Although not necessarily considered a marketing tool by the majority of users, Facebook Messenger is an incredibly versatile messaging platform well suited for businesses to attract prospects and convert them into customers.

For the unfamiliar, Facebook Messenger is much like email marketing. Campaigns can be created with the intention of capturing contacts to interact with later (i.e. providing your email for downloading or watching a video) or as direct message campaigns for existing lists of customers or prospects (i.e. emails from businesses promoting offers or their latest and greatest product).

The big difference with Messenger today is not overly saturated by businesses yet. Additionally, the interactive nature of Messenger makes it much more likely for a customer or prospect to interact than with email.

That said, there’s no “one size fits all” type of marketing strategy for businesses that will work on Messenger. Knowing where to start and the types of campaigns to test can be time-consuming and expensive if you’re unfamiliar with the platform.

So here’s an overview of some of the marketing strategies that use Facebook Messenger’s features, for both B2C (business to customer) and B2B (business to business) companies.

Messenger marketing for B2C businesses

With a direct line to customer’s most-used inbox, Facebook Messenger has fantastic open and engagement rates that rank higher than traditional email marketing statistics. Because engagement is so high, B2C business should be using the platform to promote new products, give exclusive coupon codes, advertise special offers and even drive sales.

A popular way to drive sales is to send broadcasts to existing lists of Messenger users and offer a coupon or announce a sale. Facebook Messenger has an Ad Card Feature that displays products and sale items directly above a call-to-action button to view or purchase. This feature can be set up easily through automation platforms like ManyChat. If you’ve ever seen a Facebook “carousel ad” these are similar but of course appear directly in the Facebook Messenger app. The Card Feature works well for E-Commerce and retail businesses who have multiple products to showcase.

If coupons and discounts are to “sales” heavy, don’t worry. Facebook Messenger can deliver non-sales content to visitors browsing through a website or a business Facebook page. Beauty companies use free makeup tutorials to showcase products and offer non-sales content to visitors. Restaurants and bars will also do short videos on how they make a favorite menu item.

Messenger also works well for service-based businesses like lawn care or accounting firms. Sending value-added content pieces such as “Top Five Things You Must Do To Your Lawn This Summer” or “10 Ways To Save On Your Tax Return This Year” are great for building trust with a prospect who is not ready to buy yet.

Instead of just posting content on a company blog or sending them in an email marketing campaign, businesses should reach current and potential customers directly through Facebook Messenger.

Messenger marketing for B2B businesses

The types of campaigns that work well for B2B companies share similarities to the ones we mentioned for B2C businesses. Offering discounts and coupons is not traditionally the most effective, but Facebook Messenger is perfect for lead nurturing campaigns or sending value-added content to early sales funnel prospects.

Beyond educational content, Facebook Messenger can create unlimited workflow automations to answer commonly asked questions.

For instance, if a business receives a lot of requests about pricing, they can create a keyword for “pricing” to respond when a prospect reaches out through the Messenger bot. A business can use the “keyword” feature to answer questions about careers, product/service features, or even general support questions.

We created a Facebook Messenger bot for our sister company that sells SaaS software. Anyone can reach out via the Messenger bot on our Facebook page or website to talk to someone in real time and ask questions about our software.

It’s clear customers enjoy interacting with a Messenger bot based on the high engagement rates, and many find it easier to ask questions over chat compared to speaking directly with a salesperson. Not only does the bot answer relevant questions for prospects, but gives a business a chance to interact with a potential customer who might not have otherwise reached out.

Messenger marketing takeaways

Messenger is a fantastic platform to directly connect with interested prospects and answer questions in real time for businesses. When used correctly, Messenger can be used to build lists of followers, nurtures leads, create stronger communications and even generate sales.

Interested in taking advantage of Messenger’s marketing platform? Ask our Facebook Messenger bot questions!