How To Get Started With Messenger Marketing And Messenger Bots

KEY TAKEAWAYS COVERED IN THE PODCAST

• When it comes to the reasons behind using messenger marketing, one of the main reasons to use it is because the open and clickthrough rates are incredibly high. Not only that, but you get to have a one-on-one interaction with your customers, which doesn’t happen often when it comes to marketing. Because of this, you can target your other marketing efforts exactly how you need to.
• As messenger apps are so popular, more people are likely to interact with you in this way. Because it is so new, it’s still fun!
• When it comes to the basics of messenger marketing, it is marketing to audience inside of a messenger app - whether it’s Facebook, Skype, Kik or WhatsApp. With almost 2billion people using Facebook Messenger every day, this is the most common use for messenger for marketing.
• A messenger chat bot is an automated chat you set up based on the answers that you set up. Although it a bot, you can set up your own personal touch and make it as fun as you like.
• When it comes to getting started, you can’t add your Facebook fans or email subscribers to your messenger bot service. You are effectively starting from new. To get people to subscribe to your messenger list, you need people to interact with your chatbot before you can start to message them.
• If you’re looking to grow your messenger subscriber list, you can use a programme called Many Chat. You can send polls and questions to your email subscribers and Facebook followers to direct them to your chatbot. You can also use your messenger bot to reverse this process and grow your email list.
• Although you won’t have access to everything, there is a free version of Many Chat that you can use to help you get started.
• When it comes to what you can use messenger bots for you can run giveaways, give out vouchers and coupons, you can run quizzes, you can run challenges, you can send receipts, you can reengage with customers and you can offer FAQ information.
• If you are thinking of venturing into Messenger Ads, the best thing you can do is test it. It may not work for you, but at least you will have tried.
• In the best case, you may find a method that really works well for you.
• If you’re going to set up a messenger chat bot, you need to ensure you are filling out all of the details. If you’re not going to monitor the chats, let people know.

THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO REMEMBER ABOVE ALL ELSE…

One of the best things about starting messenger marketing, especially in the UK, is that nobody is doing it yet. You have a chance to shape and mould the industry.

HIGHLIGHTS YOU SIMPLY CAN'T MISS

• Introducing Chrys Tan – 05:30
• Why Messenger Marketing? - 07:45
• The Basics of Messenger Marketing – 12:05
• The Rules Around Getting Started and How to Build A Subscriber List - 14:31
• What Can You Use Messenger Bots For? - 23:15
• Are Messenger Ads Worth It? - 30:00
• How To Use Many Chat - 35:15

LINKS TO RESOURCES MENTIONED IN TODAY'S EPISODE

• Hack Your Online Business Podcast
• Chrys Tan LinkedIn
• Chrys's Masterclass
• ManyChat

Transcript below

Okay, so this is really weird. First off, trying to do that intro with a different name. And second off, I still don't have the other intro that we would normally put in between, so you know that American guy that used to go, I'm not even going to do the accent, I nearly did the accent, but you know what I mean.

So I currently don't have an intro and outro. So this is a bit weird jumping straight into an episode, so please bare with me while I'm working out what it is that I'm doing on the podcast, whether I'm going to have someone else do my intro for me, whether I'm going to have someone American or British, and whether I might just do it myself. Because actually I think there is a bit of a trend for people doing their own podcast intros with a bit of music behind. So I might do that. I'm not sure.

But anyway, as of this week, it's now Marketing That Converts. Everything is changing over. Like I said, please don't panic. It's the same podcast. It's me. It's the same sort of stuff. I just wanted to have a title that was more understanding and more a reflection of what I was doing on the podcast.

Anyway, that's why we have a weird start to this podcast. If you're new, by the way, this isn't how they all start. There's normally a much more professional feel to it. It's just that this one's a little bit different while I'm working things out. And the other thing is, I always work in advance obviously, so this episode, episode 67, is coming out ... I'm just looking at my calendar, hang on. It's coming out on the 3rd of June. And today it is the 13th of May. So trying to work out in advance when I'll have stuff done by is really tricky.

Anyway, enough of all that. On to this week's episode. This week we've got an interview for you. And this episode makes me laugh a bit because when I'm in this industry, or being in this industry, there is so much to it. There are so many platforms that do so many things. Being in marketing in general, I have over the last probably 16 years now, I have done every kind of marketing you can imagine. Like literally every kind. So there is so much to know and learn, and obviously there's some stuff I'm better at than others. And there is some stuff that, you know what, I try not to get involved with because I know that that's not where my strength is, or I haven't got the capacity at this point to become brilliant at it. Because I'm one of those people that wants to go all in. If I'm going to do something, I've got to be good at it, I've got to know what I'm talking about, or otherwise I just won't talk about it.

