If you’re a business and have an online presence, you will soon realize that visitors to your top social media site in Malaysia will start messaging you with requests and questions. As a brand, it’s essential to create a good impression by replying all these messages in a timely manner.
In the past, business owners would always reply to Facebook messages by themselves. However, this has changed since the availability of Facebook messenger bots which are able to provide immediate responses based on certain keywords detected in the messages.
Studies have shown that if you reply to any message on your brand page within a few hours, the chances of conversion to sales increases. There are many benefits to adopting a Facebook chat bot.
Although Facebook auto reply bot cannot actually carry out full conversations, it can reassure potential customers about your availability and that your business is still active.
Additionally they can also provide information to those who are asking questions, especially if messages come in when you’re not working.
Of course, auto reply bots on Facebook are not a complete replacement for actual human interaction with you or the person in charge of your social media accounts. However, they do provide error-free responses almost immediately.
In the following section, we’re going to look at why businesses should consider having a reply bot for Facebook, and how you can go about getting one.
Why Businesses Needs A Facebook Messenger Bot
Although it looks rather complicated and highly technical, incorporating a Facebook bot into messenger can be done rather easily. You don’t even have to do it yourself.
On Facebook, a bot will be able to handle simple queries and take a load off your shoulders in the long term. In this era of technology and artificial intelligence, you can always depend on the software to support your business.
Importance #1
Step Up to the Era of Automation
One way of ensuring that your business stays cost-effective is to automate processes. Answering Facebook questions and queries is one task that you can actually assign to an A.I.software.
Not only will this save you the trouble of hiring an extra person for the task, it’s also one way of reducing your customer service workload.
Automated reply systems these days are very advanced. These Facebook messenger bots are able to understand queries instantly, and provide a predetermined response to that question.
Alternatively, if the bots cannot provide an answer, they will assure visitors that a human person will be able to do so in the near future.
Automated Facebook reply bots are also able to handle multiple queries at once. This is something a human would struggle with, and be overwhelmed by, especially if it’s a small business and there aren’t many social media staff. This is exacerbated if you’re running your micro-business alone.
Importance #2
Increased Accessibility for Your Customers
As a business, having a close relationship with your customers is an absolute must. One of the first steps in forming relationships is to be more accessible to your customers. This means opening several platforms for communication.
These communication platforms should be actively manned so that interaction is kept up actively. This way, you build a better brand reputation. You also assure your potential customers about the quality of your products and services.
In addition to being more accessible to customers, you also are able to access data and feedback that you normally would not have.
A facebook message bot will also be able to gather important data about who interacts with your messenger box the most, including their age group, location, preferences, gender and more.
Additionally, you will be able to see which questions and queries are the most commonly asked. These data will eventually help you to format and structure your automated answers better.
For example, many businesses on Facebook have supplied a short list of the most common questions for the public to pick and answer. This definitely saves time and effort, especially on behalf of the customer.
Importance #3
Cost Efficient
With an automated Facebook chat bot, you only have to pay for the cost of setting up an account. Most providers will allow you a very affordable fee which will save you more than having to hire an extra employee to man your inboxes, especially outside the usual working hours.
A Facebook automated reply bot will also allow you time to focus on other, more important tasks. It will be able to handle basic queries for you, so that you will only need to handle the more complex ones.
A Facebook chat bot has the ability to provide replies just like a normal human would, using the power of artificial intelligence. This means that the system will be able to handle a large volume of queries at once, covering all the basic replies.
You will be able to achieve this at minimum cost, and do so in a short amount of time. When setting up a chatbot on Facebook, all your need to do is identify the most common queries and determine the answers to these queries.
There is no need for extended training periods or complicated SOPs. With just one package, you can guide potential customers to learn more about your business, grow leads, convert engagement into sales, and much more.
Importance #4
Personalize Your Content
As a brand, it’s important for you to start building your own character and identity. This way, customers will have an easier time relating to your business at a personal level. This brand ‘voice’ should also translate into your Facebook auto reply bot.
