Messenger Ads On Facebook: A Guide For eCommerce

We all agree that instant messaging is simpler, more real-time and prompt. It is these attributes that lie at the bottom of the phenomenal success of apps like WhatsApp, SnapChat, Instagram Messaging – all of which are now being increasingly used by businesses to promote their products and services. messenger ads on Facebook for eCommerce is one such channel which is being used by online businesses to interact with their prospective and current customers.

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I am going to use this article as your messenger ads on Facebook guide and will try to answer some frequently asked questions about this very popular sales channel. I will also talk a little about chatbot marketing. But first, the basics.

What is Facebook Messenger?

The Facebook Messenger is an instant messaging service by Facebook. Launched in 2011, this app can be used alongside your Facebook account on your computers, tabs or phones. While on the computer, you will see the Messenger integrated with your Facebook page. The same functionality is used through a separate app on your hand-held devices, which brings me to the next interesting fact; and that is, you don’t need a Facebook account to use its Messenger app. In a nutshell, you are not required to have one to use the other.

You can send texts, videos and images through the Messenger Ads on Facebook.  Tweet This!

Some of the features that Facebook ads in Messenger offer are:

  1. You can send texts, pictures or videos
  2. You can make voice or video calls through the app
  3. You can send and receive money
  4. You can play different games on the app
  5. You can connect with different relevant groups
  6. You can share your location with the app, and
  7. You can communicate with individuals or businesses through the app.

What are messenger ads on Facebook?

Nearly 2 billion messages are exchanged between customers and businesses every month, and now that Facebook Messenger has extended the feature of selling products straight through the app, the usage and engagement numbers are insane. eCommerce platforms like Shopify has now allowed Messenger integration to enable customers to buy directly from the Messenger app without visiting the website.

Here’s how Messenger ads for Facebook works.

  • They allow you to reach your target audience in a minimal noise environment
  • It is a faster way to reach your audience in their preferred medium
  • It gives you the opportunity to reach out to your audience on a personal level

So, there are three ways in which you can get Facebook to show Ads on Messenger to bolster revenue growth:

  1. Click-to-Messenger ads: These kind of messenger ads on Facebook drive traffic and conversations, using Messenger as a destination.
  2. Sponsored Messages: These Messenger ads allow you to send promotional messages.
  3. Messenger Home Placement: This is a placement for ads that can appear on your Messenger home screen (and they will take people either to a conversation on Messenger or to a landing page).

Let’s see what each of these messenger ads on Facebook entail and how to create Facebook Messenger ads. The following discussion will also throw some light on how to run Facebook Messenger ads.

Facebook Click-to-messenger Ads

These kinds of ads are the most popular Messenger ads on Facebook, used primarily to build subscriber list and initiate conversations with prospective customers. The Facebook Click-to-Messenger Ads appear on your Facebook newsfeed, and when clicked opens inside a Facebook message, instead of sending traffic to a website. These are also known as Messenger destination ads. Look at the messenger ads on Facebook example below:

The Destination Ads can appear on 3 different platforms — Instagram feed, Facebook news feed, and Messenger app home page.

You can even add images, videos, slideshows and carousel into these ads. The only thing that differentiates these from normal Facebook ads is, the CTA button which says “Send Message” or “Get Started”. You can use these kinds of ads for:

  • Retargeting
  • Attracting cold traffic

How to create Facebook click-to-messenger ads?

  1. Go to Ad Creation within Ads Manager.
  • For “Messages” objective, select
  • For “Conversions” objective, select Conversions.
  1. In the Message Destination section, for “Messages” objective, select Messenger/Click to Messenger.

 

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For “Conversion” objective, in the Conversions section, select Messenger.

  1. Edit your Audience, Placements, Budget, and Schedule and click Next.
  2. Select your ad format.
  3. Select Messenger Setup. This content will be viewed by people in the Messenger after they click on your ad. You can setup your message in two ways:
  • Standard Template: this is a default template with prefilled content based on best practices.
  • Custom Template: This is an editable custom build-your-own template that allows you to add images, videos, buttons and more.
  1. Finish editing your ad. To publish, click Confirm.

Once approved, your ad should start appearing in selected placements. When someone clicks on the ad, it will open in Messenger and your welcome message will appear.

Facebook Sponsored Messages

Facebook Messenger Sponsored ads appear inside the Facebook Messenger inbox of your subscribers and is typically used for sending promotional messages and re-engaging with your existing subscribers. The message looks similar to the one from a friend, but from a brand or business. What makes Facebook Messenger Sponsor ads so powerful is that you can send a promotional message anytime you want.

When your subscribers click on your ad, you can either send them to a landing page, an app, or even start a conversation on Facebook Messenger.

In the following Facebook messenger ads case study, fashion retailer Tieks by Gavrielli makes an amazing use of the Sponsored Message feature in Messenger.

You can find this option at the ad set level when creating a campaign in Ads Manager or Power Editor; after setting your marketing objective as “Messages”:

Then choose “sponsored messages” from the drop-down menu:

These ads will by default go to every person who has had a conversation with you earlier and hasn’t unsubscribed from your messages. If you want to narrow it down further, you can simply click on “Advanced Options” under Audience. There you can narrow your focus based on their demographics, location, interests, etc.

Facebook Messenger Home Placement Ads

These kind of ads show up inside Messenger home instead of showing up inside a specific conversation. Something like the one below:

Depending on the nature of your campaign, you could either get this ad to open inside of Messenger, or you could direct the user to a landing page.

