To make Messenger interactions intuitive, Facebook comes up with a whole bunch of tools for its over 60 million active businesses.
Recently, Facebook launched a range tools that will allow businesses to harness the power of the Messenger Platform more than ever.
With 2.41 billion active users on Facebook, businesses and Social Media Marketing Companies would definitely want to make use of this interactive platform!
Source: Giuliano Ambrosio
So, what are these tools that Facebook Messenger for business page has launched? Take a look below.
Appointment booking in Messenger
Source: your social
Yes, that’s right. Appointments can now be booked, via Messenger.
Businesses can now integrate the appointment-booking feature with their calendar system. This will give customers a better idea about the available appointment slots.
It is also good news for businesses as you no longer have to waste your time monitoring the online booking system.
If you keep your calendar accurate, Facebook will save you precious time by eliminating the need for phone calls to book appointments. It can be done through the app.
Moreover, the appointment booking process can be further simplified through automated messages.
Interesting, right?
It is just like a chatbot that gets triggered when someone seeks an appointment!
Seamless flow of payment
Source: Giphy
Now that Amazon has moved into messaging, how could Facebook stay far behind?
Facebook Messenger bots for business will greatly be revolutionized thanks to in-stream payments.
The one-click purchasing option of Amazon gained a lot of traction and as a part of Messenger Platform 2.1, you are going to witness easier and more efficient payment processes.
By making it possible to pay through Messenger, it will make it simpler for customers to interact with a business. Payment will only be a one-step process.
However, for now, Messenger payments are still being testes and it is only available in the US.
Generate leads with Facebook Messenger
The launch of Facebook Messenger lead generation templates is probably one of the biggest updates for businesses.
After all, generating leads is a priority for businesses!
As per the new template in the Facebook Ads Manager, businesses are capable of creating an automated experience that will help quality leads within the Messenger Platform.
This is a revolutionary change in your marketing strategy for using Facebook for Promoting Your Online Business in 2019.
You can converse with your prospective customers while integrating with the CRM tools to be able to track leads.
The lead generation tools are particularly helpful for small businesses that are already pressed for time and resources. With automated conversions, it will be a breeze to generate, as well as, convert leads.
Updated standard messaging window
The Standard Messaging response window is updated to 24-hours only, which was previously “24+1”.
So far, businesses had a 24-hour window to respond to the queries or messages of prospective customers. Additionally, businesses were allowed to send one more text after the 24-hour window was up.
However, with the new update, businesses will only have a 24-hour window to respond.
This update is mainly to make businesses agile and more responsive. Customers today are impatient and they demand quick responses. With this update, Facebook hopes to cater to the expectations of the customers.
Under this update, Facebook has also reduced the number of Messenger tags to 4 from 17 and which are the following:
- Post purchase: Notify users when they make a new purchase
- Confirmed event: Send users’ reminders and updates for an event that they have shown interest. This tag can also be used for events that are in progress and upcoming events.
- Account update: Let the users know of a non-recurring change to their account or application.
- Human agent (closed beta): This enables human agents to respond to the queries made by users and the response has to be within 7 days of the user query.
The Discover Tab is out
Phasing out of the Discovery Tab in Messenger is one of the major elements of the update.
As per this update, the Messenger Platform can showcase brand profiles through search, but the dedicated tab is going to disappear soon.
Also, ever since the launch of the Discovery Tab in 2017, it received a lukewarm response and people weren’t very thrilled!
So, these are some of the updates and changes to the Facebook Messenger Platform that you need to know if you are using this platform to include it in your Social Media Marketing Tactics to boost your business.
What do you think of the updates? Share your views in the comments below.
