Buyers on Facebook 

Today Facebook, with 2740 million users worldwide and according to most recent 2021 stats, it’s truthfully a place where businesses can interact with current and possible customers.  

Here are some interesting statistics on Facebook:

  • This social media had revenue of $29,01 million in 2021, just 35% than the previous year.  
  • 60,6% of Internet users have an account on Facebook. This means an audience of 193,9 million users in the United States.
  • Some 90 million businesses in North America use the platform for marketing, and as a result, 44% of consumers buy on Facebook. 

These numbers kind of whisper that Facebook is not only a big social media but a prominent place to engage with buyers. 

Facebook and Customer Service

During the 2020 Pandemic, eMarketer Insider Intelligence conducted a market study, and the results revealed that Facebook was used to serve at least 60% of customer service tickets. In other words, Facebook is considered a formal communication channel for customer service, and hence the question “is your business communications integrated into Facebook?”  is an entirely valid question.

Let’s review this: if consumers spend a lot of time on social media, social media becomes a channel for customer requests. Does this idea make sense? We believe so: a consumer received the wrong size of shoes, then decided to look for the verified brand’s Facebook Fan Page, and through the Messenger app, a request for the correct size is raised. A simple but effective interaction.

Automation and Integration of Facebook Messenger and Post Comments

Now let’s consider a scenario where the volume of interactions through Facebook Messenger or Facebook Posts is so high that it becomes unmanageable. You may also picture for a moment these customer requests need to be handled by a team while keeping accountability and reporting on the interactions, or it’s required to serve customers at 3 AM. These are the cases where integration and automation save lots of headaches.

In a previous article, we explored the benefits of Omnichannel communication and why businesses need it to offer better Customer Experiences (CX). A centralized communication platform that connects to the channels our customers prefer to interact with our brand is mandatory in 2022. Bringing Facebook Messages and Post comments and any other communication form to an omnichannel platform is merely common sense as employees or team members interact with buyers using a single interface.   

Integration of Facebook with contact center software also brings the “plus” of automation. Automation allows for a whole new set of actions that the sole Facebook application cannot perform. A sample of these actions include:

  • Autoreply
  • Autoreply on certain conditions such as a keyword on the body of the message, time of the day, etc.
  • Automatic distribution of incoming messages according to the status of a representative
  • Enabling conversational Artificial Intelligence
  • Analytics and reporting

Today, automation is the key to increasing customer satisfaction and preference for a brand. This is noticeable when servicing global markets and customers need appropriate responses 24 hours a day. If your team works for example, in EST timezone from 9 AM to 5 PM, then a chat bot that answers the most frequently asked questions could be added for non-business hours.

Our solution to Facebook integration

LinkedIP is proud to use XCALLY for social media integration. XCALLY is an Omnichannel contact center software that allows interactions to be conducted through several channels, including Facebook. This is how it works:

  • A prospect or client visits a Facebook Fan Page
  • Messenger window is open
  • Interactions are sent to XCALLY
  • XCALLY determines the best agent with the right skill
  •  Agent engages in the conversation
  • Conversations are then held in an omnichannel environment
  • A Customer Journey is built 

With XCALLY the most critical KPIs such as interaction hold time, agent response time, duration, etc. are being kept for later reporting. Such reporting would not be possible without integration.

Conclusion

As exposed, it’s essential to consider a Facebook integration as part of the overall business communication strategy. After all, Facebook is where consumers spend most of their time.

If you are interested in adding a Facebook integration or enabling Omnichannel communications to keep your customers happy, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@linkedip.com or at 1-800-969-0164.