Gone are the days when online marketing was all about infographics and apps, but now a new performer has come into the limelight, i.e., the chatbot. And not only just getting popular but also Chatbots are now becoming a basic need of almost every industry to grow further.

Yes, Chatbots bots are very versatile services; they can help customers answer questions and fulfill an array of tasks, especially when set up correctly. However, some people may consider Chatbots as an intimidating obstacle; they can become tools that help you monetize your social media pages but only with the right preparation and guidance.

Hence, it is clear that having Facebook Messenger Chatbot will definitely benefit your business, and now you might want to make one for your company as well.

So, here we are with a complete guide with ways to create a Facebook Messenger chatbot easily. Well, before that, it is very important to know little about chatbots and how they affect any company. Let’s begin!

Chatbots and How They Affect Your Company

In simple words, Chatbots are the services which help in conversations with people to interact with your customers. Allowing you to monetize your social media accounts and instant messaging profiles, they can be integrated with e-commerce platforms.

There is no doubt that all competitive companies must maintain a strong online presence, and chatbots are reshaping the way your audience interacts with you.

Yes, there are many industries already using chatbots. Building a chatbot now means a strategic advantage over the competition as they help you build an emotional bond with your customers, and also because they are still new.

Benefits of Building a Chatbot

Chatbots offer a more practical way to reach your audience as messaging application usage has surpassed that of social media. It allows customers to get answers through the applications they already use the most to provide a seamless experience. Besides mentioned above ones, chatbots help us in:

1. Generating leads
2. Making your customer’s journey easier
3. Enhance customer satisfaction through better customer experience
4. Helps to distribute your content through messaging apps
5. Based on user feedback and interests deliver targeted content
6. To prove to be a more dynamic self-serving channel, it integrates AI
 

Before Building Your Chatbot

As preparation, you will need to set the right expectations and goals before building your chatbot. Most importantly, try to focus on building a chatbot with a few features that work properly instead of trying to create an “all-around” bot.

How to Create a Great Chatbot: Follow These 6 Steps

1. Select One Preferred Software

When building a chatbot, the first and most important step is choosing the right software.

Undoubtedly, we have more and more choices to pick from, but the two most popular chatbot-making software nowadays is surely ManyChat and Chatfuel. You don’t need any programming experience to use them as both can be considered beginner/user-friendly.

Apart from that, both tools are free; however, ManyChat has a Pro version. Still, if you need a bot for more complex reasons, Chatfuel can handle more complicated tasks so, choose this platform. However, from a marketing viewpoint, ManyChat has one huge advantage in comparison with Chatfuel, i.e., a powerful list-building feature.

2. Plan the Onboarding Experience

Make sure you greet new users with a proper greeting text and welcome message because understanding the concept of the user experience is vital.

Also, keep in mind that there is a huge difference between the two texts (greeting vs. welcome). Well, it might sound weird to you.

The welcome message is your offer after the user decides to start a conversation, while the greeting text is something that comes up immediately when the chat panel is shown before the interaction starts. Plus, the greeting text has to contain a really short and informative message. And for the welcome message, you need to be more precise and detailed.

To get the user into the flow, you can offer a specific product or service or also can describe what action you expect from the user and create the corresponding buttons like subscribe, download, view, etc.

3. Make a Main Menu Bar

The main menu will help guide your users in visit and navigate the conversation in the right direction; hence, it will be one of the most important elements of your chatbot. All you need to know is that the main menu only consists of keys and can set it up on the Main Menu tab under the Automation menu. Also, make sure that each button will launch a process, action, or conversation.

4. Pick Your Preferred Keywords

Well, if we talk about the keywords menu, it is exactly what the name suggests. So, you can enter various keywords to which the chatbot can react with a predetermined expression.

Like if we talk about the cases, when sending a message to the bot to respond to the shipping information, you can set the word “delivery.” Similarly, it can be done with important terms such as “download,”  “e-book,” or “tutorial.”

If we talk about tools, then ManyChat has the defaults like “start, subscribe” and “stop, unsubscribe.” So, the chatbot offers the user the ability to subscribe and unsubscribe from the messages only by entering these.

5. Optimize the Sequences

Designing and optimizing sequences is an important task, as this is one of the main tools for list construction. These sequences are similar to autoresponders that are well-known from email newsletters.

You can create as many different sequences as you like and put them into certain conditions (for example, “press a button”).