And today's episode is one of them. You might remember if you think back to the Pinterest episodes, that was one that was also very similar. So today we're not talking Pinterest. We're talking messenger bots, and using messenger marketing. And even though I've included it in lots of different talks I've done, and I can talk about the importance of it and I can talk about how good it is from a marketing standpoint, it's not something that I've done a lot myself and it's not something that we're using at the moment as a marketing tool. However, like with the Pinterest one, it might be after this episode that I change my mind and we need to focus on it. Because actually the episode is really cool. We go into some really nice detail.

So today I talked to the lovely Chrys Tan, who is the founder of Chrys Media where she helps coaches and online course creators fill up their diaries, webinars and online courses with Facebook Messenger marketing. She's been featured on Buffer, Our Social Times, Business Hour Podcast, and has spoken at conferences such as Social Day Houston. She's originally from Singapore and now runs her own Messenger marketing agency online while travelling the world. Nice, eh? And isn't it cool that with all these online businesses you can do them from everywhere. So Chrys is currently based in Mexico and she was saying that she possibly might come over to the UK next year, so how funky is that that you can actually do that when you've got an online business? Which I think for most people kind of must be the dream.

Anyway, we have a great episode where we go into what Messenger marketing is and what Messenger bots are. Now if you're say there thinking I only have a small business, I'm not doing these crazy amazing automation things, I don't need it, I still want you to listen because actually I make her go very basic. Because I wanted to get everything over in terms of where you can start, what you can do. And Messenger bots are very cool. They can do some amazing stuff. But we don't go into that level. We keep it fairly simple and straightforward in terms of getting started, the platforms you use to get started, and why you want to do that. So I really urge you to listen to this episode because it is something I think that is growing and I think it's going to become more and more important as we move forward. Even though we're using a platform that doesn't belong to us to get to our audience, it's still one of those many ways in which we can communicate and engage with our audience. And there's some very simple, easy things that you can do to get started that doesn't cost you much time or money.

So definitely worth a listen, this one. And I hope you enjoy it.

Introducing Chrys Tan

I'm really excited to welcome Chrys to the podcast. Welcome to the podcast.

I am super excited to be here, Theresa. Super excited.

Awesome. I've said in the intro that we had a chat this other day because I was being interviewed for your podcast, which is exciting, and so we've already had a really nice chat about things. We talked about Messenger and bots and things, and I said that actually I don't think we've really talked about it or covered it. So it's perfect that you've come on to talk about this. So thank you.

But for my audience, if they don't know who you are, can you just give me a very brief outline to how you got to do what you do now, and what is it you do?

Sure. Like you introduced me, my name is Chrys Tan. I am the founder of Chrys Media. We are a Messenger marketing agency and we work mainly with coaches and online course creators to kind of help them fill up their diaries, their webinars, and of course their online courses, by using Facebook Messenger marketing chat bots.

A lot of people get really afraid of the word "chat bots" because of the word "bots" I guess. Like I told you, with the Russian thing and everything-

They're going to take over the world.

They're going to take over the world. Come in and take [inaudible 00:06:28] world.

But there's no need to worry and we're going to go right into it today. But I found about Messenger marketing, I think this was maybe a year ago, like every entrepreneur I was trying every marketing strategy out there. My background is in social media marketing so that is what I was doing. And I was so amazed with the results and the things you can do with Messenger marketing. More than just selling. Don't get me wrong, I love cash, but there's so many things you can do with a Messenger chat bot.

And I dived into and I loved it. I dreamt about it. I wanted to marry it. And I started an agency. So there you go, a very quick story about who I am and my passion about Messenger marketing and why you too have to be passionate about Messenger marketing.

I love it. We've already discussed the fact that this is on one of my list of things to do. And there are a few people in the UK, or a few people that I know that are doing this ... Well, I was going to say "well", and they are doing it well because basically no one else is doing it. For them it's working really, really well.

Why Messenger Marketing?

But I think for me, and I think we talked about this before, there's always so many things to do that you think, okay why is this important? So why did you focus solely down on Messenger marketing and bots? Because there are a million other things that we can do, isn't there? So why was it specifically that?

Yeah. The first thing that really grabbed my attention, to be honest, was the open rates. The open rates was super high, the click through rates was super high. We like to compare Messenger marketing with email marketing. Everyone knows email marketing, right? So we compared it and we're like, okay, with email marketing I'm getting around 20% open rate, 30% open rate. I'm getting around 3% click through rate. Now that is a disappointing number because you're putting all your time and effort into it, right?

We see with Messenger marketing we're getting like 70, 80, 90% open rates and 50% click through rates, sometimes 30 depending on what you're promoting and all that. But beyond the open rates and the click through rates, because we all know that that number is going to drop, just like how email marketing when it first started everyone was opening emails. The number is going to drop. But does that make it a less effective channel later on? No, because we can think about the one on one interaction you can do with your target audience. What other channels out there allow you to ask a question, and then your audience replies, and then you follow up with another question instantly, and then your audience replies again? This one on one interaction versus this one to may interaction. And with Messenger marketing, as your target audience is answering your questions, as they're replying to your polls and your quizzes, you are able to tag those answers and basically know exactly who this person is so that the next time you serve content to them, you serve a promotion to them, you serve whatever your serve is, you know exactly what this person is like. Is this person a Democrat? Is this person a conservative? Is this person in love with online stuff? Is this person more the physical stuff? Is the person in their 60s, 50s, 40s, whatever? You know exactly who this person is.

