As a business owner, I too have wailed at the frustrations of Facebook marketing – and I have sung the praises because of all the new prospects and customers I’ve met – it’s a mixed bag.
Now – it’s time to sing some praises because Facebook’s “Messenger for Business” is becoming what may be one of the most powerful marketing resources in our tool box.
As Facebook continues on it’s mission “to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected” it continues to provide small business with new opportunities for marketing wins – sometimes with a feature that goes from “Ho-Hum” to “Holy-Cow!” – like Messenger which was introduced in 2011, turned into a stand-alone app in 2014 and is now getting ready for prime time.
Messaging apps are already the most frequently used features on phones. From simple sms text messaging to specialized apps like the hugely popular Snapchat or WhatsApp to lesser known players like WeChat, Line or Viber people are moving away from simple text and into these richer messaging experiences. One of the largest, it will come as no surprise, is Facebook Messenger, and something is emerging on that platform today that will open up massive new opportunities for Small Business tomorrow.
As usual with Facebook, there is a “roll-out” period and it has started with Fortune 500 companies. Over the next few weeks and months it will be available to businesses across the land. For small business the most immediate impact will be on customer service – a customer can easily message us with a concern or complaint – giving us an opportunity to fix it before it turns into a full-on Twitter rant/Yelp fiasco.
This is real-time communication with customers from that super personal space known as “phone-in-palm-of-hand” – nothing long and drawn out, just a quick message resulting in a quick response. Messenger will allow us to catch a ‘situation’ before it turns into a ‘problem’ – and fix it. Now, we have a happy customer who just happens to also be on the biggest soapbox on the planet, maybe they will share this (now positive) experience with their friends, turning a problem customer into an advocate in an instant!
Customer conversations – or chats – on Messenger are more personal and thus, more effective. They are going to be an important part of the future of social networking. Facebook wants consumers to be able to do everything from within one space instead of having to jump from App to App to accomplish specific tasks.
As Messenger evolves and the number of users continues to grow – expect to see consumers being able to use it to purchase products and services from business owners (like you!).
We will take a look at how a few of the big companies are using the new Messenger to makes sales, track shipments, give tech support and send push notifications in our next post, but for now, imagine this; If you could purchase shoes, then track the delivery of the package, make a dinner reservation, confirm a hotel reservation, check on the status of your flight and have a live video chat with your therapist…all within Messenger without having to App/website hop – wouldn’t that be a more streamlined use of your personal time?
Business owners need to be ready for the next iteration of social media via Messenger. (And how their customers are going to want to take advantage of the efficiency it offers).
Facebook Messenger is going to have the ability to make your customer connections more immediate, more meaningful, more efficient and more profitable.
Stay tuned and hang on – this is about to get fun!
