Facebook Messenger as a Lead Generation Tool

As of 2019, over two billion people log into Facebook every month. This means that if you don’t have a business page on Facebook, you need to set one up right after you read this. Most companies, no matter how big or small, have a Facebook business page. However, not all companies are taking advantage of all of the marketing opportunities available on the platform. For example, the Facebook Messenger feature is often ignored–yet this is a fantastic way to engage directly with your followers. You could even be using Facebook Messenger to generate new leads.

Implementing Chatbots On Your Facebook Page

63% of people listed their biggest concern to be generating traffic and leads to their business or brand. Facebook provides an additional opportunity to engage with prospective leads. They can follow and comment on the content on your page. Facebook Messenger gives them the opportunity to engage directly with a representative for your company, but many companies lack the resources to dedicate someone to answering basic questions.

“The visual interaction offers a friendly experience and ensures a healthy rapport with your customer base.” – Aslam Abbas

Chatbots provide an opportunity to initiate that relationship with a customer. They can be programmed to answer a few basic questions, and ensure that only issues escalated to a live representative need greater attention. This cuts down on any time a representative, marketing agent, or such might spend focused on social answering questions that could be programmed. If you’re worried about your followers interacting with a chatbot rest assured that 34% of people, and growing, are comfortable interacting with a chatbot to have their questions answered.

Not only are people more likely to engage with you through a chatbot on Facebook Messenger, but this provides visitors with a valuable resource in case they have any basic questions they want the answer to. Many people have questions but won’t bother sending a message to the company because the questions aren’t pressing. With a chatbot, they can get an answer without the pressure of dealing directly with your company. This will help to build interest in your brand.

Additionally, you can use chatbots to qualify your leads. Not everyone who visits your page may be a good fit. They may be looking for something that you don’t offer. You can use your chatbots to ask a series of questions. Based on how they answer, you can qualify your leads.

Some example programmed questions for a chatbot might be like these:

• “Where are you located?”
• “Are you open on [HOLIDAY]?”
• “What is your return policy?”
• “How do I contact someone about [issue]?”
• “When do you open tomorrow?”
• “Where can I download this E-book?”

Generating Leads Using the Click-to-Message Feature

Posting content and running ads through Facebook is a great way to increase exposure and engagement with followers and leads. Facebook Ads has long been one of the most effective ways to target a specific audience. The problem is that if the ad appeals to the reader/viewer they have to click it. Ads often take them to a landing page or website where they have to take additional steps to convert. More often than not users will lose interest before the page even loads and leave.

Reaching people through ads is proving more and more challenging on Facebook. It is more important than ever to attract and keep attention when you can. Click-to-Message helps to preserve the interest you initially generated and increasing your chances of converting your leads.

The way Click-to-Message works is that when someone clicks on one of your ads, a Facebook Messenger chatbot will pop up instead of taking the lead to your landing page. This means that they don’t have to leave the page they are on, and there won’t be as much time for them to change their minds. You can encourage them to message you using Facebook Messenger in such situations using a number of tactics; for example, you can:

• Provide a link that they can click on to download an eBook
• Entice the lead by directing them to a giveaway
• Offer a free trial of your product or service
• Ask if they would like to take a quiz
• Offer free consulting
• Offer a discount code to a product or service

If they have a question outside of the prompts you choose it will be forwarded to your inbox where you can provide a response. This way you are able to pick up right where the chatbot drops them off.

Generate More Mobile Leads

One of the reasons that using chatbots on your main page as well as using the Click-to-Message feature on your Facebook Ads is so effective is that it makes it much easier for mobile users to engage with you. It’s less convenient for a mobile user to wait for landing pages to load and to fill in opt-in forms, to be sent to your website, or to initiate engagement on your main Facebook page. However, mobile phones are basically built for instant messaging, which means that mobile users will be much more likely to use Facebook Messenger if given the opportunity.

There are many different ways that you can generate leads as well as nurture and convert them using Facebook. You should be sure to leverage Facebook Messenger in any way you can, whether it’s by installing chatbots on your main page or using the Click-to-Message feature on your Facebook Ads. Doing so will increase your ability to not only generate new leads but to qualify them as well. The world of advertising is ever changing. You need to be utilizing all the tools available to you.

Tl;dr
The Too Long; Didn’t Read on Facebook Messenger
With over two billion people logging into Facebook every month it’s no surprise there is a level of familiarity with its services. The integration of a chatbot onto your page can help answer questions or provide information within the platform. Click-to-message ads allow your users to message the brand directly and receive the information they might have otherwise had to leave the site for. Both of these work on desktop and mobile and are great ways to find information on users interested in engaging and interacting with your brand that you might have lost had you sent them to another website.

See more Facebook stats like the fact that 2 billion people sign in every month here.