So even if Messenger marketing one day were to go down the path of email marketing in the sense of the open rate and click through rates, I am still so passionate about this one on one interaction that you cannot get with any other marketing channels out there right now.

Yeah. I love that. And you're right. I think to think that it will always stay at those open rates is probably not a wise move, because it isn't. And I have my own theories as to why I think the open rates are as good as they are. And I think for me, as I just said, there's hardly anyone doing it here. And we're not used to it.

So a couple of things, and let me know whether you agree or not, but one, there's not that many people doing it so we're less tuning it out and just getting rid of it. And two, the way we use out platforms or our phones or whatever it is, Messenger is something that we are using, we're using Messenger platforms like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. We're using them all the time, and therefore that's how we're communicating and we're more comfortable to have that communication back to us. And also, I hate having numbers on my phone, which in my job is really not ideal. If there's a one on my Messenger app, I will go click it and open it, and it feels different. So I do think that those are some of the reasons why the numbers are quite bit and successful at the moment. Do you agree?

I absolutely agree. And the reason why, like you said, not a lot of people are doing it and I feel like some people have dived into it but they haven't really quite understand how it works. But also they might have set it up using whatever one of the tools out there, they might've set it up and then they might've went, oh what is this Messenger chat bot thing? I'm going to try it for my business. And then whether or not they continue using it and growing it is another thing, right?

You're right, a lot of businesses out there are still unaware of it. That's why it's so important to have conversations like this on podcasts because I want to get the word out. The number of marketers doing Messenger chat bot is so few. Way lesser in the UK. And I didn't say this, but I think I might be moving to the UK next year, but that's a whole different story.

There we go. Perfect.

I know, right? I'll be coming in like, hey guys.

It's so crazy because it's so new that's where the fun is. The marketers haven't come in and destroyed it. Because we all know how marketers are with every marketing channel. We come in, we see it, we conquer it and then we destroy it.

And then people get sick of it. And therefore it starts to lose its effectiveness like email marketing has. That's so interesting. I love that.

The Basics of Messenger Marketing

So Messenger marketing. I want you to go basic, basic. What do you mean by that? Is it just a case of if you're a business owner sat with your business, you encourage people to send you messages? Is it as basic as that, or are we talking something different?

At the core of it or the most basic of it, Messenger marketing is basically marketing to your audience inside of a Messenger app. This Messenger app, there are a couple out there. There's Facebook Messenger where everyone knows about it, there's Skype, there's Line, there's Kick, in Korea they use Kick as well. So there are a lot of messaging apps out there, but Facebook Messenger is the number one platform for Messenger apps right now. And there's a good reason. There's almost two billion people using Facebook Messenger at the moment, every single day. So the fact that your target audience is going to be on it is very, very high. I can talk about Skype and all that, but the fact that they're probably on Facebook using Messenger to communicate with their friends and family and sometimes businesses is very high.

And what it really is is a chat bot, a Messenger chat bot, is basically an automated system or process that you set up so that you have answers, automated answers already pre-entered into the chat bot itself so that when someone interacts with your chat bot, the chat bot already knows what to say based on the answers that have already been pre-entered into your chat bot. It's a back and forth automated system, but at the same time you're able to bring in a human touch to it. Because one of the things I hear all the time is, oh a chat bot is so cold. It's so cold for a business, I'm not sure if I want automation and that kind of automation in my business. But what people don't realise is that there are many ways to make a chat bot fun and interactive without coming across as this cold, robot thing that everyone is so afraid of or losing that human touch. Because you can always offer that opportunity to talk to a human inside of a chat bot itself. [inaudible 00:14:07] about it.

Just in the general sense of it it's just marketing to your audience inside of a Messenger app and my favourite Messenger app at the moment is the Facebook Messenger app.

The Rules Around Getting Started and How to Build A Subscriber List

Okay. So if I wanted to get started, because there are some rules around you can't just on a page go and message a load of people. You can't do that. So what are the rules around getting started in terms of how would I, if I came to you today and said I want to start using Messenger as a marketing tool, what would I do?

So the number one thing you need to know right now is you cannot import emails. You cannot add your Facebook fans and followers into your Messenger subscriber list. You can't do any of that. So basically you are starting from scratch. So no matter how famous you are, you're popular, or how big your business is or how small it is, all of us are starting from scratch when it comes to Messenger marketing. So even if you've got this huge email list, I'm so sorry, you can't do anything with it.

I have a four step process that I use with every single of my clients. And the first step is the list building because all of us start from babies. So we need to build that list. So you must remember that the only way that you can build your list and get people subscribed to your Messenger list is if they were to interact with your chat bot. So whether that's messaging you on Facebook Messenger and you already have that chat bot set up, or taking one of your quizzes inside of a Facebook Messenger or downloading your...