Tag: facebook messenger

Domino’s Launches Pizza-Ordering Bot On Facebook Messenger

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Pizza Hut may have announced their pizza-ordering bot for Facebook Messenger first, but it has been beaten by its rival Domino’s, which has launched its chatbot for the popular messaging app in the U.K. and Ireland. As an extension of the Domino’s Easy Order program, which allows customers to order their favorite pizza with a simple tap of a button in its app, the chatbot will cue up your default order in response to a single word command of “pizza” once you’ve signed in with your My Domino’s account.

What Brands Need To Do
This is not the first time Domino’s has ventured into conversational interfaces. In February, Domino’s released an Alexa skill that allows users of Amazon Echo devices to order pizza by speaking. The chatbot is designed to focus on performing one task only, which is certainly a valid approach as we pointed out in our Medium post on chatbots.

However, compared to Pizza Hut’s upcoming Messenger bot, which promises the ability to hold a back-and-forth conversation with customers and functions beyond ordering pizza, Domino’s approach may be missing out on chatbots’ vast potential for customer service and feedback collection.

The Lab has extensive knowledge about building chatbots. If you’re interested in reaching your audience on messaging apps and better serving them with a chatbot, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) for more information or to schedule a visit to the Lab.

 

Source: VentureBeat

Facebook Rolls Out Shop Section For Brand Pages In Select Markets

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook first started testing the addition of a Shop section to its Pages last September, and now the social network has started the official roll-out in select “high-growth and emerging” markets, including Mexico, India, Brazil, and Taiwan. Page-owners can now display their products and services in the Shop section for customers to browse and search. The Shop section will redirect interested shoppers to Facebook Messenger to complete their orders. Facebook says the section will roll out to all global markets in the coming weeks.

What Brands Need To Do
Adding a Shop section to Pages provides brands a great tool to showcase their offerings and help with customer conversion. More importantly, however, it also serves as a portal for Facebook to push for the ecommerce capabilities of its messaging app. As Messenger recently hit 1 billion active users worldwide, there is no denying that it is important for brands to be present on Facebook’s messaging platform to connect with its massive users and adapt to the rise of conversational commerce.

To learn more about how brands can effectively reach consumers on messaging apps and other conversational platforms, please check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: VentureBeat

Trolli Creates Facebook Chatbot That Engages Users With Mini-Games

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
On Tuesday, candy brand Trolli launched a Facebook Messenger chatbot that aims to engage users with a series of interactive quizzes, GIFs, and real-life rewards. The personality quizzes will assign users to three different personas corresponding to three different Trolli flavors, which each come with their own branded content to further engage customers. The “crawler,” for example, gives users a digital pet to take care of and the “blast” will dispense memes and GIFs to amuse fans on a daily basis. The company is buying ads on Facebook and other social channels to promote the chatbot and will also reward participating consumers with free candy they can redeem through Trolli’s website.

What Brands Need To Do
Unlike many other Facebook chatbots brands have developed that focus on customer service or other utilities, this Trolli chatbot stands out for the way it aims to engage consumers with gamified conversations and real-life rewards. With more and more smartphone users adopting messaging apps as their primary communication channel, it is time for brands to consider developing chatbots in order to reach prospective customers.

The Lab has extensive knowledge about building chatbots. If you’re interested in reaching your audience on messaging apps and better serving them with a chatbot, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) for more information or to schedule a visit to the Lab.

 

Source: AdWeek

Here Come The Pizza Hut And Whole Foods Chatbots

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Another day, another crop of branded chatbots pop up on Facebook Messenger. Pizza Hut customers can now ask a chatbot to order a pizza and, once signed in with their Pizza Hut accounts, check their past purchases. In addition, the Pizza Hut bot will also be available via Twitter DM. For people who wish to eat healthier, Whole Foods is developing a Messenger bot that will respond with curated recipes related to keywords and emojis users send. Both chatbots are built with the Conversable platform and were unveiled at the VentureBeat MobileBeat conference on Wednesday.

Why Brands Should Care
These two chatbots are the latest additions to a growing list of branded bots as companies seek to connect with consumers on popular messaging apps. As we noted in our Medium post on branded chatbots, they are great for handling basic customer service and other single-focus tasks. Both of these new chatbots adhere to that principle, focusing on ordering and dispensing recipes, respectively. With more and more smartphone users opting to communicate via messaging apps, it is time for brands to consider developing chatbots in order to reach prospective customers.

The Lab has extensive knowledge about building chatbots. If you’re interested in reaching your audience on messaging apps and better serving them with a chatbot, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) for more information or to schedule a visit to the Lab.

