Looking for more advice on PR, social media, and marketing? Why not get in contact or submit a brief to inject a little ingeniousness into your brand.
Last year Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the latest offering for brands looking to use his world-beating social network. The platform will never be the same again.
So developers can now build Facebook Messenger bots, AKA an auto-responsive AI assistant to directly respond to customer queries, requests and more. It’s part of a much wider move towards using artificial intelligence programmes for public-facing comms, taking some of the heat and pressure off staff and ensuring 24-7 support is a reality, without raising operational costs.
Here’s how the most innovative companies are doing it- take a look and see if it doesn’t inspire a few thoughts on how you could exploit this too.
[Tweet “Check out these great examples of brands using #FacebookMessenger bots”]
Hyatt
The hotel giant was one of the first firms to open for business on Facebook Messenger, and is using its bots for basic customer service and more ‘meaningful conversations’- basically directly talking back to anyone who messages.
Disney
Less customer service and more about creating a narrative, Disney now has ‘character bots’ that fans can drop messages to- for example Miss Piggy, of The Muppets note, is available for a chat whenever you’re in the mood for a chinwag.
CNN
Leading the news revolution, it’s now possible to send CNN a message, and receive a response of breaking news stories directly related to your original message. Wall Street Journal and TechCrunch are also doing similar things.
KLM
The Dutch airline now offers post-booking support on Messenger, which includes everything from flight confirmations and boarding passes to live gate information and delay details. You can also ask any question, 24-7.
[Tweet “Confused as to how #FacebookMessenger can be used for business? @SmokingGunPR have the lowdown. “]
American Express
AmEx’s use of Messenger is exemplary. Whenever a card holder makes a purchase they will then receive a receipt via the app, along with relevant suggestions- i.e. nearby restaurant recommendations if you book a hotel room.
Facebook
Despite the rather rocky history of Facebook and ecommerce, a new virtual assistant for Messenger, known only as ‘M’, is being tested by the network, with the intention of having this become our first point of call when shopping online.
Kayak
The travel website now allows you to drop a message asking things like ‘where can I go for £500’, with responses coming in the form of various hotel and flight options that fit the specified budget, with car hire and other added extras also available.
DuoLingo
One of the most popular language learning apps in the world now offers Messenger support, with tutors on hand to have conversations in French, German and Spanish, further improving your progress.
Victoria Belle
The U.S. beauty brand takes salon bookings via Messenger, but also has ‘experts’ ready to give advice on the latest make-up and hair techniques that people can do for themselves, from the comfort of their own home. Impressive.
AndChill
Inspired by the infamous Netflix (and hook up) phrase, AndChill allows you to message a particular type of movie or TV series- for example ‘dramas about crystal meth cooks’- and receive suggestions of suitable titles available on Netflix.
Trim
This service has enormous potential in today’s frugal world. Trim is basically a Facebook Messenger based financial advisor that remembers subscriptions you forgot you were still paying, tots up your total monthly Uber spend, and more.
Looking for more advice on PR, social media, and marketing? Why not get in contact or submit a brief to inject a little ingeniousness into your brand.
