How to Use Facebook Messenger Marketing To Increase Your Revenue by 10% [Guestpost]

Our friends from OctaneAI share their expertise in Facebook Messenger Marketing in this Guestpost.

Facebook Messenger is an untapped revenue channel for every ecommerce business.

In fact, some Shopify stores that use conversational Messenger automation have been able to increase their revenue by over 10%, get open rates of 80%-95%, and a 7 times increase in click-through-rates.

Since there aren’t as many brands investing in Messenger marketing as there are using email on a regular basis, it’s the perfect way to send value-added messages to your subscriber base and increase conversions. For ecommerce brands that are challenged with connecting with their Facebook audience, Messenger marketing is the solution.

If your business has a Facebook or Instagram following, and you’re looking for better ways to connect with that audience, it’s time to consider Messenger Marketing.

Facebook Messenger Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide for eCommerce

• What is Facebook Messenger marketing?
• What are chatbots?
• How effective is Facebook Messenger marketing for eCommerce?
• Features you need for successful Messenger Marketing
• 1. Welcome series to introduce yourself to every new subscriber
• 2. Cart and browse abandonment flow to increase conversion rates
• 3. Custom flows and campaigns to personalize conversations and add value
• 4. Order and shipping confirmation to optimize the customer service experience

What is Facebook Messenger marketing?

Messenger marketing is when brands use messenger platforms to reach customers instantly. Popular platforms include Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and WeChat. Facebook Messenger is the second-most-popular messaging app today. Since it’s synced to your Ecommerce store’s Facebook profile, it’s a beneficial way to reach customers instantly.

The goal of Facebook Messenger automation is to help drive subscribers along the buyer’s journey.

Buyer’s Journey. Source: blog.octaneai.com

By sending promotions and discount codes, shipping updates, product releases, helpful content, and answering customer questions, Messenger marketing helps push people along the funnel and converts them.

What are chatbots?

You’ve likely engaged with a chatbot before without even realizing it. Using a chatbot with Facebook Messenger helps you automate the conversations with every visitor and subscriber. Although chatbots are a form of artificial intelligence software, businesses set them up to create human-like interactions. This ensures minimal maintenance on the business’ side while customers get answers to their questions instantly. Many artificial intelligence development companies are now integrating Facebook Messenger marketing into their e-commerce services to give customers a more personalized shopping experience.

When you can personalize the chatbot experience for your subscribers, you’ll have a conversational marketing strategy that will convert and retain every customer.

How effective is Facebook Messenger marketing for eCommerce?

Ecommerce businesses with an effective Messenger marketing strategy have seen amazing results. This is because the experience is more personalized than other channels since customers can have customized back-and-forth conversations with your Facebook Messenger bot that appear like they’re talking to a real person.

Suppz.com Chatbot. Source: Facebook

The reason Messenger marketing is a great method for reaching your customers is that your customers are more active on social media than any other channel. Without their inboxes being cluttered by other promotional messages from brands (like email is), you have a higher chance of getting your message read by each subscriber.

Here are a few statistics to emphasize the power of Messenger marketing for ecommerce brands:

• Skinny Mixes, a DTC beverage brand, saw a 10-20% increase in overall revenue for brands with a Facebook following.
• Buffer, a social media marketing tool, found that 61% of consumers like personalized messages from businesses.
• Buffer also found that 30% of customers will go to a competitor if a brand doesn’t respond.

Messenger Stats. Source: Facebook

Features you need for successful Messenger Marketing

When deciding on the best Messenger marketing tool for your ecommerce business, there are a few things to consider. If your business already has a strong Facebook and Instagram following, that’s great! But, you’ll want to ensure you have more than one way to get visitors to opt-in to your marketing lists to start these conversations. First, invest in a Messenger marketing software that offers a full suite of tools.

Messenger Marketing Tool. Source: Octane AI

The specific opt-in tools you’ll want to have available include the following:

• Pop-ups: DOYOUEVEN, a fitness apparel brand, converted over 12K subscribers and made $80K in 30 days with an exit-intent pop-up.
• Customer chat widget: Skinny Mixes successfully converted over 10K subscribers in 90 days with a chat widget.
• Product page opt-ins: Skinny Mixes also used this opt-in to convert over 4K subscribers in 90 days with product page opt-ins.

