Wouldn’t it be cool if
you could send a chat blast to your entire Facebook group?
Click. Whiz. Bam.
Well, you can. Sort of.
Admittedly it’s not
click-whiz-bam, but it is possible with some hacky workarounds that we’ve
cooked up using MobileMonkey.
In this article, you’ll
learn and be able to execute exactly the
simple hacks that will allow you to message your Facebook Group members with
a free chatbot.
To make a chatbot for a Facebook group, first sign up for
MobileMonkey.
Every point in this
article uses the chatbot builder, MobileMonkey.
Before you begin, please sign up for
MobileMonkey.
You can create a free
account for now, or (better yet) sign up for a Pro account.
Some of the points below require a Pro account in order to successfully execute
them.
Using a Messenger Chatbot to Message a Facebook Group: What
You Need to Know
Directly messaging a
Facebook group is not an actual feature either
of MobileMonkey or Facebook Messenger. There’s no such thing as a Facebook
Group Chatbot, unfortunately.
We all wish this were
the case.
It would be amazing if
you could whip up a message, toss it into a chatbot dialogue, and send it off
to a group.
We get variations on
this question all the time:
- How do I make a chatbot for a Facebook group?
- How do I
create a Facebook group chatbot?
- Can I
connect a chatbot to a Facebook group?
- Can you add
a chatbot to Facebook chat group?
You can’t do it quite
like that. There is no direct solution, only workarounds.
Broadly, it works like
this. You must first invite Facebook group members to connect on Messenger.
Once they are Messenger contacts, then you can send them bulk messages, chat
blasts, Messenger broadcasts, etc.
Let me make a quick aside about
chat blasts or broadcast messages. These messages must be non-promotional in nature. No offering
coupons or inviting people to your Bargain Basement Blowout Sale. Before you
can send chat blasts, Facebook must approve
your Page for subscription messaging.
Here’s what you’ll need
to create a Messenger Chatbot for a Facebook group:
- A MobileMonkey
account
- Your own
Facebook group or business page
- Awareness of
how to create Facebook ads (Just the basics are fine)
- A little bit
of ad budget (even $5 a day is fine for starters)
So, what is the process
for inviting your Facebook group members to connect on Messenger?
There are 3 really cool
(and surprisingly easy) ways to do it.
1. Chat blast your Facebook group by asking group members to
become Messenger subscribers.
One of the most
effective ways to introduce group members into your Messenger contact list is
to ask these group members to become subscribers.
The way to do this
tactically is as follows:
- Create a chat dialogue in MobileMonkey inviting group
members to subscribe.
- Post the
link to this in your Facebook group.
Let me walk you through
that process.
Go to Bot Builder then
Dialogues in MobileMonkey.
Create a simple dialogue
that makes the request.
There are two elements
in that Dialogue — the Quick Question and the Multiple Choice answer.
Notice how I’m making a
straightforward and personalized ask — “Hi Daniel, want to connect on
Messenger?”
I provide only one
answer — the right one. YES.
That’s it. Once they
click the yes, they’re in. Boom.
(Go ahead, please. Try
out the link above. It will make much more sense if you do.)
Notice how once you tap
or click YES in the dialogue, it automatically sends you another message:
“Thank you for subscribing. Type [STOP] or [UNSUBSCRIBE] to unsubscribe at any
time.”
This is important.
Just as you want to make
it easy for people to subscribe, you also want to make it easy for them
to unsubscribe.
If subscribers don’t
know how to turn off your chatbot — e.g., by typing STOP — then they might
block you. And if too many people block you, then Facebook will impose
messaging limits on your page. (This happened to us one
time.)
So, the basic concept is
this: ask for subscribers and you shall receive. Easy stuff.
Hot tips:
- Don’t just drop the link and leave it. Say some nice
things. Include an image and throw in some emojis for good measure.
- Instead of
posting this link in the main page feed, pin the post. This way, you make
sure that your group sees it (and hopefully clicks it.)
- Offer
something nice. As an exchange for group members opting in, offer them a
free something — a mention, a link, a promo share, whatever. A little
sugary sprinkle never hurt.
2. Chat blast your Facebook group by adding a comment guard
(autoresponder) to an organic Facebook post.
(I personally love this
one.)
“Comment guard”
is the MobileMonkey nomenclature for a Facebook post autoresponder.