Source: AdWeek

Staples To Build A Chatbot For Facebook Messenger

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Staples becomes the latest brand to join the chatbot craze as the company’s Executive Vice President of Global eCommerce Faisal Masud reveals that the office supply retailer is working on a chatbot for Facebook Messenger as well as developing chat tools for its existing digital and social properties. According to Masud, the new messaging tools are built for better customer service and facilitating communication while the Messenger chatbot will focus on providing automated customer service.

What Brands Need To Do
Messaging apps are quickly overtaking phone calls as the primary means of modern communication for a growing population segment. In fact, Facebook reported that Messenger and WhatsApp now process 60 billion messages per day. Therefore, in order to reach consumers where they already are, brands should adapt to changing consumer behavior and get on messaging platforms.

For more information on how brands can effectively reach consumers on messaging apps and other conversational platforms, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016 and our latest Fast Forward analysis on chatbots.

 

Source: PYMNT

LiveWorld Debuts Tool For Managing Conversations On Messenger

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
LiveWorld, a social media software provider, released a product earlier this week to help brands better manage the various streams of conversations across social and messaging platforms in real time. The self-service, cloud-based platform combines social media scanning with case management and a CRM system to allow social managers to stay on top of all social chatter. The platform currently supports Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, as well as one messaging app, Facebook Messenger. The company says support for more messaging apps such as WeChat and Snapchat is coming soon.

What Brands Need To Do
As messaging apps start to open up to brands, an increasing number of brand-consumer interactions are moving from social media to messaging platforms. Therefore, it is only natural for brands to start deploying the right tools to manage their conversations with customers in messaging apps and improve their customer support.

For more information on how brands can effectively reach consumers on messaging apps and other conversational platforms, we recommend reading the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016 and our latest Fast Forward analysis on chat bots.

 

Source: Marketing Land

Fast Forward: What Marketers Need To Know About Facebook’s F8 Event

Posted on by Lab Team

Your guide to tech-driven changes in the media landscape by IPG Media Lab. A fast read for you and a forward for your clients and team.

• Facebook launched Messenger Platform to help brands to communicate with users
• Live Video with API strengthens video and video ads on Facebook
• New tools for app owners and VR content creators

Screen Shot 2016-04-12 at 1.10.50 PM

What Facebook Announced
At its annual developer conference on Wednesday, Facebook discussed their ten-year roadmap and introduced a number of new features to improve its platform and make it easier for brands to connect with Facebook users. Following Microsoft’s launch of a bot framework two weeks ago, Facebook is introducing chat bots and developer tools to its messaging app with the debut of Messenger Platform. During his opening keynote, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg demoed chat bots from CNN and 1-800-Flowers to showcase how chat bots can help publishers and businesses communicate with users on Messenger. While there will not be a curated bot store, the Messenger team does promise to help with discovery, mostly via search.

Facebook also introduced a Live API so that developers can live stream video to Facebook from any app or device. The new API should vastly expand the reach of Facebook’s Live video broadcasts as it allows lots of new broadcasting methods, like the use of multiple cameras, drones, and new devices. This is in sharp contrast to Facebook’s biggest live-stream competitor, Twitter’s Periscope, which requires streaming from a single smartphone. Therefore, FB Live can scale from a front-facing smartphone camera through TV production quality equipment and has already shown it can draw audiences that rival cable TV with the right content.

Moreover, Facebook is diving deeper into virtual reality with an open-source Surround 360 camera rig to help professional content creators capture 360-degree video with minimal post-processing. It is also looking to ship the Touch controllers for Oculus VR later this year to add interactivity to virtual reality. Zuckerberg also teased some multiplayer features that Facebook is working on to make virtual reality a more social experience.

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Facebook continues to build out its ecosystem with to two new tools: Account Kit and a new “Save to Facebook” button. With Account Kit, developers can streamline account signup and login, extending the popular “Login with Facebook” feature to users without Facebook accounts. Facebook is also expanding the four-year-old “Save for Later” feature with a new “Save to Facebook” button, which enables users to save content from third-party sites to read or watch later in the Saved tab Facebook.

Facebook also shared some interesting stats on its fast-loading Instant Articles program. Since launch, Facebook says posts in Instant Articles have logged 20% more opens and a 70% lower abandonment rate than other content. They also report an average of 30 seconds of engagement on Canvas Ads.