What is Chatbot marketing?

Combined with Facebook Messenger ads, you can increase your eCommerce sales with automated messaging (popularly known as Chatbots) to help your customers with a simpler and easier shopping experience. For ecommerce businesses, chatbots simplify customer service interactions. Using a chatbot for your eCommerce store is a brilliant way to bridge the gap between customer queries and other issues that require further research.

How do I use chatbot on Facebook Messenger?

A chatbot will assist you like a Retail Assistant to help customers find products. You can engage with your customers by asking them questions with your shopping chatbot.

A chatbot can help you like a Retail Assistant helping customers find products, engaging with them and taking feedback. –   Tweet This!

Burberry’s chatbot helps customer find images of their latest collections straight off the fashion runways, giving helpful shopping advice and providing helpful links.

Similarly Fynd, one of the largest online shopping apps created their chatbot, Fify which gives real-time product information to shoppers.

Kayak’s chatbot assists users to find hotels, flights, cars, and things to do. It also keeps you updated with travel plans when you book directly from messenger.

IQ, Japanese retailer Uniqlo’s chatbot, enables their customers to look for products by emoji to swipe through hundreds of stock options.

With more than 65 million businesses on Facebook, and more than 80% of them using the Facebook Messenger marketing platform, it’s no surprise that chatbots are increasingly becoming a favorite among online businesses to reach out to existing and prospective customers and sell their products.

Here are a few amazing ways to increase sales of your online stores using Messenger Bots:

  1. Your bot can transform into a massive lead-generation tool, thus driving customer acquisition.
  2. It works for 365*24*7 and reduces your cost per lead.
  3. Installing Messenger on your Shopify stores (chat bubble), along with customized product page buttons, allows Facebook Messenger users to interact with you when they’re in the buying mode.
  4. With the help of pre-set questions, machine learning and AI, and segmentation these bots can take your store visitors through a completely different shopping journeys, presenting them with choices like color, size, and quantity, or quizzes, helping them find their desired product.
  5. Chatbots can facilitate cross-sells and upsells.
  6. You can use chatbots for order confirmation and customer service – reducing the strain on your team and saving loads of operational cost.
  7. Chatbot conversations can help in the recovery of abandoned carts by displaying their incomplete purchases to your users and encouraging them to complete the purchase.

 

Are you able to showcase AI powered related products, upsell items and frequently bought together products on your Shopify store? To get all of these and more, install Perzonalization for Shopify now and start your 14 day free trial.

 

What is a Facebook Blast?

The Facebook Messenger chat blast is a relatively new concept which manages group messages in a slightly different manner. So, what is chat blasting? Unlike a group chat where all the participants can view messages and inputs from everyone else in the group, Facebook Messenger blast allows you to start separate conversations with each of your group members after you send the same message to multiple recipients. In other words, it’s an alternative to group chatting where everyone will not be able to read/view the messages sent by others.

It is ideal when you want to ask for feedback for your products from your customers by typing one question to your group of customers on Facebook Messenger, but you do not want the users to see each other’s responses.

How do I send a Broadcast message on Facebook Messenger?

Sometimes you might need to send an ad hoc message to let your customers/subscribers know about an important update or a product launch, or to ask a question or even just to wish your customers a Merry Christmas. A Broadcast message on Facebook Messenger allows you to send a one-off message to your users.

There are three different types of broadcast messages that you can send on Facebook Messenger – each with its own set of rules:

  1. Subscription Broadcasts: This is a typical non-promotional message, and makes up for the majority of Facebook Messenger broadcasts. These cannot contain promotions or ads, but you can send them anytime you want—regardless of your subscribers’ activity level.

Given below is an example of subscription Broadcast. It does not promote anything, but does engage the users and helps build a relationship with them:

  1. Promotional Broadcasts: This is a broadcast that contains an ad or other promotional materials. However, you can only send these broadcasts to subscribers who’ve interacted with you on Facebook Messenger in the past 24-hours.

Below is an example of one promotional broadcast that generated $18,400 in sales in just 2½ hours:

  1. Follow-up Broadcasts: You can send a Follow-up Broadcast to your users after 24 hours of sending them a Promotional Broadcast. However, once those 24 hours have passed, you won’t be able to send any more promotional messages till your subscribers interact with your chatbot again. These kind of broadcasts give you one last chance to remind your subscribers about your promotion.

How to stop messenger ads on Facebook?

There are few straightforward ways to stop viewing Facebook Messenger Ads:

Tap “” on the ad to view the following options:

  • Hide ad: Hides a specific ad you don’t want to see.
  • Report ad: Reports an ad that may have offensive content.
  • “Why am I seeing this ad?”: Lets you view details about the ad, including list of your interests which are similar to this particular ad’s content.

This ad is useful: Is being used 1) to test if this ad is right for you 2) gather insight on your preferences and use them for future ads.

 

Are you able to showcase AI powered related products, upsell items and frequently bought together products on your Shopify store? To get all of these and more, install Perzonalization for Shopify now and start your 14 day free trial.

 

Messenger Ads On Facebook: The Conclusion

One thing to remember while implementing your Facebook Messenger ad campaigns is that, depending on how you want to use these ads, they can sometimes be irritating for users. Hence, it is important not to sound very salesy or pushy in your Facebook Messenger Ads. But, one thing stands – and that is Messenger ads on Facebook could prove to be a valuable tool for online businesses, if done right.

So, why not give the Facebook Messenger Ads an honest shot?

Curious to learn more? Take a look at related posts!

 

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