Did you know that Facebook Messenger is the most popular mobile messaging app in the United States? It’s bigger than Snapchat and WhatsApp by a huge margin. As of June 2019, it had 107.87 million unique users in the US.

social account user stats

Image via Statista

Move over traditional forms of marketing. Facebook Messenger marketing is the way forward. While people are using Messenger to connect with their friends and family, they are also increasingly using it as a platform to connect with brands.

According to Facebook, people exchange 20 billion messages with businesses on messenger each month. Which makes it one of the best platforms to reach out to your target audience.

While it has a lot of potential, not many businesses have leveraged it for growth. On my podcast, Larry Kim, founder and CEO of MobileMonkey, a platform for Facebook Messenger marketing, said that less than one percent of businesses are taking advantage of messaging for marketing.

That means you can still get the first-mover advantage. If you want to stay ahead of your competition, here are a few hacks that you can use for Facebook Messenger marketing:

1. Have Fun

A key difference between email marketing and Messenger marketing is how you convey your message. When you send an email, it’s a one-way conversation. You send the message and your audience reads it. That’s it.

On Facebook Messenger, your audience can actually respond to you. Based on that, you can select an appropriate response as well. It’s like chatting with a friend. It feels more personal and interactive.

And that’s the beauty of it.

You can have as much fun as you want. It isn’t meant to be too professional. So you can take a break from crafting formal messages. On Facebook Messenger, you can send images, videos or even GIFs. Make the conversation come alive!

As you can see in the screenshot below, MobileMonkey uses emojis and GIFs to liven up their chats. Even the tone and language of their messages are conversational and friendly.

mobilemonkey uses emojis

Image via Facebook Messenger

2. Leverage Chat Blasts

Sending out emails in bulk is a popular tactic to grow your brand awareness. But did you know that you can also use Facebook Messenger to broadcast a message through the chat feature? This technique is referred to as a “chat blast.”

By using chatbots, you can even automate the entire chat blast process. It’s especially helpful to spread the message when you have a new video or a blog post on your site.

But before you can use chat blasting, you need to make sure that you are in Facebook’s good books. You can do this by sending an application for subscription messaging.

Here are the steps you can follow for it:

  • Visit Your Facebook Business Page
  • Go to “Settings”
  • Click on “Messenger Platform”
  • Go to “Advanced Messaging Features”
  • Submit your request

Each submission is reviewed manually. So, the whole process can take a few days. It may even take about a week. Just keep in mind that you shouldn’t send any content that’s overly promotional.

It’s as simple as that. Not only is it a great way of boosting your engagement rate but also to segment your audience within a chatbot sequence.

leverage chat blasts

Image via Mobile Monkey

3. Set Up Drip Campaigns

Through Facebook Messenger, you can also set up drip campaigns. While they are normally associated with email marketing, Messenger is changing the rules of the game.

Using chatbots, you can follow up with your audience at regular intervals of time. It becomes easy to welcome new users, announce a product release, and to announce new events.

The best part is that you only need to set up a drip campaign once. It will only take around 15-20 minutes to build each content page. Once you schedule it, your work is done. Your users will get messages at the scheduled times.

4. Send Sponsored Messages

On Facebook Messenger, you can also send sponsored messages to your audience. They are just like the sponsored posts that users see in their News Feed. They will even get notified about it through a push notification.

For each sponsored message, you’ll only have to spend around two to three cents. So, it definitely won’t burn a hole in your pocket.

You can send sponsored messages to all of the contacts on your list with just a few clicks. Alternatively, you can also segment your lists based on specific criteria. After segmenting them, you can simply send them a promotional chat blast.

Here is how you can create sponsored messages:

  • Go to “Ads Manager” from your Facebook page.
  • In guided creation, click on “Create Ads.”
  • Go to the “Consideration” column and select the Messages objective option.
  • Create a unique campaign name.
  • Choose “Messenger” in Message destination.
  • From the drop-down menu in Messenger, select Sponsored Messages.
  • Next, choose the option for the correct page.
  • Under the option for Audience, you can either create a new audience or continue using a saved audience.
  • Go to Placements.
  • In Edit Placements, you should see Messenger as the automatically selected option.
  • Choose an appropriate budget.
  • For the format, in Message setup, select “Text only” or “Text and image.”
  • Type your text message and upload images.
  • Under “Customer Actions,” you can also add buttons or quick replies to your sponsored messages.
  • Once you're finished selecting all the relevant options, click on “Confirm.”
  • To track your sponsored messages ad, click on “Place order.”

While most of the sponsored messages are delivered within 24 hours of starting a campaign, Facebook recommends that users run sponsored message campaigns for 5 days at least to maximize your delivery.

send sponsored messages

Image via Oberlo

5. Leverage Click-to-Messenger Ads

Now you know some of the best ways of boosting your visibility and awareness using Facebook Messenger. But what can you do to boost your conversion rate? The answer to that is Click-to-Messenger Ads.

Just as the name suggests, it’s a Facebook ad that you need to click on Facebook Messenger. The conversion is done by sending a message. You don’t need to click on any offer. Instead, users just need to click on a given message.

As you can see in the screenshot below, MobileMonkey uses this strategy to boost their conversions. From joining their group to signing up for their webinar, they have options for it all in Messenger.

leverage click-to-messenger ads

Image via Facebook Messenger

6. Add a Comment Guard

If you want to build your list, you need to add a comment guard. For the uninitiated, a comment guard is a bot that is set up on all of your organic posts on Facebook.

Whenever someone comments on a post, they can receive a Facebook message with a comment guard on. Think of it as an auto-responder for your Facebook posts. It’s a simple tactic that can help you generate more leads.

Final Thoughts

Facebook Messenger is extremely popular as a messaging app. If you know the tricks of the trade, you can also use it to grow your business. While it holds a goldmine of opportunities, very few businesses are using it to their advantage.

Now is the right time to dive into Facebook Messenger marketing to get an early adopter advantage. I hope the strategies mentioned above help you set up a solid Facebook Messenger marketing strategy.

Do you have any questions regarding Facebook Messenger marketing? Please share them in the comments sections below.

Shane Barker

Shane Barker is a digital marketing consultant who specializes in influencer marketing, product launches, sales funnels, targeted traffic, and website conversions. He has consulted with Fortune 500 companies, influencers with digital products, and a number of A-List celebrities.