What you do is add a
chatbot to a Page Facebook post using the MobileMonkey comment guard. When
people comment on that organic post, they automatically receive an autoresponse
inviting them to become a Messenger contact.
Brilliant!
It’s the Rumpelstiltskin
of Facebook — spinning precious contacts out of mere commenters!
To be clear about it,
you cannot use Comment Guards in group posts. But you can use a Comment Guard
on your Facebook Page, which will target many of the same people who are in
your group. Thus, you are effectively targeting group members to become Messenger
subscribers.
To create it, go to Lead
Magnets and FB Comment Guard in MobileMonkey.
The process of setting
up a comment guard is self-explanatory and simple.
The real sizzle of this
process comes when you elicit more and more people to comment on your organic
post. After all, the more people who comment on a post, the more contacts you’ll
stack up in Messenger.
Here are some ways to do
just that.
Hot tips:
·
Make it a quiz. Ask
people a question, and then have them comment their answer. Promise them the
correct answer after they comment. You can send it to them automatically in the
chatbot dialogue. Brilliant!
·
Comment with a gif. Gif
comments are all the rage. Ask people any rando question, and have them answer
with gifs.
·
Boost the post. With a
few dollars expenditure, you can add even more Messenger contacts this
way.
·
Answer with predictive
text. Tell people to complete the sentence with predictive text. “When I got to
work, I saw….” “My boss is such a….” “I really, really hate…” “It tickles
when…” This kind of thing is addictive. (I bet you’re probably wanting to type those
sentences on your phone right now just to see what’s going to come out!)
3. Chat blast your Facebook group by creating a Click-to-Messenger
Facebook Ad that invites Page fans to become contacts on Messenger.
With this method, you’ll
create a click-to-messenger ad that
targets fans of your page. These people have the closest proximity to group
members, giving you the best chance of getting them to become Messenger
contacts.
The goal here is to get
your group members to message your Page, thereby growing your subscriber list.
(Facebook does not
provide targeting options for groups. Targeting only works for Pages.
Page-level targeting is as best as you’ll get.)
Here we go.
Go to Ads Manager and
click Create to make an ad.
Create a new Campaign,
and choose the “Messages” objective.
In the targeting portion
of your ad creation, select Connections and then People who like your Page.
That’s the secret sauce,
right there.
Finish up with your ad
placements, budget & schedule.
This is where Facebook
mojo meets the magic of MobileMonkey. (Did you like that alliteration? I worked
hard at that.)
Click Advertising and
then Messenger Ads.
Please note: Creating
Messenger Ads in MobileMonkey is a pro feature, so it’s available only with a
paid account.
Don’t sweat it! Paid
accounts are really, really inexpensive right
now. The Pro Plan includes everything that MobileMonkey has to offer
plus 5,000 contacts, MobileMonkey branding removed, and tons more.
MobileMonkey will walk
you through the process of creating the content to send your subscribers in the
click-to-Messenger ad.
Hot tips:
- Add an image that contains your Page branding — colors,
logo, style, etc.. Due to the psychological power of the mere-exposure effect users
will recognize your branding and instinctively trust the ad.
- Use a simple and straightforward message, “Hey, wanna
connect on Messenger?” Tell them what’s up with the ad and what they’re
doing when they click the button.
Once users respond to
your ad, they become part of your Messenger contact list.
Sending Messenger Blasts to Facebook Groups: Final Tips
To send a chat blast to
your Facebook group, the concept is simple. Invite your group members to become
Messenger subscribers. When they are subscribers, you can send them messages.
It’s the same principle
at work for sending Messenger blasts
to a page’s fans.
Messaging Facebook group
members is 100% possible, but not in a direct way.
Today’s marketers need
to be laser-focused on building Messenger contact lists. The marketing era of
conversational chatbots and chatbot marketing is upon us. And the new list
building is in Messenger contacts.
There are three things
in closing that you should know and do:
- Sign up for
MobileMonkey if you haven’t yet.
- Join the
MobileMonkey Facebook group to get and give help on
chatbot marketing. We have over 20,000 members and counting.
- Do yourself and your marketing agency a favor by
signing up for the free Marketing
Agency Growth Accelerator Summit. The leaders in the marketing
field will be instructing attendees on the fastest way to land huge
clients and fat retainer fees for your agency.
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