Posted on by Andrew Demeter

Messenger Bots: Free Retargeting Unleashed!

By Andrew Demeter - September 1, 2017 41244 Views
By Andrew Demeter - September 1, 2017 41245 Views

In this article, I’ll show you how to use Messenger bots to set up free retargeting on Facebook.

You’re already a pro at Facebook Ads, but let’s face it…

  • It’s time-consuming to install the Pixel on every new client’s website.
  • It’s expensive to A/B test tons of ad variations.

So in this tutorial, I’ll be using Chatfuel to build a super simple cart abandonment bot for a fictitious e-commerce store.

Step #1

First, create your product using the “Gallery” card.

Creating Products for Messenger Bots in Chatfuel

Step #2

Next, add a “Set up user attribute” plugin above the product you just created. Type the name of your product in the USER ATTRIBUTE field on the left; enter “seen” for the VALUE on the right.

Setting up user attributes for Facebook Messenger bots

Step #3

Click the yellow caution triangle next to the buy button to reveal a dropdown menu, then open the Advanced Settings. Create a new “thank you” block by typing in the “After Purchase Show These Blocks” field.

Creating "thank you" message in Chatfuel

Step #4

In the new block you just created, enter the “thank you” message you want customers to see. (NOTE: Chatfuel will automatically generate and send customers a receipt in the bot.) Repeat Step 2, changing the VALUE field to “purchased”.

Using cart abandonment with Messenger bots

Step #5

Finally it’s time for the fun part! Switch into the “Broadcast” tab and create a new SEQUENCE. Let’s click the green USER FILTER button to set up our behavioral retargeting.

In this case, we’ll target bot users who saw Product Y but didn’t purchase it. According to this screenshot, the bot will send qualifying users a cart abandonment reminder (and discount!) 24 hours after they view the product.

Using behavioral retargeting with Messenger bots

Step #6

The beauty of Messenger bots is not only that you can retarget visitors for free, but you can also get extremely high open and click-through rates. You’ll usually find 80-100% open rates and 20-30% CTRs.

These results might seem too good to be true, but they’ll normalize over time as more marketers discover the power of chatbots on Facebook.

Open rates for Facebook Messenger bots

What’s next?

I’m writing a series of these articles (exclusively for Ad Leaks!) on Messenger marketing, so let me know what topic you’d like covered next!

Here are some ideas…

  • Using Messenger bots with lead magnets
  • Syncing subscribers’ data with CRMs
  • Connecting bots to Facebook ads

Chat soon,
Andrew Demeter