What Brands Need To Do

• Develop useful bots to reach customers on the messaging apps they’re already using
• Take advantage of the emerging popularity of live streaming to connect with consumers in real time
• Start producing branded VR and 360 video content to immersively engage consumers

As Messenger hits 900 million monthly users, there is no denying that it is important for brands to be present on Facebook’s messaging platform to connect with those users. With the launch of Messenger Platform, Facebook is making it possible for brands to build bots to communicate and serve customers directly on Messenger. For example, Facebook showcased a shopping assistant bot from Spring, which suggests appropriate items for shoppers to purchase directly on Messenger. Facebook’s demo shows that chat bots can be trained with basic responses on a web interface with no code while more in-depth responses require custom development, aided by Facebook’s new Bot Engine tools. Particularly interesting here is the Customer Matching feature, which allows brands to sync up customer profiles and conversations across Messenger and SMS.

spring-bot

With the Live API, Facebook is making it easier for brands and developers to integrate its relatively new live-streaming feature into their apps, platforms, and even devices. As we noted recently, live-streaming video is starting to blow up thanks to Facebook. Live video content lends an authentic touch to brands, which millennials seem to embrace. For brands looking to experiment with live-streaming, they should be prepared on the technical front to ensure a smooth broadcast, but also willing to roll with the punches and embrace the unexpected.

As Facebook makes a strong push for VR and 360-degree videos, brands would be smart to seize the opportunity and work closely with content creators to craft interactive VR experiences to intrigue and engage consumers. The new Facebook Surround 360 camera should be a great tool for brands to produce 360-degree content, and the coming interactive and social features should help make virtual reality a more powerful tool for brands to create immersive branded content to engage their audiences with.

How We Can Help
The Lab is actively producing 360 content, chat bots, and live social video products for our clients. Please contact Client Services Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) if you would like more detail or to schedule a visit to the Lab to discuss how your brand can better serve your customers with these emerging platforms.

For previous editions of Fast Forward, please visit ipglab.com. Please reply with any constructive criticism or feedback. We want these to be as useful as possible for you and your clients, and your input will help us immensely.

 

All pictures featured courtesy of the F8 Livestream

Facebook Debuts Scannable Messenger Codes For Brands

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
On Thursday, Facebook debuted two new tools that can encourage more users to communicate with brands in its Messenger app. With the new scannable Messenger Codes, brands will be able to generate a two-dimensional barcode that users can scan with their smartphone cameras to start chatting with brands on Messenger. In addition to Messenger Codes, Facebook also introduced customizable short URLs called Messenger Links that, upon clicking, can redirect users to brand accounts in the Messenger app. Earlier this week, Facebook started showing “Suggested Businesses” in its Messenger app’s search page to facilitate discovery  on that platform.

What Brands Need To Do
Scannable codes have long been a staple discovery tool on other messaging apps such as Snapchat or China’s WeChat. In fact, Snapchat’s customizable SnapCode is so popular that Burberry even started putting it on tags on some of their retail items to encourage shoppers to follow their Snapchat channel. As Facebook continues to make its messaging platform more business-friendly, brands should learn to use all the new tools available to make it easier for customers to find them and start a conversation.

To learn more about how brands can navigate the unique challenges that messaging apps present, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: TechCrunch

Header image courtesy of Facebook for Business

KLM Airline Integrates Into Facebook Messenger

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
KLM has become the first airline to integrate with Facebook’s messaging app in order to reach customers where they already are. The Netherlands-based airline has announced a partnership with Facebook that will allow KLM customers to receive flight confirmations and digital boarding cards, check for flight status updates, and ask questions directly in the Facebook Messenger app. The integration kicks off today and will roll out globally “in the coming days and weeks.”

What Brands Need To Do
Messaging apps are dominating time spent on mobile devices as more and more mobile users start using them as their primary communication platforms. eMarketer forecasts that the number of messaging app users worldwide will reach 2 billion by 2018 which will be 80% of smartphone users. KLM has seen a 40% increase in customer feedback since it activated the Messenger button on their Facebook Page last year to allow customers to contact KLM via private messaging. It is clear that customers like this way of communicating with brands, the same way they communicate with everyone else. Therefore, brands need to follow their customers and consider integrating their customer communications into popular messaging apps.

To learn more about how brands can navigate the unique challenges that messaging apps presents, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: VentureBeat

Facebook To Allow Brands To Send “Ads” To Customers On Messenger

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook is reportedly planning to allow brands to send unsolicited messages to customers that have previously started a conversation with them on the Messenger app. The social network has been working on making its messaging platform more business-friendly since its F8 developer conference last March, adding support for business accounts and encouraging users to chat with brands on Messenger app. Some early-adopting brands, such as Hyatt Hotels, have already started using Facebook Messenger as a customer service tool.

What Brands Need To Do
While this is a bit different from advertising to users on messaging platforms via an ad network, this new feature should give brands more initiative in communicating with customers on Messenger and leverage established connections to raise awareness for new products or encourage repeat purchases with value offers. Nevertheless, brands need to be cautious with the frequency and relevance of their messages so as not to turn off customers.

For more information on how brands can adapt to conversational interfaces and effective reach consumers on messaging platforms, check out our Outlook 2016,

 

Source: TechCrunch