This is why it’s important to have a platform whereby you can personalize your replies to add your own nuance and flair. The replies have to be consistent with your brand voice.
In addition to having a unique voice and tone, your auto reply bot has to relate to humans at a personal level. They should not feel as if they are speaking to a robot, but an actual person. One way to do this is to greet any visitor by their name.
The more personal touches you introduce to the interaction, the more you’ll be able to build a better brand impression. Therefore, automated bots are there to provide this human-like engagement in your stead.
Another way to create more personalized replies is by paying attention to the analytics behind your Facebook profile.
Understanding who interacts with you the most often will help you in crafting the correct replies, and make your visitors feel welcomed and comfortable.
The Best Facebook Messenger Bots Available Today
There are several automated reply bot brands you can try these days. Some of them allow you to start an account for free. Once you’ve signed up, you’ll be able to integrate their services into your Facebook business account.
Each brand will have its own fee package whereby you pay a set fee for a slew of services. Some of these brands also allow users to try out their services for a free trial period. Here are some of the best chat bots for Facebook available today:
1. Manychat
Manychat is a user-friendly platform that allows you to automate your own chatbot for Facebook and SMS for marketing purposes. It has an easy to use customization feature which you can use to engage with visitors and convert these into sales.
The Manychat service simplifies the auto reply system for you, so that you can customize the way your conversation process flows. This includes the replies that the chatbot provides based on the responses from visitors.
In Manychat, there’s absolutely no coding required and you’ll be able to set up your own engagement and conversations intuitively.
Manychat offers many video tutorials and resources for free as part of your subscription package to help you create the best automated conversation that fits your brand voice.
In addition to automatic replies in Facebook Messenger, you’ll also be able to use Manychat to mass deliver marketing messages to all your followers, follow up with them, gather feedback, and collect key analytical data.
Manychat integrates seamlessly with your Facebook messenger account, and allows you to integrate the use of more than 1500 other apps via Zapier and Integromat. These apps include things like PayPal, Shopify, Google Sheets and many more.
Manychat offers several price packages, which are flexible and you can upgrade or downgrade from. The first is a free package where you can engage up to 1000 users on Facebook. This is one of the few Facebook chat bot that’s free.
Subsequently you can also get the Pro package for only USD 10 per month, for added features like SMS marketing and email marketing.
Features we love:
- Plenty of video resources, support groups and tutorials for you to learn how to use the platform.
- Ability to send out text based ads en masse
- Engagement and conversion of leads
- Update orders, send coupons and promos easily
- Integration of main shopping website
- Integration of payment option and apps
Best for:
SMEs that are just starting out, single owner businesses.
What’s included in the free subscription:
- Automate conversations on Facebook messenger
- Ability to segment and tag customers with up to 10 tags
- Access to business growth and analytics tools
- 24/7 email support available
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| On site resources for business growth and marketing | Limited number of engagements in free subscription |
| Community ideas and support | Technical support by email only which may take time for a response. |
| Affordable Pro package at only USD10 per month | |
| Suitable for single owner and small businesses. |
2. Chatfuel
Chatfuel is also another brand that integrates with your Facebook messenger. Its main objective is of course to allow you to qualify leads. Chatfuel is a company that started in 2015 and has since worked for some very big names.
Some of the companies that have used Chatfuel include Lego, Ford, CNBC, BuzzFeed, Levi’s and Netflix. With so many brands trusting Chatfuel, you can be sure that they’re services are some of the best in the world.
Lego is one of Chatfuel’s success stories, and they managed to achieve 3.4x increase in returns on ad expenditures, and a 71% decrease in cost for conversion.
In addition to the usual building of auto-replies on your Facebook messenger, Chatfuel also allows you to have ad broadcasts and bot drip campaigns.
These features essentially allow you to send inbox messages to a selected group of people on Facebook, and the bot allows Facebook users to interact with that message. The conversation is customized to ultimately encourage a conversion to sales.
Chatfuel offers a free package for subscribers, but it’s limited to 50 user engagements per month. If you upgrade to the Pro package, it costs USD 15 per month.
