they have been your regulars for a year you can offer them an anniversary discount or a freebie when they order again. Or it’s their 10th time ordering, therefore, you will offer them a 10% discount. Depending on what type of customer they are, offer them deals that are hard to refuse.
Facilitate Engaging User Conversation Experiences
Ask them questions t be able to get to know them more. Do not ask personal questions such as “how much does your bank account have” or such that are intimidating and can make you sound like a scammer. Instead, ask them questions that are related t the products or services. For example, “is this your first time getting acrylic nails?” or “how long have you been bleaching your hair” or “how did you find out about our business” and things like that. To get to know them and engage with them.
Website Integration that is Smooth
Be sensitive and find the right timing to integrate the promotion of your website. For example, you and the potential client are smoothly talking about her experiences with her previous hair salons. You can send a link to your website and tell her “I’m so sorry for the bad experiences. Do not worry, we will give you the best experience ever. You should check out our website to see the reviews. And you can also check for other services we offer that you might be interested in”
You reassured the client that you will give her the best salon experience but you also promoted your website and let her see for herself what more she can see.
You do not immediately want to give them your website and tell them “GO HERE!” because that will basically just push them away.
End the Conversation Excellently
No matter what happens, whether a deal is closed or a transaction is completed or the buyer is not yet sure. No matter what happens, make sure to end the conversation politely and excellently.
- Ask what more can you help the client with
- Let them know that you will always be present in case they change their mind or they will need anything from your business
- If the customer says sorry for not being able to complete a deal, let them know that they do not need to say sorry and that there is no problem
- Wish them a great day
- Politely say goodbye
Most businesses do not reply if the customers end up not interested. But this is important because being polite and respectful even only on messenger might just be a reason for them to come back to your business.
How To Optimize Your Facebook Messenger to Get New Customers
Set Up An Chatbot in your Facebook Messenger
But you have to be careful with this one. You have to find the balance in using chatbots in Facebook messenger because this can hurt your business if this step is employed too much. YOu might think that the point of personalizing the messages and using chatbots is pretty contradicting for your business well here is the thing.
When you use too many chatbots customers will feel as if they are not important and that there are no available people that are really sincere and ready to talk to them when they want to perform actions in your business. But the cost of being able to reply with personalized messages is that you have to always be up in front of the computer to be able to reply to messages and not all business owners have the time and energy for that.
Here is how you do and find the balance for your business. Fill the void of each other. For example, chatbots should only be activated whenever there is no one available to reply at that exact moment for your business. But once any social media manager is able to talk to the client, everything must be personalized according to the segmentation (which I will be explained later).
Here is an example of a good conversation: C – client, B – business
C: Hi
B: ( Chatbot ) Hi, Kylie! We are happy to talk to you today. What can we help you with? (click among the choices)
- Is this product still available?
- What are your bestsellers?
- How much is the shipping fee in this area?
C: *clicks “Is this product still available?”
B: (Still Automated) Give us a few minutes to check if the product is still available! We will come back to you shortly 🙂
You or at least anyone must be able to reply not exceeding 5 minutes after the chatbot has replied to the client, then you can start the personalization of the conversation. Let’s say you are selling sustainable fashion and they are ordering a dress for their prom. You can now start asking questions such as what size, or anything they want to get customized, what occasion, and anything about the product.
The key is to use the chatbots to be able to catch the interested potential customers and as soon as you can you will start personalizing the messages and enter the conversation.
To set up Chatbots for your Facebook Business Messenger, follow these easy steps and explore to learn more!
Segment Customers in Facebook Messenger
“Personalize Messages”
“Personalize Messages”
“Personalize Messages”
“Personalize Messages”
“Personalize Messages”
This has been mentioned so many times here, but how do you do that? How can you segment customers?
There is something called Sales Funnel. Imagine an inverted triangle, that is why it’s called a funnel because it looks like one. There are 4 stages of the sales funnel.
- Leads
- Lead Qualification
- Intent
- Close (yes or no)
And we also have customer segmentations such as:
- Geographic
- Demographic
- Psychographic
- Behavioral
But segmenting your customers should not be extremely technical and complicated. I have formulated an easy and real-life situation according to the type of customer that you can use to segment your customers, as soon as you see their messages or replies:
1. First-timer
Usually, first-time customers need a lot more assistance than other types of customers. Unless they already did their research and they are absolutely sure of what they want to avail. But when you have customers in this segment you will know exactly how to talk to them and what to offer them. For example, you can offer them a first-time customer discount, a freebie or a buy 1 take 1 promo exclusive for first-timers. It is extremely easy to notice if they are first-time customers. The first is that if there is no history of conversation between the business account. Or you can always ask them about it to be sure.
