Will Facebook Bots Replace Live Customer Service?

Because Facebook bots keep changing the way users interact with brands via the largest social network. There is more than 300,000 Facebook Messenger Bots currently active in the marketplace today. Facebook Messenger users currently represent a large portion of the commerce consumer market and connecting with a Facebook audience through a Messenger Bot is a no-brainer win for any ecommerce website. But the big question is…what specifically can a Facebook bot do for your business?

Today we look at three different areas within the realm of Facebook Bot functionality that will help you connect with your customers: nurture leads, groups and conversations. In this article we look at each area in turn and how messaging through the Facebook bot platform can assist you in your business strategy. Note that all of these functions are only the tip of the iceberg. Each area of functionality has the capability of giving your brand access to a new revenue stream that you couldn’t have dreamed of before.

One of the key features of Messenger Bots is that they provide a much more personalized experience than standard email or auto-responder programs. This means that your customers feel connected to you, that they feel like you’re actually speaking to them through Messenger Bot. They also provide your company with an opportunity to engage in conversation – something that can only really be facilitated by an automated bot. Within this setting you are able to provide your customers with a personalized experience that is still functional and helpful – even better than that offered by email and auto-responder programs.

In addition to personalization, the ability to engage in conversation gives you the chance to extend your product line to a larger and more general audience. Say for example you own a business that sells cell phones. You could set up Messenger Bot to suggest the best phones and options to your Facebook followers. Or if you sell shoes you might want to suggest holiday deals and sales. If you want to take it a step further and include your company’s contact information, you can integrate Messenger Bot with the company’s ad manager and sales leads.

By integrating your bot with an ad manager, you are able to take advantage of what is perhaps the most widely used social media outlet – Facebook. The best part about using Messenger Bot to promote your products and services is that it is free to use on Facebook – a cost that many small businesses and individuals cannot afford to pay. The social media site boasts over one billion users worldwide and is growing at an alarming rate. With this in mind, it is easy to see how quickly you could see a lot of your target audience utilizing the medium.

Of course Facebook Bots is not limited to promoting your products and services. If you are looking for ways to enhance the overall user experience when interacting with customers and potential customers on the social media site, Messenger Bot could be your answer. Bots can make interacting with customers easier by suggesting relevant and current news stories. They can also help fill in gaps in knowledge or provide tips and tricks that will help users.

On the flip side, some argue that Facebook should be using its own Messenger app instead of having to purchase a Facebook Bot for each application. This would allow Facebook to innovate and bring better features to the general public, possibly even putting the brand more into the mainstream. One of the main gripes against Messenger Bot is that it does not have a visual interface, which some customers may feel does not accurately represent what a bot should look like. However, developers have stated that they plan to update the appearance of Messenger Bot over time, hopefully making it more user friendly.

There is no doubt that Facebook has the resources to support its massive expansion into the digital world. Although it has faced criticism from some quarters for slowing down its roll out of apps, it continues to innovate and pursue new technologies. Whether it is through Messenger Bot or a related bot project like My Bots, or even something completely different like the Foursquare bot, the future of Facebook is bright. As consumer expectations for Facebook’s services increase, the company will undoubtedly find innovative ways to make its offerings better.