FACEBOOK MESSENGER BOTS IS THE NEW WAY TO CAPTURE AUDIENCE ATTENTION

But what is I tell you that all of this is possible by using Facebook Messenger Bots without spending hefty amounts of money? Well, it’s true. Want to know how, let’s explore a case study first.

As we are discussing chatbot benefits for food eateries, we cannot continue the discussion without the success story of the Marriott Hotel. 

The establishment created their first Facebook Messenger chatbot in 2016 to help visitors link the hotel and Starwood rewards accounts after the companies amalgamated.

The bot gained so much popularity that Marriott transformed it into a booking bot that allowed guests to enter their dates in a city, and received hotel suggestions. The bot also highlighted content from their magazine, Traveller, and integrated useful local facts and news for the guest’s approaching visit. Being at the forefront of the chatbot boom, Marriott has been providing stellar customer service.

The company did not stop there and also went to develop a separate careers chatbot to target millennial job seekers. This “MC” aids prospective candidates in finding the right job in the correct city, and at the same time provides education on Marriott history and values. 

So, Marriott is using chatbot technology not only to successfully reach and help its customers but also its employees.

A chatbot refers to a piece of automated messaging software that practices AI to converse with people.

These bots are programmed to understand questions, deliver answers, and even perform tasks. They are largely known to be friendly and accessible time-savers from a customer’s perspective. I mean, visiting a website and asking the bot to help you with what you are looking for is much easier than opening an app, let alone downloading one.

In other words, building a Facebook Messenger bot is a lot cheaper than building a mobile app to communicate with your customers.  

Here is how your Facebook messenger bot can help you capture your audience's attention.

Do you know how much time your staff members spend on managing bookings & taking orders? Well, the answer is a lot. It takes a lot of time to take orders, process, and complete whether you do it manually with the computer or by partnering with an online food ordering app.

However, a chatbot, installed on your website, social media, or restaurant app can interact with your customers and can execute these repetitive tasks with 100% accuracy. Customers will message you on Facebook or your website’s chat window and place an order, contributing to easier delivery and takeaway system.

The food business is primarily service-based, thus minimizing errors will help to reduce the loss of customers and avoid mismanagement issues.

Patrons expect 24/7 availability, and they hate waiting on hold. Customers also ask many of the same questions over and over again, which tends to frustrate a human being, and all of you know how right I am.

However, it is not the case with a machine. Not only will your Facebook Messenger bot be providing information 27/7 to the public, but also have no problem repeating the same info over and over again.

Furthermore, if you are spending an exhausting amount of time helping people book appointments, track deliveries, or check your return policy, a little automation will go a long way and free up your attention for the chores that a Messenger bot can’t do.

Due to machine learning, chatbots can easily recognize your regular restaurant customers and bring them back for more via automated deals and offers sent to them through emails or Facebook messenger, Instagram, or even SMS reminders.

You can tap a chatbot into your email list and tempt your existing customers with fresh deals and offers. You can do it on both social media and on your website to bring in a lot of repeat business.

People nowadays prefer personalization and anticipate that you would understand their choices well. You can see several complaining reviews on Yelp for restaurant employees failing to point out the vegan options on a menu. 

The thing is that most of the recommendations by a restaurant staff are grounded on what is popular in a restaurant. However, for a customer, what he or she likes or dislikes matter the most. People look for recommendations like what liquid refreshment would do better with their current order or what type of curry would go best with the bread they just decided on? 

Hiring employees who are skilled at such recommendations with in-depth knowledge of your menu will be way too expensive. But developing and deploying a chatbot will solve this issue for forever with zero downtime.

Bots can retain information, and with those details, you can go the extra mile. According to the latest research, people are 3.5 times more likely to open a Facebook Message than a marketing email. 

Furthermore, the portal has sponsored Facebook ads, which can be sent to everyone who has previously visited your Page. So, that means you already have a subscriber list and can use these ads with your Facebook Messenger bot to target high-intent customers.

Just think about it. You spend a hefty amount of money on a barrage of advertising, but that does not help to get to your customers personally. A Facebook Messenger bot, on the other hand, can do so by offering relevant content at the correct time. 

You can remind a customer about those reward pints still sitting in her cart waiting, or that she had a surprise birthday party this time last year.

For every restaurant, cafe and food eateries reviews help to bring in additional business. But following up with each customer that enters your eatery to leave you a review is undoubtedly impossible. It will only be a waste of time and money, even if one tries to do so.

But Facebook messenger bot can mechanically send reminders to your clients to leave you feedback. Your chatbot will ask the customers to fill in their details and give you permission to email them with no human intervention.

Whether a customer is online or already sitting in your diner, Facebook messenger bot for restaurants can help engage better, reduce the need for additional manpower, and improve customer experience. It is recommendations, order taking and offering deals or answering FAQs, you can have it all done through a fun, and conversational interface.