2. Almost
I call them “Almost” because these are the types of customers that asked about your products but were unsure and ended up not being able to complete a transaction or purchase at all. To know this type of customer, you can also check the history of the conversation. And this time bring them a better irresistible offer that they can not refuse! Give them coupons, discounts, etc. Entice them to complete a transaction this time.
3. Repeat
Repeat customers are the customers that have ordered once and are now availing again. This type of customer can also be identified by looking at the history of the conversation. This type of customer most likely enjoyed the service or good you provided. Now, you have an idea of what this customer wants even a little bit, you can now incorporate your knowledge about them into the products or services. For example, you are a salon and you offer a foot spa service. Before, this particular customer didn’t want to get her pinky toe touched for personal reasons. So the next time she asked for your service you kept that in mind and did it right. This may also result in gaining your repeat as regulars.
4. Regular
This one is 3 times and more availed from your business. Now that they are regular, you know exactly what they want and what they do not want. Availing from you can just be a “you know what to do” and you can provide them with the best and high-quality service or good they availed.
5. Distance
This one, you can ask the new customers but those existing you should already know about it. This is crucial because you have to incorporate fees in the service such as gas fees or shipping fees depending on our business needs. Or if you can make a way for them to spend less on this particular fee.
You can easily know what segment they belong to by simply looking at the history of the messages. Very easy and fast, you can determine what type of customer they are and segment them to personalize the approach and the conversation according to their segments.
You can use these segmentation factors to not only to personalize your message. Also to know the proper approach, know the shipping fee, know what to offer to them according to their segment, and to get to know your audiences more.
Send Images, Videos, Voice Messages, and Documents through Facebook Messenger
When talking to customers, you should leverage the images and video-sharing feature of the messenger. For example, you are a nail tech and the customer wants to see your past creations but doesn’t want to visit the photos on your Facebook. And she was specific that she only wants to see the neon-colored ones you did. You should always be ready t send pictures and videos showcasing your creation.
Leverage this feature to showcase and let the customers know what they are signing up for and what they can expect from your business. This is free (just an internet connection) and fast!
Call to Action in Facebook Messenger Conversations
Call to action is not just present on websites. landing pages, captions, and promotions but also in conversations! That’s right! You can also incorporate this while talking to your clients on Facebook Messenger. But do not be too pushy and sound too desperate. You also have to be careful with this one.
You should never sound as if you are demanding the customer to avail from you. First of all, you should be true to your claims and then you should emphasize which is the best for the client and then use the right words. For example:
C: I want to get long coffin-shaped nails. Can you do it?
B: Yes, ma’am definitely! Here are samples of my previous clients*sends’ pictures and videos*. Also, we are one of the best in here (area). Book your appointment now, we will give you a good discount 🙂
See how you didn’t beg for the client to book, you just offered a good deal and used words to sell your business to the client, and highlighted the fact that your creations are amazing. Also, you have authority in the tone but not demanding or begging.
“Facts Tell, Stories Sell”
You can tell endless facts to customers about your business, but stories will always sell. For example, your business is a customized cake business. Now you had this one customer that ordered a cake for his and his wife’s anniversary. To your surprise, his wife also ordered and it happened to be for the same occasion too. So you do not know what to do, whether to tell the husband the wife ordered or to tell the wife that he already did. But what you did is sell a cake to both of them without each other knowing.
Then, their anniversary came, they both got each other a cake to surprise each other but then were shocked to know that they got their cakes at the same place. You gave them a discount so only one cake was paid for by them, they had a good laugh and you have a new story to feature for your business.
Everything was private because it was all done in Messenger. See the power of privacy?
Remember this, there are thousands of businesses where people can avail what you are giving. They do not need your explanations about what type of product or service you offer because they most likely already know about it. What they need is to hear stories that have substance to them.
It all boils down to giving the customers the best customer service experience. Facebook Messenger for business does not get enough emphasis they deserve. They should be paid attention to because of the number of people and the power this platform holds will be one of the many keys to success for your business!
Leverage this app and reply to your prospects as fast as you can!
