What You Need To Know About Facebook Bots
I’m sure by now you’ve heard a lot of noise around bots. If you’re like me, you’re naturally interested in new tech, but ultimately want to see if bots can provide a meaningful impact on your business and or market. Let’s break this out…
- 900 million users use Facebook Messenger.
- 72% of Facebook Messenger users purchase products online.
- 54% of user only login via mobile.
Whats the value right now?
First, let’s talk about what bots shouldn’t do:
- Complex administrative tasks.
- Interactive things where a UI is necessary to explain it’s value.
Now, let’s talk about what bots should do:
- Simple tasks like requests, questions and presenting info.
- Notifications like dinner reservations, weather alerts, and reminders.
Finding The Sweet Spot
Take a look at a typical buyer cycle for consumer-based applications:
At the left of the cycle we have Awareness. Most commonly, we’ll see awareness happening on content and social channels. Depending on strategy, this can yield great, or shit results.
Even if your Awareness is pure ?? - you’re still tasked with figuring out how to Engage and Activate your potential customers. This is all in hopes that they actually take Action. Not to mention, taking action is one of the most expensive user actions. These include downloading an app, signing up, and learning an entirely new user interface.
What if there was a way you could prove your value and have the users interact with your brand without having the user take expensive actions? What if you could create an express lane from awareness to action, ultimately reducing CAC and increasing conversations? This is exactly where bots will begin to show immediate value. I call this “The Bot Sweet Spot.”
Example
I’m willing to bet almost all of you spend a ton of time browsing aimlessly through Netflix, Hulu, or iTunes trying to find something to watch. There are plenty of apps that try to solve this. Are they worth a download, an account and the time to learn? Probably not.
However, imagine if you could just hop on Facebook Messenger and ask:
It’s a very different story, huh? As a user, I would simply open up my Facebook Messenger, tell the Watch It bot what type of movie I’m trying to watch tonight, and instantly get sent a list of matched movies. It’s a great opportunity for me to get immediate value, and learn more about your brand. If I’m looking for additional functionality, I’m now more familiar and willing to download your app. You have created an express lane for your user straight from Awareness to Action. Fuck yeah!
In the coming weeks, Black Ops will be releasing new bots and tools that will help push the bot ecosystem forward. Be sure to follow me on Twitter where I’ll continue to share my thoughts on bots, tech trends and startup culture.