1.3 billion people use Facebook’s chat app per month: Messenger. This is an easy way to stay connected to people. It is also an easy way for businesses to engage with their target audiences. As much as you can ignore an email, you don’t tend to ignore your messages.

We simply feel that it is a more personalised approach, that this form of communication is a different exchange of information, it is private and you are already conditioned by similar formats like Whatsapp and iMessage to read and respond.

Businesses now are able to advertise directly to the Messenger Inbox. Instead of clicking that enticing ‘APPLY NOW’ button, we are clicking to ‘Messenger’ to start a conversation.

Forget lead pages, microsites or clunky web forms. It is the age of conversing online to a chat bot or human who provides you with that next level service so that you end up booking into that event/appointment, signing up to that email list or buying that retro 90s jumper.

Let me explain the effectiveness of using this platform. Everyone understands email marketing and how that works right? You subscribe and when ASOS sends you a 60% off deal – you can’t help ignoring that eye-catching gif, that basically tells you to purchase now or you will suffer from deep regret. I know for myself, I delete these emails before I open them, so that I have removed all temptation.

In comes Messenger chat bots, (which in combination with my sad inability to ignore any sale) may be the death of my bank account because I am personally notified, by my phone, immediately as I receive any message. This is the opportune moment for a business to personalise customer service and personally deliver me an offer I cannot refuse.

This is a great tool for driving strategic engagements and actions because this is an app that the bounce rate is low and the likelihood of seeing your ad is high. This is why 10 billion messages are exchanged between people and businesses every month.

These chat bots are getting smarter too, they can identify keywords like ‘Help’ and direct you to a FAQ page, or send you details on ‘How to Apply’ if you supply an email through the chat.

If 53% of people are more likely to trust a business that they can message directly, how do you think this would help in your business??