Chat bots have taken the world by storm and businesses use them to improve their customer service, and bring their products and services closer to the targeted audience. Besides customer experience, a Facebook Messenger chat bot can also help companies to improve their sales and support and bring many other benefits.
On top of all this, a simple Facebook chatbot is not difficult to make. If you want to offer just a few basic functionalities to your website or Facebook visitors, you can create it in a predefined code layout or a FB chat bot creation platform. Of course, for more demanding functionalities, sophisticated A.I. and natural language processing, you will need to hire a development agency.
If you have decided to create a simple chat bot by yourself, or if an agency has set you up with a blank Facebook chatbot wireframe, you will need to design conversations that will engage your audience. This is often the most difficult part of the Facebook Messenger chat bot creation process, and that is why we decided to help you with a little guide that will improve your writing.
Still, even with all the incredible benefits they provide, chat bots' purpose is to expand customer service and make it more efficient, and not to replace human interactions. That is why many Facebook Messenger chat bots are equipped with a live chat feature that allows users to request human support.
Facebook chatbot copywriter needs to understand customers’ goals
Before you write the first lines, you need to understand and define both users’ and companies goals. Users' goals are important because if you know their intention, it will be easier to lead the conversation towards a sale or some other desired action. So, before you start writing, talk with the client and determine why they want to create a chat bot, and how it will help their targeted audience.
Chat bots conversation models
There are two types of interactions copywriters can use as a basis for designing conversations. These are:
- Structured interactions – that follow logical conversation flows and predefined scenarios. These interactions are mostly used for ordering and support requests, and they include menus and predefined lists.
- Unstructured interactions – usually encompass free conversational flows that include only plain text.
Chat bots requirements depending on the conversational model
When creating a chat bot, copywriters need to pay attention to messaging platforms' possibilities. Structured conversations may include menus, lists, buttons, multiple choice forms, etc., only if the messaging platform supports this type of media. When it comes to requirements for the unstructured interactions, conversation designers need to add as much word and phrases as possible and create rich chat bot vocabulary.
Scripting the conversation for the Facebook Messenger chat bot
While creating user interactions' you need to take into consideration the chat bot goals, and to keep the conversation close to the purpose of the program. Wondering off to far will make the chat bot less helpful. For example, if you are creating a chat bot for restaurant reservations, you can lead the whole process by presenting users with table, meal and wine choices.
Developing a chat bot that is only based on the unstructured interactions is much harder. The chat bot – user conversation needs to be natural and creating relevant responses to different user queries is the most important task. If your chat bot doesn't have an A.I. brain, you should avoid the open-ended questions because they can steer the conversation away from the main topic.
Facebook Messenger chat bot should initiate the conversation
Unlike chat bots that are deployed at company websites, the Facebook Messenger chat bots can't interact with the user, before he/she presses the ‘start' button. Still, even when this happens, the bot should initiate the conversation by sending the first message. In this greeting message, you can present the chat bot and write a sentence or two about its purpose.
Facebook chatbot needs to guide users
The conversation between company representatives and users on Messenger and other communication platforms is like a small sales funnel. The chat bot, can lead the user through the sales funnel, only if they keep them focused and direct them to the final goal. They can do that by limiting the functionality and offering choices. This way they will avoid the conversational dead ends and lead users down the concrete paths. After the prime goal (order, sign up, etc.) is accomplished, the bots can propose other functionalities and conversational paths.
FB chat bot should be concise
When creating chat bots you should focus on efficiency, rather than on endless conversations. Bots shouldn't blabber about dozens of options, users are not interested in. If you have ever talked online, with a person who is too chatty, you know that receiving message notifications every few minutes, is not a satisfying experience.
FB chat bot should use more text and fewer graphics
After making your chat bot precise, and straight to the point, you need to make sure that it uses the conversational forms users understand. By adding too many graphics and buttons to the chat flow, you are turning a conversation into an app interface, and that is not what users expect. They are looking for a human-to-human type of interaction, so you should only use, text, simple images and menus from time to time.
In the end, we want to remind you one more time that the chat bot can't entirely replace your customer service employees. You will need at least one operator who will maintain the Facebook Messenger chat bot and review its interactions. Chat bots that offer a live chat option are much more efficient than the ones without human support.
Apart from building custom chat bots and deploying them on your websites and messaging app accounts, the Virtual Spirit development team can also help you with designing engaging and sales driven chat bot scripts. Contact us, and we will make sure that you receive a program that will delight your leads and prospects and uplift your company’s customer service strategy to a new level.
