Facebook Messenger is Featuring Ads

The time has come. Facebook has officially made it possible for digital marketers and brands to turn Facebook Messenger chatbots into ad bots. This is a game changer and here’s why.

Online Chat is A Huge Platform

According to an article released by Facebook, more than 1 in 2 participants are likely to shop with a business that they can message. And, overall, the top four messaging apps have officially surpassed the usage of the top four social networks. In other words, the marketplace for messenger ads is huge.

With all that unchartered territory to conquer, the ROI potential is vast. Messenger ad options have only been out for five short months, so few brands have yet to pioneer the space. With all that undivided attention, you could be one of the first people in your market to capture this line of communication.

How exactly do the ads work?

So you might be thinking…"sounds great but, how exactly do these ads work?" Don’t worry, I know it’s confusing! Basically, there are two different types of messenger ads: placement and destination ads.

Placement ads are ads placed in your customer’s Messenger inbox. It appears as an actual message from a brand, that’s like a message from a friend. There are some limitations on placement ads. Brands can only contact people who have previously messaged their page. However, it’s a way to build a subscriber list (like email). You can use it to send leads to destinations, or just to have customer conversations.

Destination ads are ads that appear in your Facebook Newsfeed (not in Messenger). They look like a normal sponsored ad (with an image, video, carousel or slideshow). However, if you click on the destination ad, it immediately takes you to Messenger, where you can have a conversation with an ad bot.

Messenger is an Ideal Platform to Target Prospects

Aside from being an untapped platform with huge ROI potential, Messenger is fertile ground, because it’s a place where family and friends are interacting on a regular basis. Eddie Zhang, product manager at Facebook states of the communication channel “Businesses have long been telling us that they are very excited about the potential of the Messenger platform to reach their customers and help them to drive sales, build brand awareness and increase customer satisfaction.”

Not only that but in the future, Messenger Payments will be rolled out. This will help customers skip the parts of ordering and in-store experiences they don’t enjoy and purchase expediently.

What do you think? Can you see a future where Messenger and online chat becomes an essential communications channel for advertisers?