6. Set a Default Reply

It is one optional step; still, we recommend  that you should not leave it blank.

As people often like to test the intelligence of chatbots, sometimes the bot will get confused. So, the best option is to be prepared with a couple of default replies, if you wish to avoid the awkward silence. These default replies are those messages that the bot will use for any terms that it did not understand at once.

For example, if anyone asks the bot some random questions about the future of the earth, so a default reply should be,

“I did not understand this. Can I forward your question to our customer service?”

Tools to Build Facebook Messenger Bots

Here are a few solutions to check out, if all of this above discussion left you inspired to create your chatbot.

A. Self-Service Tools

1. Streamchat

One of the most basic chatbot tools out there is Streamchat. This tool is meant to be used for simple automation and autoresponders, such as “We’ll get back to you ASAP!” or  out-of-office messages, instead of managing a broader workflow. If you’re dipping your toes into the chatbot waters, it’s quick to implement and easy to start with.

2. Chatfuel

Chatfuel has an impressive client list: ranging from TechCrunch to Netflix to the Cincinnati Bengals. Hence it shows why it is one of the largest self-serve platforms for building Facebook Messenger bots.

Developers will like the editable front-end and customization options, plus Chatfuel has an intuitive visual interface for those without a coding background. Well, a lot of the more complex (and interesting) tools are only available with Chatfuel Pro accounts; still, you can build a bot for free.

3. ManyChat

One of the least intimidating interfaces out there is ManyChat’s interface. However, to those making simpler bots, it may be better suited — and as the conversation gets complex, message management can get cumbersome.

Additionally, the platform has many tools that will help you evaluate user analytics and promote your bot. Initially, it’s a free tool, but you’ll need to start paying for a Pro account after you hit a certain number of subscribers.

B. Enterprise Tools

1. Conversable

It is the SaaS platform that will create your bot with you. Ranging from  Pizza Hut to  Dunkin Donuts bots, they have worked with a lot of Fortune 500 companies. They will make sure that your conversations are happening across all channels, including voice-based ones, and most importantly, they would ensure that they go beyond Facebook Messenger.

2. Reply.AI

Reply.AI is an all-in-one conversational AI platform for sales, marketing, and support conversations on Facebook Messenger even used by Samsung and Coca Cola. The chatbot builder, with great reviews for its ease-of-use, is a “drag-and-drop” style.

Some unique features include audited security practices, advanced analytics, internationalization, and role-based access control.

Tips to Implement When Building Your Bot

Chatbots is one of the app development trends that will rule the market in 2020. So, make sure you keep these tips in mind when building your bot:

1. Name it in Some Unique Way

We all know that only that thing that stands out, which is unique in its way. Hence, your chatbot must have a distinct, unique name that helps it stand out. So, this way, users will only have to run a quick search to connect with your bot.

2. Offer Users Ideas on How to Get Started

It is a fact that UI is very important for apps. Similarly, it is the initial interface of the chatbots that is alien to its consumers. Users are now faced with a blank screen instead of having a website loaded with calls-to-action. So your chatbot can proactively provide options to get your clients started to help them out by setting up automatic prompts.

3. Try to Create a Natural Conversation Flow

To streamline the process for consumers, your bot should try to mimic a natural conversation flow, making it easy for your users to ask questions and get answers at any point throughout the interaction.

4. Let Your Bot Sound Smart with Easy Terminology

Try to make your bot sound smart and eloquent by using short, concise sentences, because from now onwards, it will be the new face of the company. Complicated grammar can hinder your reader and confuse your bot, so keep it easy.

5. Don’t Reveal All Features at Once

This is the most important one. Yes! There is no doubt that Chatbots can have an array of functions, but unveiling all of them at once can confuse consumers. Preferably, generate a conversation flow that helps your bot offer the right options at the right time.

6. Optimize & Maintain Your Bot

To increase performance, chatbots need to be monitored and optimized like most digital marketing channels.

Final Words

Well, that’s it, this is all you need to know while making a bot. And, you might have noticed that the process is not so complex and the growth possibilities that it offers to your business are infinite.

Also, we must say that chatbot on Facebook for your business is the best way to ensure the loyalty of your clients and to capitalize at max your Facebook Page at the same time. Plus, you can multiply your sales, promote your content, answer doubts, and do more according to the configuration you establish.

So, just set up your chatbot and improve the experience of your customers when they try to contact your brand!