It's not a new idea to build a Facebook Chatbot to automate the interactions you have with users. Facebook Messenger is an amazing way to communicate with friends and family members, and the built-in bot you get is easy to set up and able to do what you want it to. However, if you're planning on using your Bot to sell things on Facebook, there are some limitations that you should be aware of.
First, the Bot will only be able to sell products that you have a preview of in your own Facebook account. Even if you have uploaded a product image, it won't be able to let anyone else in your Facebook network see the preview of that product, just as you wouldn't expect a person to know about something they couldn't see. So if you plan on having your Bot do business sales through a third party, it's important that you limit its reach.
Also, you'll want to make sure your Facebook Messenger Bot is not running when a potential buyer attempts to buy a product. This makes it even harder for users to trust a business selling to Facebook; they don't want to see the Bot automatically canceling the sale after they've purchased a product. They want to be given the option to cancel the transaction instead. To avoid this, be sure to set your bot to only run when a user opens the "Buy" button.
You also need to be careful about any data you send to your Facebook Chatbot. Although you'll be allowed to run the Bot for a specified time period, and be able to run the same account (or an extension) on multiple computers, the Bot will delete anything it doesn't recognize, including many of the files it was just working on.
Facebook wants you to be certain the information you send your business with is secure, so it asks you to confirm it before it makes any changes. If you encounter any issues, be sure to contact Facebook and ask for help.
The last thing you need to think about is that Facebook Messenger Bots is building to go through their systems. You may want to use the built-in script, or have the Bot work through the Facebook website itself. Using the built-in script means that the script will take control of your system instead of you, but it is up to you whether you'd prefer this.
Keep in mind that the longer the duration of your business has on Facebook, the more likely it is that someone will find out you're selling products to the outside world through your Bot. So be sure to run your Bot for as long as you can, and if you only get a few people using it each day, it might be worth keeping it off the web altogether.
What about Facebook Ads? Does this apply to the Messenger Bot too? It certainly does for the reason that advertisers are more likely to advertise on Messenger than on your main site.
Using good bots means you'll need to focus on your results. If you have a large number of buyers for a product you are selling, you'll have a lot more competition and therefore more room for growth.
With that in mind, you'll want to make sure that your Facebook Messenger Bot only allows a small number of buyers to buy a product. Don't allow any more than 10 buyers to buy at once. Too many buyers could start buying products just for themselves, not to use in your business.
The best part of having your own bots running is being able to see the positive results they're having in your own Facebook network. While this might sound like a small thing, it can be quite advantageous to you if you're looking to expand and run ads more. People will notice your great bot and be excited to see what kind of results it generates.
Since the bots are running on your system, you'll also get a better sense of what you have to work with. This means you'll be able to test the costs and see if they're actually worth the costs, as well as making sure they're going to be able to run for the expected duration of your marketing campaigns.
