Facebook Messenger Gets an Upgrade & Opens More Advertising Opportunities

According to Facebook, there are more than 1.8 billion messages being exchanged between active users every month on Messenger. This also includes exchanges between business pages whether it’s with a bot or a real customer service representative, the platform has become increasingly valuable with ease in direct interactions and in growing sales. As a result, Facebook put more emphasis into upgrading the platform overall in order to drive eCommerce and increase purchase conversions. Here’s the low down on what’s new and how it presents new advertising opportunities!

Upgrade #1: New Bot Tools
When starting a new conversation with a bot, users will first see a welcome screen that provides the response time and capabilities. Additionally, during the conversation users can be presented quick reply options making it easier to choose and provide info.

Upgrade #2: Mobile Webview
This feature enhancement allows users to interact with a mobile website within Messenger. It can even be taken a step further where businesses have the opportunity to customize the webview like the height of the browser window. The benefit to a partial webview is users don’t lose context of the conversation when being shifted elsewhere.

Upgrade #3: Direct Payments
Payments are better integrated within messages by allowing users to purchase without ever having to leave the app. Basically you can attach your billing information directly to your Facebook profile and with a few clicks of confirmation the item or service is purchased immediately within Messenger. This faster checkout process will likely result increase purchase conversions.

Now for the good stuff – businesses are now able to enhance their Messenger discovery through news feed ads as it links directly into the conversation destination. This can not only take advantage of current customers by re-engaging with them through custom audiences, but it can branch out to prospects with introductions to products or services.

For instance, a brand could advertise a Messenger-only sale. When a user comes across this new link ad within their newsfeed (pictured below), they can click through and view the product page within the Messenger app. As they make their purchase without ever being redirected to an outside webpage, the user could use a Messenger-only sale promo code as they simply tap or click to confirm purchase.

This combination of upgrades shows Facebook’s belief in creating a strong platform especially when it comes to full-funnel. As social advertisers, we can’t wait to try it out and bring on a new and fully integrated direct purchase channel.