How to Write a Compelling Facebook Messenger Sequence

People often ask me to help them with Facebook marketing. Ads, Facebook groups, and straight up social media marketing were pretty much the only ways of using Facebook for more engagement and conversions. But then Facebook Messenger chatbots came along. After all, these are just bots, right? Why Facebook Messenger bots? The real work, though, is in creating the message sequence, and I’m going to show you exactly how to do that. Here’s a Messenger chat bot from Nordstrom: What’s cool about this sequence is that it’s entirely based on data that the user is giving the bot directly. Those are just two ways you can use data to make your message sequences better. You start the lead generation process with an automated sequence: Then, once the user nears the end of the sequence, you can have the bot notify you. It’s only a matter of time before better bot creators show up with added features that make lead generation and conversion even easier.

People often ask me to help them with Facebook marketing.

And it’s easy to understand why.

The social media giant boasts 1.94 billion monthly users, and it’s become one of the most powerful marketing platforms available today.

I’ve spent a ton of money on Facebook ads. I’ve seen the ROI.

Facebook Ads are the most popular way of selling on Facebook, followed by social sharing strategies.

But sometimes, my clients don’t want to talk about Facebook ads.

Everybody’s doing ads. What can we do that’s different?

For a while, I had no answer.

Sure, everybody does Facebook Ads, but there wasn’t much else to do on Facebook.

Ads, Facebook groups, and straight up social media marketing were pretty much the only ways of using Facebook for more engagement and conversions.

But then Facebook Messenger chatbots came along.

Chatbots are relatively new to Facebook, but they’re quickly gaining popularity. Brands like CNN and the Wall Street Journal are using them, and users are loving it.

I like this feature because you can create a mini sales funnel within the bot.

You can lead users straight to your checkout cart direct from Facebook. Doesn’t that sound cool?

You might think using a Facebook Messenger sequence is risky. Who knows if people will respond well to them? After all, these are just bots, right?

Well, with the techniques I’m about to show you, you’ll be able to create a sequence that feels human and converts like crazy.

So if you’re looking for a new way to approach Facebook sales, look no further.

Why Facebook Messenger bots?

If you’re not convinced that Facebook Messenger bots can help you, I totally understand.

You may be wondering what a bot looks like or how it behaves. So let’s take a look at what exactly a bot is, what it looks like, and why you may want to try one for yourself.

First, a definition. A Facebook Messenger bot is software that can communicate with users through Messenger.

Think of it like those automated questions and prompts you get asked on the phone when you call your bank. Except Messenger bots can be programmed to act a lot more like real people.

A bot looks more or less like this:

You’re probably thinking that it looks similar to a live chat box.

Indeed it does, and in fact, it serves the same purpose.

A Messenger bot is like automated live chat that you can pre-program to interact with your customers. The results is a hands-off way of converting users that actually works.

So Messenger bots are basically live chat. Why does that matter?

It matters because live chat has proven itself over and over again to be an awesome method of converting.

I’ve found that you can boost your conversions by as much as 45% using live chat. The average is about 40% when it comes to capturing leads.

Since Messenger bots are the same concept, you can get close to that 45% conversion rate!

And honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if you got a higher rate than that.

The best part? If you program a great Messenger sequence, then the whole thing becomes totally automated.

You don’t need to do any more work. You can set it up once and let it do all of the hard work for you.

I bet you want a Facebook Messenger bot now, don’t you?

Lucky for you, they’re not too difficult to set up. I’ve walked through the process in a separate article.

The real work, though, is in creating the message sequence, and I’m going to show you exactly how to do that.

There are three important steps you need to keep in mind when creating a Messenger sequence. Let me break down each step for you.

1. Make your sequence responsive to needs

Earlier, I referenced the kind of automated questions and prompts that usually happen when you call your bank or other kinds of service providers.

You know what I’m talking about. Those are annoying, right?

Take a minute to ask yourself: Why are those robotic prompts so annoying?

Some people might say that they don’t sound human enough.

There’s definitely some truth to that, but I don’t think that’s the main reason.

Think about it this way. Do you often struggle when interacting with automated responses?

See, the main problem with pre-programmed customer service programs is that they don’t respond well to the user’s needs.

There’s almost always a convoluted process you have to go through to get the results you’re looking for.

People have even come up with complicated formulas for reaching human beings on the phone.

That’s because when you talk to a real person, you can have a much more straightforward and dynamic conversation.

You can easily address the problem and solve it.

You don’t have to ask certain questions that a machine will be able to process. You can say whatever you want.

That’s why live chat is so powerful, and that’s the kind of interaction you need to bring to your Messenger sequence.

The most popular way to do this is to minimize a number of decisions users have to make and actions they have to take.

You can do this by giving them preset options to choose from in the chatbot.

There are lots of bot building programs, like Chatfuel, that will let you do this.

The main advantage of this method is ease of use. Your user doesn’t have to worry about typing the wrong thing, and you don’t have to worry about losing people to that.

You’re telling the user exactly what to say.

This method is flexible and can be applied to a wide range of situations.

You can even turn a lengthy process into a short conversation with this technique.

Look at how this example narrows down a huge search with just two questions and six options: