Chatbots vs Messenger Bots - Can you use both?

Chatbots vs Messenger bots - Which one is best?

There seems to be a botpocalypse going on everywhere right now with chatbots vs messenger bots, live chat vs phone support... What's the reason for this madness? It's actually time for this change in my opinion, but if you're not careful you'll abuse your customers.

Chatbots vs Messenger bots - "Chatbots"

So when thinking of chatbots vs messenger bots, think of "Chatbots" as the uninhibited bot. They populate your website and sit on pages where you designate them to be triggered. I say them because you can trigger multiple chatbots on multiple pages.

Quick example:

Let's say you have 3 products, each on their own dedicated page, you can trigger an individual chatbot for each product and, if you're good, link the conversation together so that you are showcasing all 3 products....but with individual conversations.

You don't necessarily have that many rules with these bots from any third parties, unless you have a serious compliance department. That doesn't mean you should shove all your product and company information into one chatbot conversation. This is where the "uninhibited chatbot" needs to be tamed and controlled. You should always break up your sequences...and better yet, plan your sequences. And no, not with a night at the computer with glass of wine or a few beers. This conversation needs to be planned out correctly. Would you have a few glasses of wine or beer and then go present yourself in front of new interested leads. - Okay maybe, I shouldn't have asked that question to some of you. 😉

Chatbots should be designed by professionals

In all seriousness, your chat conversations can be planned out by professionals or you can try and figure out how to craft your own messages with hit and miss results. Now, I'm not saying that you shouldn't be involved with the conversation development, but do not take the building of the sequences on by yourself, unless of course you have some great developing, mapping and organizational skills. This is what companies like Bluoo Digital do for businesses all over the world. When you are going through your conversational design you can then implement if your chatbot will be involved with "Live Chat". This is where you can tag certain keywords in conversations or add buttons to bring up the option for a live chat conversation and then hand the conversation over to support team. This, I believe, will relieve some pressure off of phone support...again, if designed properly.

Chatbots vs Messenger bot - "Messenger bots"

Messenger bots or Facebook Messenger bots are very restrictive. I'm going to put that out there right off the bat. Now there are people/companies out there that will promise you the world with FB ads and messenger marketing. I won't be a hater, but just use common sense. More subscribers mean more money you'll be spending with Manychat or Chatfuel. You don't want quantity, you want quality. Remember, this is relationship based marketing. You are trying to build trust and gain more customers while trying to push a product or a service.

Now this is where things get a little funky with Facebook. The rules, regulations, stipulations and compliance that you have to follow when using Messenger can be mind-boggling. However, if you use a vetted agency for this you won't have any issues.

FB Policies for Messenger in short:

There are different :

24-Hour Messaging Window

You basically have 24 hours to respond to someone that interacts with your bot. The 24-hour limit is refreshed each time a person responds to a business through one of the eligible actions listed in Messenger Conversation Entry Points. This is commonly referred to as the '24 + 1 policy'.

Subscription Messaging (BETA)

Subscription messaging is allowed for specific use cases, and gives a business or developer the ability to send regular content to a person on Messenger. If the bot has the proper app permission, a person automatically opts-in to receive subscription messaging when they perform any action that begins a conversation.

Eligible Use Cases

·         News: Integrations whose primary purpose is to inform people about recent or important events, or provide information in categories such as sports, finance, business, real estate, weather, traffic, politics, and entertainment.

·         Productivity: Integrations whose primary purpose is to enable people to manage their personal productivity with tasks, such as managing calendar events, receiving reminders, and paying bills.

·         Personal trackers: Integrations that enable people to receive and monitor information about themselves in categories such as fitness, health, wellness, and finance.

These are just a few of the policies to remember and I could keep going and posting more information but I'm sure you all won't be able to handle the excitement.

Is it only me that gets this excited talking about bots?

Now, I'll close this shortly, but messenger bots can be extremely effective, at least more effective than chatbots can be. Let me explain why...again I'll keep this short.

Messenger bots are where everyone is at. Facebook.

Your website isn't. Your website can be used to interact with interested parties and key them in on product information and aid with support and transfer to live calls...but they won't compare to the engagement and traffic you can get from FB messenger. As long as you understand that you can see how both can be extremely powerful.

Now, a recap on: Chatbots vs Messenger bots and how to use them both...- Get the leads on FB, interact with them on Messenger with sequences in a subscription setting (your page must get approved for this. - and you don't have that much time left), and then send them to particular pages of your website where your chatbot can interact with them and give them product information, schedule appointments, transfer to live calls or answer support questions. It may seem like a lot, but it's not. It simply organizing everything correctly and implementing them with one another.

If you need any chatbot development done for your business please contact Bluoo Digital!