How successful is email marketing for your ecommerce business? With the type of campaigns and flows you create, it’s a simple way to nurture your customers and keep driving people down the path to making a purchase.
What if we told you there was a way to bring those same campaigns to a platform that has higher open rates and click-through-rates? You can do everything you do on email through Facebook Messenger, plus more! With better personalization tactics, you can get your open rates to reach over 80%. Let’s chat about the types of ways you can use Messenger to drive more sales.
Facebook Messenger has over 1.3 billion monthly active users. There are also more than 2 billion messages sent every month between users. However, unlike email, Facebook Messenger isn’t cluttered with promotional messages. This means the messages you send customers have a better chance of being read and clicked, and you can set yourself apart from ecommerce brands that don’t connect with their customers this way.
As Facebook Messenger grew over the years, so did conversational AI like chatbots. Now it’s become a great opportunity to offer fast customer support and personalized conversations with potential customers. In fact, 53% of people are more likely to shop with a business that they can message. Also, a study by AMA found that live chat resulted in a 29% increase in the marketing awareness stage of the customer journey. Knowing this, it’s easy to see how ecommerce Messenger marketing can help you connect with, convert, and retain your ideal customer base.
Want to get started with customizable Facebook Messenger automation? Chat with us to see how we can help you scale!
In order to be successful with Facebook Messenger marketing and to nurture leads to increase sales for your ecommerce business, you’ll want to ensure you build these types of conversations, campaigns, and flows (which is all offered through Octane AI, by the way!).
Product finder convos
Creating custom conversations where you can ask customers questions about what they’re searching for has one of the highest engagement rates for ecommerce businesses. This is because it brings a bit of the regular in-store retail experience online where it feels like the customer has a personal shopper to guide them toward products that are right for them. Product finder conversations offer an interactive experience for users, and 79 percent of marketers say this type of interactive content leads to repeat visitors and greater online exposure. See how Suppz.com built out its product finder to guide customers toward the right product.
When it comes to vitamin, nutrition, and mineral brands, it can be extremely difficult for customers to understand what product is right for them, especially if they’re new to trying nutritional supplements. Before customers get frustrated with their search and leave to another store, product finder quizzes, like the one Suppz created, helps nurture customers in the awareness stage and makes them feel confident about purchasing the right product.
Language preferences
It’s true that the English language has become universal. Worldwide, many people can speak and understand it. However, this doesn’t mean it’s the most comfortable form of communication for everyone, and you may miss an entire market if people can’t properly engage with you. This is why Polysleep, a Canadian Mattress company, gives its users the ability to engage with their Messenger bot in French or English (For your information, French language is the second language used in Canada).
Polysleep uses an exit-intent pop-up that offers subscribers a discount to their store. When customers click this, Polysleep asks if they want to engage in French or English. Interestingly, the French version of this conversation has contributed $25,000 in revenue, whereas the English version contributed $17,000 in the same time period. This shows that giving customers the ability to engage in a language that is more comfortable for them has a direct
Browse and cart abandonment
Building flows that trigger with visitors’ actions is a great way to retarget potential customers who are familiar with your brand but haven’t made a purchase. One of the most successful revenue-generating flows on Facebook Messenger is the browse abandonment and cart abandonment flow.
These messages will send to any of your Messenger subscribers that have visited your website, looked at your products, added products to their cart, but never complete a purchase. They ensure a message is sent to customers to remind them about products they were previously interested in. Cart and browse abandonment messages are how the fitness apparel brand, DOYOUEVEN, generated an additional $50,000+ in just 30 days.
Comparison convos
It’s important to know that customers will likely have questions about your products. Also, 88% of consumers pre-research their buys online before making a purchase either online or in-store. Rather than having your customers do their research elsewhere, you can let them compare your products directly in your Messenger conversation. Check out how Polysleep does this with interactive conversations where customers can compare Polysleep’s products with other industry brands, or compare Polysleep’s products with its own products to find the best fit for the customer.
These conversations then open up a blog post on Polysleep’s website that shares detailed information about their products versus the other ones that consumers may be considering. This type of comparison conversation helps drive the sale for Polysleep because it’s a simple way for customers to do their research about products and come to the solution that Polysleep is the right brand for them.
On-site live chat
Adding the Messenger widget on your store is a great way to welcome new visitors and get them to opt-in to Messenger automation. Live chat has become the leading digital contact method for online customers. In fact, 46% of customers prefer live chat compared to email (only 29% of customers prefer email). This is why leading Shopify Plus brands, like Skinny Mixes, have it directly on their ecommerce website.
By offering a discount to new subscribers as a way to get them to engage with you on Messenger, you open the opportunity to send flows, like browse abandonment and cart abandonment, to website visitors and get them to come back and make purchases. On-site live chat is an easy way for customers to engage with your brand, ask questions, and get to know your products and services.
Want to see how Skinny Mixes increased their monthly revenue by $280,000 using Messenger and SMS automation? Read our free case study!
Customer support
With Messenger automation, you can set up automatic responses to customer inquiries. For example, knowing shoppers like to engage with brands through chatbots they will likely ask you questions about your shipping policies, return policies, and other common questions. Rather than having someone available to answer all this, you can make sure your chatbot recognizes these questions and answers customers right away. Helping customers with support-related questions instantly will ensure a positive customer service experience, which is extremely important for customers when deciding which businesses they shop with.
If you’re ready to build Facebook Messenger automation for your ecommerce business, we can help out! A couple quick tips for a successful chatbot are these:
- Use simplistic and clear language.
- Don’t overbear your subscribers with too many messages.
- Understand what the goal of your bot is for.
- Speak like a real person. How would you talk to a friend?
- Understand the tone of your business. Ensure your Messenger conversations reflect that.
- Track your bot’s success. Know what’s working well and what may need more work.
If you want to learn more about Messenger marketing, chatbots, SMS marketing, or opt-in tools, reach out to us to see how we can help!
The 250+ Page Playbook on Facebook Messenger & SMS Marketing for Ecommerce
Fast-growing DTC brands implementing this playbook have connected with 18x more customers, doubled their 7-day ROAS, recovered 5x more abandoned cart revenue & increased AOV 25%.
This article originally appeared in the OctaneAI blog and has been published here with permission.
