Breaking The Bot: Facebook Autoresponder Tips

More and more people are relying on Facebook to get all the information they need about a business. Facebook Messenger has become the go-to for receiving quick and timely answers. Businesses will see all sorts of topics come through messenger. From compliments to complaints to questions about hours, locations, and menus, patrons expect to get an answer. 

For growing businesses, this can get quite overwhelming. To give the best customer service possible, one might feel they have to be on call 24/7 to respond to messages. Luckily with Facebook Autoresponder, you do not have to have someone on call at all times to answer incoming questions. 

Here are several tips to help you Break The Bot and get your Facebook Autoresponder up and running, smoothly and efficiently. 

1. Set Up Instant Replies

Do not get these confused with away messages. An instant reply answers commonly asked questions such as hours and location. This not only improves your response time but increases your level of customer satisfaction. These replies are easy to enable and can be personalized. Just head on over to your settings, click messaging, and follow the response assistant prompts. Create greetings, set answers to commonly asked questions, send appointment reminders, and more! 

2. Set Expectations Before The Customer

Have automated messages provide a timeframe they can hear from you if you are away. This is also a great opportunity to send the visitor to other useful pages such as your about page or commonly asked question page. Chances are, one of those sources will answer their question for them.

3. Personalize It

No one likes communicating with a bot. Create your responses to be natural so the customer doesn’t even realize a bot is talking to them. Facebook autoresponder has a great feature that allows your bot to respond with the customer’s name in the reply. Take advantage of this personalized touch. Building a relationship with customers is key to making sure they continue to come back. 

4. Set Away Messages

Going out of town or closed on a certain day of the week? Set an away message to keep your customers in the loop. This will keep your response time up and avoid any unnecessary customer service complaints. Let them know why you are unable to respond immediately and when you will return.

5. Set up a ChatBot

If you are looking to take it one step further, set up a ChatBot. This goes beyond answering simple questions or leaving an away message. With a ChatBot, customers can manage their accounts, order statuses, billing, and more. This is a great resource for restaurants looking to add on online ordering through messenger. There are several options when it comes to ChatBots. We recommend ManyChat but there are several others like ChatFuel and Flow XO that are also great options!