When you look at your current inbound and outbound Internet marketing strategies it probably includes a mix of pay-per-click (PPC) like Google AdWords and Facebook Ads. If you’re more aggressive, you might also be using video marketing, blogging, e-mail newsletters, Instagram and on-site search engine optimization (SEO). But the reality is that most of your competitors are using these strategies too.
Everyone uses these marketing strategies because there hasn’t been anything really new since social media became a “thing” in 2008! Until now. Introducing Messenger Marketing.
What is Messenger Marketing for Hot Tub Dealers and Pool Builders?
Messenger marketing (sometimes referred to as conversation marketing) is an effective way to communicate with prospects and customers either in real time (via live chat) or through an automated chat system 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Messenger marketing is conversational, interactive and offers your website visitors a method of instant communication in which they are in control of the over interaction. These conversations can take place via mobile apps like WhatsApp or WeChat or through Facebook Messenger. And according to Social Media Today, 1.3 billion people use Facebook Messenger on a monthly basis.
Is “Live Chat” Considered Messenger Marketing?
In some ways, yes and in a “perfect world” you would offer live chat 24/7 with customer service agents always available to answer customer and prospect questions. Unfortunately, that’s not a real option for most dealers. There are many free live chat options to use on your website, so price isn’t the problem in deciding to use live chat.
The problem most dealers have with offering live chat is they need a person(s) dedicated to managing these live interactions in real time. That means your employees need to stop whatever they’re doing regardless of how important it is to chat with someone asking a question that may not be time sensitive like “how late are you open today?”
Why do Consumers Get Frustrated with Live Chat?
• No one is online and available even though the live chat is on
• No one is available when consumers typically shop – before and after normal business hours
• Information websites require consumers to fill out to event start a live chat
• Companies that take too long to respond
When it Comes to Offering Live Chat, Dealers Have Several Options:
1. Don’t offer it and miss out on a great way to interact with customers and prospects – not a good option
2. Turn on live chat and sporadically interact whenever you can – again, not a good option
3. Offer live chat, but only turn it on when you can have a person available – better than option 2, but confusing for scheduling your employees and website visitors
4. Use a combination live chat/automated chat system that answers question 24/7 using live chat when you are available and automation when you’re not
How Does Messenger Marketing Work?
Messenger marketing conversations when used in conjunction with Facebook Messenger can take place inside the chat window while visitors are on your website, on the Facebook messenger app on a mobile device or directly on the Facebook’s message inbox accessed through the home page of a Facebook personal profile or company business page.
Users start and continue conversations by clicking on pre-made buttons that help guide the interaction. This instant communication method eliminates the need to use e-mails, text or even phone calls to solve simple problems, answer routine questions and even set up appointments.
Once the user starts a chat, all Facebook page admins are notified in real time that a conversation has been initiated and can decide to participate live or let the automated chat system handle the conversation until a live person is needed.
In addition, when in chatbot mode, if/when a user types in a question that the automated chatbot doesn’t “understand,” they system will tell them that no answer is available right now, but that someone will be back in touch to answer their question.
What Exactly are Chatbots?
Chatbots are interactive software programs/scripts that can be used to automatically engage with messages they receive. Depending on how you set them up, Chatbots can be programmed to respond the exact same way same way each time they are engaged or respond differently to messages they get that contain specific targeted keywords. Click here to read more about chatbots and if they are right for your business.
What Are the Benefits of Using Chatbots and Messenger Marketing?
Close Sales Faster
Unlike email marketing, customers see Messenger marketing more as a conversation, versus a marketing campaign. And unlike email marketing, customers want and expect you to interact with them at conversation speed, and therefore don’t think twice if you are sending messages every 10-15 seconds instead of every few days. Doing this via a chatbot or in real time, let’s you show prospect the benefits of your products, give them a discount to prompt them to buy, and help generate a highly qualified lead within minutes instead of days.
Generate Higher Quality Leads More Easily
By using the Facebook Messenger platform in conjunction with an automated chat, the moment a prospect clicks on either your website or Facebook “Get Started” chat button, they have just “opted-in.” That means you now have instant access to the information they’ve listed about themselves on Facebook; i.e.: name, email, phone number, etc. No forms to fill out or other info to capture.
Boost Customer Satisfaction 24/7
As a hot tub and pool dealer, you likely struggle to always meet customer demand for support. While large brands offer 24/7 support, this might put a strain on your business. Messenger marketing provides help without the added staff and costs.
Is Messenger Marketing Right for Your Hot Tub Dealership?
If you want to improve the effectiveness of almost every Internet marketing strategy you already use, generate more website and Facebook leads, answer customer and prospect questions faster and easier 24/7 and free up more time for you and your staff, then yes, Messenger Marketing is definitely for you 😊
Need help designing, setting up and managing your Messenger Marketing strategy? We offer a free consultation and complete “done for you” Messenger Marketing and chatbot service. After our initial conversation we get to work designing a Messenger Marketing solution to fit your needs.
Click here to learn more about our Dealer Automated Chatbot System
About David Carleton
David Carleton is a Pool and Spa Internet Marketing Consultant who specializes in showing spa dealers and pool builders how to spend less and get more from their marketing and advertising using low cost strategies in local business marketing, lead generation and conversion, Internet marketing and social media.
Dave was Vice President of Dimension One Spas for 6 years where he developed sales; marketing and training programs that helped hundreds of dealers in 30 countries around the world generate leads, increase sales and enhance their overall marketing effectiveness.