Aside from opt-ins, the features you need for successful Messenger marketing AI are a welcome series, cart and browse abandonment flows, custom flows and campaigns builder, and order and shipping notifications.

Website Chat Widget Example. Source: Skinny Mixes

1. Welcome series to introduce yourself to every new subscriber

Brands using a Messenger chatbot see an average open rate of 80%. This number increases when you have full conversations with your subscribers that go beyond just promoting a product. A get started series starts when a customer first interacts with your Messenger bot on Facebook or through a Facebook Messenger widget on your site. It’s a way to welcome every new subscriber.

Welcome Flow Example. Source: Facebook

When a customer gets started, your business has the opportunity to introduce itself, share a bit of information about what your business does, attach links to interesting content, or share a coupon for new subscribers. This helps build a personal relationship with each subscriber and helps drive purchases when you offer links and discounts to your products from the first interaction.

2. Cart and browse abandonment flow to increase conversion rates

Certain flows have the power to retarget previous customers or visitors and guide them along the purchase path. When the average shopping cart abandonment rate is around 69%, cart and browse abandonment flows are the perfect opportunity to not miss out on those abandonment sales. These messages are triggered by visitors who browse your products or add products to their shopping cart and then leave without completing the purchase.

Abandonment Flow Messenger Example. Source: Facebook

Knowing Messenger has a higher open rate and click-through-rate compared to email, sending reminders about abandoned carts over Facebook Messenger with a discount code has helped brands significantly increase revenue. For example, sending a cart and a browse abandonment flow on Messenger is how one fitness apparel brand, called DOYOUEVEN, made an additional $50,000 in just 30 days.

3. Custom flows and campaigns to personalize conversations and add value

Messenger chatbots see click-through-rates anywhere between 15%-60%. With subscribers clicking through conversations and converting with CTAs that often, ecommerce businesses should use Messenger to share discounts, offer early sales access, announce product launches, and set up sponsored messages.

Sponsored Messages are a type of Facebook ads that targets your subscribers and sends a message directly in their Messenger inbox. Using a chatbot tool will allow you to easily build out the Sponsored Message with CTAs and custom responses, images, videos, and more. Take this example from Ella + Mila:

Sponsored Message example. Source: Facebook

By sending a Sponsored Message with a custom-build conversation after the initial announcement, subscribers receiving the message can engage with Ella + Mila in a way that feels personal and real. They also include real reviews in their Sponsored Message to emphasize the quality of the product they’re promoting.

4. Order and shipping confirmation to optimize the customer service experience

Giving your customers the option to opt-in to Messenger automation for order and shipping confirmation is a great way to grow your subscriber list, retarget previous customers, and bring them back for a repeat purchase. In a recent article, econsultancy said post-purchase issues, like poor delivery communication, are responsible for 74.4% of all 1-star reviews on TrustPilot. Don’t let poor delivery communication be the reason for a negative review against your business.

Shipping/Order Confirmation on Messenger. Source: Octane AI

Messenger is a desired form of communication for customers because it’s so direct and uncluttered. Using an automated system for Facebook Messenger will ensure your customers are receiving the necessary information from your business to keep them satisfied with your customer service.

Start Messenger marketing to boost revenue today

Now that you’ve learned about the power of Messenger marketing and the tools you need to succeed, start thinking about how you can use conversational AI to connect with your customers and increase revenue. The results are undeniable. All you need is the right app to help you make that connection!

Tina Donati is a content marketing specialist at Octane AI. Trusted by over 1,000 Shopify and Shopify Plus brands, Octane AI powers ecommerce businesses to target and retain customers through personalized Facebook Messenger and SMS marketing automation.

Aside from sharing daily tips for ecommerce brands to grow, Tina spends her time perusing Linkedin and Twitter, online shopping, reading about content marketing best practices, or walking her dogs.