We’ve seen a proliferation of automated chatbot type systems becoming available on a number of platforms, and Facebook’s now joined the party.

What is it, exactly?

For advertisers who use the “Send Message” CTA button in their ads, your ad clickers will now be sent to Messenger into an automated chat with the business. 

Businesses will need to first set up the automated question experience, configuring the questions around what information they’d like to get out of users in order to generate (and qualify) their leads. 

The customers’ responses can either be free form text, or pre-filled answers that they can select from. 

What can it do?

As mentioned above, the chatbot can be configured to allow users to type in free-form responses, or select from pre-configured answers to facilitate their chat experience and qualify the leads from digital window-shoppers to actual shoppers. Conversations with actual qualified leads can then be continued as a normal conversation from the Pages inbox.

To ensure that users don’t drop-off the chat never to return, Facebook reminds users to return to the chat to complete the requisite questions if they navigate away from Facebook and then return another time or another day.

What’s more, the customer information and chat logs that are captured can then be sent on to your CRM of choice, making it a no-brainer to integrate Facebook into your multi-channel marketing activities, keeping all the information on complete users journeys under the same roof.
Check out the .gif below of the automation in action, courtesy of Facebook:

Why you should care

According to a survey conducted by Drift, one of the myriad chatbot providers, 42% of people polled said they expect a chat response within five seconds! Those are some lofty expectations to meet for a real human being – unless they happen to already be waiting at attention on Facebook.

Having an automated ‘chat bot’ to respond instantaneously to your customers’ requests is going to streamline communications, and assist brands in responding quickly to customer inquiries, ultimately assisting to generate more inquiries and/or sales!