Messenger Bots: Free Retargeting Unleashed!

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.

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.

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.

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”.

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.

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.

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