Published: July 20, 2016
Facebook Messenger launched its new capabilities for businesses on March 25, 2015 and it has slowly taken off since. Businesses are now able to connect with their customers on a whole new level through personalized messages that include order confirmations, tracking shipments and much more.
How does it work?
I was recently just shopping on Zulily, an e-commerce company that does bulk orders on items which allows their customers to receive a very discounted price, and decided to purchase a pair of shoes.
I was new to Zulily so after I placed the shoes in my online cart I was prompted to either create an account or sign in with Facebook—I chose the latter. I proceeded to checkout and about five-seconds after submitting my payment, I received a message from Zulily on Facebook stating that they have received my order and will message me again when my order is shipped. Zulily kept me up-to-date with personal messages on where my order was until it was delivered to my doorstep.
Why does a generated Facebook message from a company versus a generated email make me feel more appreciated?
It all goes back to why social media is so important in our everyday life—we love to participate. Receiving a personalized message from a business on a social media platform that is so influential to us makes us feel like the business is our friend—someone that cares about our voice and our opinion.
It is quickly becoming the social norm to communicate with businesses online through their social media sites. You’re upset about an item you purchased? — You take a photo and post your concerns on the business’s Facebook page. You can’t find an item in-store? — You tweet your problem to the business. Doing this, you expect an immediate response. You are hard-wired to believe that the business will hear you quicker than they would via a letter, email or phone-call.
The future of customer communication is bright for businesses.
[quote align=”left”]Businesses are able to connect with customers in a new way thanks to Facebook Messenger.[/quote]
Facebook Messenger has now opened up a new portal of private messages to allow you to connect with businesses on a different level. Being able to receive information about an item you purchased and then, in turn, being able to easily communicate about any issues or questions you may have is extremely important in this day and age. You’re left feeling like you’re building a relationship with the business rather than just doing a transaction—it allows you to participate.
Building a participatory relationship with clients has always been the key to success for businesses. The private message feature from Facebook now offers a quick customer service tool to better fix any problems that a customer may be experiencing which will then give the customer incentive to promote and give positive feedback about your business to friends, followers and, really, anyone who is willing to listen.
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By Stevie Sleeter, Content & Social Media Manager
