Using Facebook Messenger for Business

According to Facebook’s latest update, “over 900 million people around the world communicate using Facebook Messenger, along with over 50 million businesses, every month.” In 2015, it was the fastest growing app in the US, and it’s currently the second most popular app on iOS (Facebook Newsroom).

Since 2015, Facebook has been expanding what its user base can do on Messenger. With the changes, businesses are now using Messenger to communicate more with customers. In 2015, consumers asked brands over 21 million questions on Facebook and Twitter. Conversations related to customer service have grown over 250% in the last two years, on Twitter alone (Facebook Newsroom).

Customers are rejecting traditional communication channels and are now choosing social media. Why? In part, because traditional channels respond with automated replies, have longer response times, follow scripts that don’t allow any personal responses and require too much effort from customers. The development of social as a private resolution channel will only push brand engagement higher. Looking at statistics, messaging will be the biggest digital service channel within the next few years.

Facebook has now partnered with several large businesses, including Sprint, to build more meaningful interactions with consumers on Messenger in a manner that is timely, accessible, and enjoyable. Because the number of customers that prefer to use social media avenues to address service and account issues is growing, Sprint uses its Messenger integration to be available to interact with that audience.

To make sure your business is ready to engage, make sure you’ve taken the following steps:

  • Make sure your page is set to accept messages. To turn on Messenger, go to Messages under General Settings and then click Edit. Select the option to allow messages to your page, and click Save Changes.
  • Once you have that set-up, you can now manage the settings that are applicable for your business Messenger. Your two options are Response Time and Instant Replies. To access those, go to Settings and then Messaging. Your page’s average response time will appear in the About section of your page, and notifies customers about what kind of time frame they can expect when awaiting responses.
  • Once you have those set, you can create saved replies. The ability to write messages ahead of time, will not only give you the ability to easily and quickly respond to customers, but it will also give you the professional and efficient presence you are trying to convey.

Do you assistance for your social media strategy? Contact us today!

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