Are you using Facebook Messenger to its full potential?

Many businesses, hopefully including yours, already use Facebook Messenger as a customer service tool, and for good reason. It’s a quick and easy way for customers to get the help, answers and support they need from your salon without having to sit on hold on the phone, or wait for an email response. But are you sure you’re tapping into its true marketing potential?

Messenger marketing is a growing service, and with over 1.3 billion active users each month, businesses need to be on the platform where their customers are. (YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE ON MESSENGER!) This is going to grow further as Facebook is reportedly considering a merger of its three messaging platforms-WhatsApp, Instagram & Facebook Messenger.

Its popularity is increasing thanks to the sheer amount of spam we are subjected to day in and day out over email, traditional mail, telemarketing, and in ads while we browse the net, watch TV, listen to the radio or pass a billboard. We are overflowing with unwanted demands to buy this or buy that. So much so that we’re growing more resilient to these messages, becoming sceptical and untrusting of their communications, and plain ignoring them.

Messenger is a safe space in which to step away from these constant unwelcome marketing ambushes. All conversations take place through a Facebook account, so everyone knows who they’re speaking with (usually friends and family members, but progressively more and businesses), and thanks to Facebook’s rules around how often promotional messages can be sent via this platform, no one is bombarded with ad upon ad inside the app.

Why should my business be on Messenger?

One of the best things about using Messenger, as a marketing tool, is how personal it feels to you and your client.

It allows a client to chat directly with you on a person-to-person basis and in a space they trust. Giving you the opportunity to establish a greater rapport and loyalty with them. They can ask you about hair care products, your services or any other queries they may haveand know that they are getting the personal support they want without it being part of some mass communication that isn’t really directed at them. While you and your business can use it to sensitively promote products, offers and more that may be useful to your client network.

The way people connect with businesses is changing. Many, when they need to get in contact with a business, will head to their website and, instead of looking for a phone number or email address, will be searching for a ‘live-chat’option. It lets them obtain the instant answer they want from a telephone call, while communicating in the way they feel most comfortable.

Facebook Messenger allows you the best of both worlds with the option to add the platform as a ‘live-chat’feature to your website simply by adding code to the backend of your site.

How can I master the next big marketing channel?

If the sound of doing it all yourself, chatting over Messenger to clients individually while still trying to run the rest of your business, seems a bit too much; then there is an alternative option.

Chat bots, ‘live-chat’functionality with pre-programmed answers to your most frequently asked questions, can be set up to take on the majority of queries from your clients on your website. And building your own chat bot is free with ManyChat. (I would recommend paying for the upgraded versions-www.manychat.com ) All you need is a Facebook page to connect with and administrator rights to manage it.

With a free account, you can welcome new users, send content, schedule posts, set up keyword auto-responses, build sequences and flows, and take advantage of growth tools. And, of course, it let’s you keep in touch with your leads and customers via the ‘live-chat’function, when you need it.

If building your own chat bot sounds daunting or you don’t have the time to do it yourself then BOOSTmySALON is here to help. We can build a highly engaging and effective chat bot for you that answers the questions your clients ask, provides value, and successfully and sensitively sells your products and services while making sure to never bombard your clients.

Discover how to send messages to your subscriber base and enjoy open & click through rates that are 200%-1,000% better than email by following a few simple best practices.

If you would like to learn more about Messenger and want help with getting it set up, discovering how to build a marketing strategy around it and best practices for using the platform, then get in contact with BOOST today. We’ll lend you our knowledge to help you understand Messenger and how to use its full potential so you can grow your salon business to the next level.

HappyBIZness

Carey