Facebook introduced two new ways for advertisers to expand reach and increase engagement:
- Messenger as News feed destination
- Sponsored Messages
As more advertisers are coming in for a piece of the Facebook pie, the platform has found it necessary to open up additional ad placements opportunities for advertisers, including: The Audience Network, Instagram, and now Messenger. With over 1 billion people currently on Messenger, it opens up a whole new inventory for Facebook advertisers to interact and engage with their customers.
Who Should Use Facebook Messenger?
Facebook Messenger ads are great for advertisers that are looking to re-engage with a specific group of people, build brand awareness, and have users interact with their bot. Over 30,000 bots have gone live on Messenger with millions of other businesses responding to messages manually through their Facebook Page.
Big brand companies that have seen success with Facebook Messenger ads include Disney’s Zootopia where they used Messenger ads to allow fans to chat with the movie’s creator. The NBA used a bot on Messenger to provide instant access to highlights for NBA finals and drafts for fans.
Some other potential strategies for using Messenger could include:
- Share deals and offers
- Drive awareness of new products or services
- Encourage bot re-engagement
Messenger As A Destination For News Feed Ads
Messenger as a destination for News Feed Ads is a new feature available globally that allows advertisers to show ads in the News Feed for desktop and mobile where all clicks on the ad will directly open up a Messenger thread. Running website click ads with Messenger as a destination allows businesses to reach specific groups of people to interact with your bot. This is a great way to measure and promote your presence on Messenger.
How To Build A Messenger As Destination Ad
- Ads can be built in Ad Manager or Power Editor
- Determine ad format (carousel, single video, single image, slideshow)
- Choose Messenger as your destination – placement (ad set level). The Messenger icon will be added to the call-to-action button, letting people know that a click or tap will open Messenger.
- Select any of the existing call-to-action text options, including “Send Message.”
- Define a customized greeting for people who click or tap on your ad. Create this message text to provide users with additional guidance and functionality on how to proceed with the conversation in Messenger.
- Choose your targeting as you would for any other ad on Facebook.
- Here are some tips for messaging
Sponsored Messages
Sponsored Messages are an ad type that allows advertisers to re-engage people who have had conversations with their business within the last 6 months. These ad formats allow advertisers to:
- Send targeted updates
- Information about promotions
- Reminders and other relevant messages
These ads are available through Power Editor or the Ads API. Advertisers will be able to target all open conversations or create a new custom audience based on page-scoped ID.
Facebook Recommendations
- Audience size is greater than 50 people
- Exclude segments based on demographics or Facebook pixel events
- Plan to be active and responsive once you have re-engaged customers
How Sponsored Messages Work
- Objective: Select “traffic” or “conversions”
- Placement: Edit Placements > Messenger. You are only able to run sponsored messages on Messenger; therefore no other placements will be available.
- Targeting: Your total potential audience will be people who have messaged your business in the past 6 months. You will also be able to create a new custom audience based on page-scoped ID. Exclude segments based on demographics or Facebook pixel events.
- Bidding: Only CPM available. Local minimum bid varies by country and will be noted within Power Editor. Impressions will count when a person sees the message in their inbox and will not be charged multiple times if the user re-opens their inbox
- Creative: Single image ad with a headline, sub-text, and call-to-action (CTA). Recommend image size of 1200 x 628.
Conclusion
If you have a business that is looking for innovative ways to re-engage with customers on a platform that is not overly saturated, Facebook Messenger ads may be for you! Give them a try and let us know what other strategies work for you.
