** Updated 2020 with new infographic**
Generally speaking, marketers take a favorable view toward Facebook as a platform for improving brand recognition, increasing ad reach, and gaining the attention of a new audience. According to Statista, Facebook had 1.45 billion active users on a daily basis through the first quarter of 2018. With so many eyeballs on one platform, it’s easy to understand why marketers see the value here. But what about Facebook’s other platforms? Is it worth it, in particular, to engage in Facebook Messenger marketing? For those on the fence about this particular medium for connecting with consumers, here are some pros and cons of Facebook Messenger marketing that could help clear the waters.
Read More: The Ins & Outs of Facebook Messenger Ads
Facebook Messenger Pro: High Open Rates
For businesses moving away from email marketing, Facebook Messenger marketing offers a new connection to consumers that boasts an impressive open rate. As consumers try to balance life on and off their devices, many are turning away from the noise of constant email notifications going off. There are some 7 billion conversations taking place on Messenger every day, so turning to Facebook Messenger marketing helps brands tap into this activity with ads that enjoy open rates around 80%.
Facebook Messenger Pro: A Fresh Audience
There is a slew of numbers and statistics that can be thrown out in favor of Facebook Messenger marketing. The Messenger platform alone has 1.3 billion users, which is more than Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram combined. There are 260 million new conversations started on a daily basis. However, the really important figure here is the number of new users added to the platform every five to six months. Inc.com notes some 100 million new users join every five to six months, providing brands with an ever-expanding audience to direct promotional content toward.
Related: How to Optimize Your Advertising For Facebook
Facebook Messenger Pro: Automated Customer Service
As a brand grows it can get increasingly difficult to stay on top of communication with consumers in a manner that maintains a personal touch. Messenger bots can automatically respond for the brand to simple queries and Facebook’s Smart Replies enable companies to create responses to commonly asked questions. Additionally, brands can use a “Send to Messenger” plugin that asks the user’s permission to send messages to the platform. For companies with an online shopping cart, this is a subtle means of reminding consumers of items left behind in a cart that could spur greater revenue by nudging users toward purchases they were previously on the fence about.
Our friends at MobileMonkey have put together this helpful infographic that includes what businesses need to know about automated consumer communication according to Messenger Platform Policy.
Facebook Messenger Con: Bots aren’t People
It’s hard to find cons in Facebook Messenger marketing, but there is one glaring example that companies should be aware of when using the platform. While the Messenger bots seem like a gift from above, it’s important to remember that these bots have limitations. To a certain degree, there is no way of replacing interaction with an actual human. Users might not know right away that they’re engaging with a bot in a conversation on messenger, but if questions are asked or inquiries are made that are not common, users will be able to tell right away they’re dealing with a bot and not a human. The loss of that human touch is a con that companies should be aware of before jumping onboard with Facebook Messenger marketing.