With the Pro account, you get multiple additional features like no user limit and priority support. The Pro account also has a Facebook Ads targeting support, to help your ad campaigns on Facebook.
Features we love:
- Flow builder is super easy to use
- Pro package allows access to community
- Simple and short video tutorials to help you get started
- Informative and free blog section
Best for:
Micro-business owners, SMEs for Pro package
What’s included in the free subscription:
- Engagements with up to 50 users per month
- Full featured bot
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Access to Chatfuel Community in the Pro package | Very limited reach of 50 users for free subscription |
| Multiple teammates allowed in Pro package | Not many free resources or long tutorials for subscribers. |
| A/B testing of automated boy conversation | |
| Easy to use and intuitive flow builder |
3. Yellow Messenger AI Platform
Yellow Messenger provides an AI virtual assistant to reply to queries across a large array of social media platforms, including Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Whatsapp, and Twitter.
Yellow Messenger has serviced some of the biggest names in the global business scene, including Dominos Pizza, Schlumberger, BMW, Pepsi and more.
They offer several types of virtual automated reply systems. These systems can be used to answer FAQs, perform live agent transfer, resolve queries and automate call centres.
The systems are also designed to keep agents in the loop with regards to the interactions that go on within the social media platforms. This automation is able to improve response and resolution time, and integrate various tools into its operations.
One thing that makes Yellow Messenger stand out is that its services are available in more than 100 languages. Companies and businesses will be able to request a free trial via their ‘Request a Demo’ option.
Later on, there is a pay as you go model which is determined by many factors, such as your company size, profits and more.
Features we love:
- Functions in more than 100 languages
- Ability to automate customer support, in addition to just answering FAQs.
- Human agents are kept in the loop about interactions.
Best for:
Larger companies looking to expand.
What’s included in the free trial:
- Complete automated replies for answering FAQs, transfer to live agents, customer support and call centre automation.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Available in more than 100 languages | No fixed monthly price for subscribers |
| System that allows seamless transfer to human support agents | No free resources and community support |
| Virtual assistant works across almost 10 social media platforms. |
4. AiChat
AiChat is one of the most comprehensive chat bot builders available. Not only do they automate customer engagement, they also allow you to pair the automated chatbot technology with marketing.
AiChat is based in SIngapore, and therefore understands local customer demands better. Rather than just answering questions, the bot is also able to recommend products, capture leads, provide intuitive navigation during engagement.
AiChat uses keyword identification in the visitors’ queries to provide the most suitable answers.
Additionally, the conversation flow builder they use here uses a drag and drop function so you can build your bot intuitively without the need for lengthy training.
Currently, they provide three different service packages with slightly different emphasis, namely the Conversational Service Suite, Conversational Marketing Suite and Conversational Commerce Suite.
What we love:
- Three different service packages for different businesses
- Drag and drop bot builder
- Integration of marketing elements seamlessly into the bot
- Chat analytics available
Suitable for:
E-commerce platforms, online shopping companies, large corporations, hospitality, etc.
What’s included in their free trial:
- You may request a trial from them for the package of your choosing.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Three different packages with different add-ons, depending on your priorities | No readily available free package |
| Drag and drop bot builder | Not much training or community resources |
| Marketing analytics available | |
| Special e-commerce business features |
Improving Customer Experience With A.I.
In this day and age, any business that wants to survive in the new normal will have to adopt the latest technology. One of the key technologies to embrace is automation, via artificial intelligence.
Although many of the latest Facebook updates now allow you to run your business on the site more effectively and even carry out Facebook live streaming to connect with your customers, there’s still a necessity to ensure that your visitors have the best experience when engaging with your page.
This means having all their messages answered fast and accurately. Research has shown that the better their messenger experience, the higher the conversion rate will be.
More than 80% of businesses have expressed their interest in using Facebook chat bots to automate their engagements. However, getting started can be a challenge as you’ll need to understand certain technicalities regarding it.
You can always contact us at One Search Pro for a consultation session and we’ll get you started on your first Facebook auto reply bot.
