According to Hubspot, a well-known CRM software, two-thirds of customers expect a response from an online store within 10 minutes. Therefore if you want to retain them, answering customer inquiries as soon as possible is a must. Otherwise, consumers may readily locate comparable things at other stores in the fiercely competitive online store market. If finally, they believe they do not need your products, you run the danger of losing these customers.
Auto-replies are a great way to respond to customer inquiries quickly. You can interact with them in real-time, and save manpower for replying. Online stores may deploy chatbots for customer assistance using the WhatsApp Business API. Moreover, they can also set up free automatic responses using Facebook Messenger. Read along to discover the types of Facebook Messenger auto-replies and how to set up each!
Further reading: 6 Tips to Easily Handle Heavy Customer Inquiries
Common Types of Facebook Messenger Auto-Replies
There are many types of auto-replies in Facebook Messenger. In addition to custom keyword responses, there are also some preset auto-reply types. The following are common types and examples of automated responses.
Respond to Facebook Post Comments (Inquiries) via Messenger
After users comment a keyword on your post, you can respond to them in Messenger with an auto-reply.
For example, you can set up an auto-reply for “business hours”. When a customer leaves a message asking for “business hours”, a response is automatically sent to the customer in Messenger.
Offline Auto-reply Messages:
Respond to all incoming messages automatically while you are offline.
Immediate Reply:
Auto-reply to the first message a user sends to a Facebook page.
Inquiry on Business Location Info:
Automatically reply to messages requesting business location details.
Recommended/Not Recommended Facebook Pages:
Send automated messages to people who publicly recommend or dislike your brand.
Received Employment Applications:
Reply to users who apply for jobs posted on your Facebook page.
Further reading: 2022 E-commerce Trends: 4 Tips to an Excellent Customer Service
Steps to Configure Facebook Messenger Auto-replies
You must be an admin, editor, or moderator of your Facebook page before you can set up Facebook Messenger auto-replies. To set up auto-replies, follow the steps below.
1. Go to the Facebook section of the Meta Business Suite.
2. Select Inbox.
3. Click Automations.
4. Select the type of automatic reply.
You can choose the recommended defaults and configure various types of auto-reply messages based on your needs. Types include Away messages, FAQs, contact information, business hours, location, and so on. Follow the configuration instructions for auto-reply messages in the options.
In addition to text, you can customize your automated messages with photos, videos, buttons, and personalized content. This includes the ability to insert user names in a variety of ways. On the right, you can view how the auto-reply will appear. When finished, click the Save button.
Likewise, keywords can be customized. Each custom reply can have up to 5 keywords or related phrases, for a maximum of 10 custom replies. When customers use any of these keywords or phrases in a message, they will receive an automatic response.
Further reading: WhatsApp Marketing Goes Mainstream and Engages More Customers
Summary
Facebook Messenger auto-reply is extremely useful for online retailers. Not only can it shorten the time customers must wait for a response. It can also automatically filter and process simple customer inquiries, saving the high cost of manual responses.
WhatsApp, on the other hand, is the most widely used instant messaging software in Hong Kong, with an 84.3% penetration rate. Therefore, in addition to Facebook Messenger auto-reply, online stores must also configure a customer service chatbot in WhatsApp Business API.
Sounds interesting, and do you want to learn more? You can easily create common questions and answers in the WhatsApp Business API chatbot using VIMOS‘ interactive message templates. Aside from efficiently responding to customer inquiries, you also enable the customers to self-resolve their concerns. Want to learn this trick? Take the opportunity to experience VIMOS for free now!
