Marketing Strategy and Planning

Why Facebook Messenger Should Be Part of Your B2B Marketing Plan

May 21, 2018 10:00:00 AM

If you read Facebook is Back in Business to Business, then you already know how Facebook has made a major comeback in the B2B space with its sophisticated targeting for paid advertising. In recent months, it’s even more exciting as you can further develop your relationship with your prospects and customers through Facebook Messenger.

Engagement is higher with Facebook Messenger than email

With 2 billion messages sent between people and businesses each month on Facebook Messenger¹it’s definitely not a communication tool to be ignored. The high adoption of this communication tool is not surprising in the least, as marketers have been preaching the use of personalization in B2B marketing for years and now Facebook Messenger takes personalization to a whole new level. 53% of people say they are more likely to shop with a business they can message directly.¹The one-to-one communication drives engagement. Messages sent through Facebook Messenger have incredibly high open rates with an average of 84.3% compared to email’s 22.87%.²

During one of the sessions at INBOUND17 the marketing team from HubSpot shared a story of a test that they ran. They had a great piece of content and gave people two options: 1) to submit the form and receive the content immediately by email (the traditional way) or 2) to skip the form and get immediate access to the content in Facebook Messenger instead. They found that 20% chose option number two. They then sent Messenger broadcasts to the people who had opted in, suppressed them from the email sends and studied their behaviour. After four weeks the engagement metrics of the two channels showed a clear winner. The Facebook Messenger broadcasts had an average open rate of 80% and average CTR of 13%. That was 242% and 609% better than the emails, respectively.³ And while those numbers were lower than the reported averages, it did result in higher engagement with this option.

Advertising is a great way to connect with prospects and customers

Okay, so the numbers are impressive but how to do you get started? The easiest way to add Facebook Messenger to your marketing plan is to test a combination of ads.

Messenger ads. Just like Facebook ads that appear in your newsfeed, Messenger ads will appear on your home screen. Because you can be so precise with who you target based on a variety of criteria, the opportunity to promote relevant content is outstanding. Since they appear in the stream of conversations that your prospect has on the go it’s hard for your ad to be missed. Just be sure to use great creative when developing your ads to ensure you grab their attention and drive them to take action.

Click-to-Messenger. Unlike an ad that sends them to a landing page or to a piece of content, this option allows you to drive them into a conversation with your business in the Messenger app. This will allow you to interact with them on a one-to-one level which creates a stronger relationship. This is a great way to get to know your prospects and to really elevate that personal touch. Be sure to have a clear communication plan to maximize the opportunity.

Sponsored Messages. This is a great way to nurture your leads as you can send content to contacts you are already engaged with through Facebook Messenger. You would simply broadcast relevant and valuable content to your prospects to keep them engaged and move them through the pipeline. Be strategic with your timing and the cadence with which you communicate. The last thing you want is to bombard your prospects and turn them away.

How do I know if it will work for my business?

Like all marketing tactics that you are implementing you need to test Facebook Messenger for your industry and your target audience in order to create the perfect recipe for success. But, you may be missing out if you are not one of the 60 million businesses on Facebook Messenger⁴. With 1.3 billion people using Facebook Messenger⁵ the chances are pretty good that your customers and prospects are among that group.

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