6 Ways to Get More Facebook Messenger Subscribers
There is 1 key rule that you need to take note of for Messenger Marketing:
“You can ONLY target people who are subscribed to your Messenger.”
What does that mean? How do people subscribe to my Messenger?
The answer is simple.
Once someone sends you a message on Messenger, he/she is immediately a subscriber. You can then reach out to him/her again on the platform later.
And this is essentially what Messenger Marketing is all about — to target your audience within the Messenger platform.
So now comes the interesting part. How do you then get people to subscribe to your Messenger?
There are many ways to do this and we have rounded up the top 6 for you to try out.
1. Messenger Opt-in Checkbox
The opt-in checkbox presents your customers the choice to receive order updates via Messenger. These updates include order confirmation and parcel tracking.
How it works:
Customer checks the box to agree on receiving updates about his order via Messenger, and proceeds to add item into shopping cart. Once the item is added into cart, the customer is now your subscriber.
Regardless of whether he eventually buys the product or not.
You can turn on this feature by clicking here.
This proved to be one of the most effective way of recruiting new subscribers. That is until…Facebook announced its new update last October.
With the new update, the opt-in box can no longer be pre-checked. Although stores that have implemented this plugin prior to the announcement can still enjoy the benefit of having a pre-checked box, many new store owners who adopted this strategy only after the announcement claim to have seen a slower subscriber growth rate.
That said, not all hope is lost. We have come up with a workaround for this issue! You can read point 4 below.
2. Customer Chat Plugin
To gain more subscribers, you obviously have to prompt people to start conversations with you. A good way in doing so is to provide them a channel where they can reach you quickly and easily.
Say ‘Hi’ to the Customer Chat plugin.
How it works:
A small little Messenger chat icon pops up with a welcome message when someone visits your web store.
This prompts them to chat with you about their queries through the chat bubble rather than calling you up or sending you emails (which they absolutely hate, since response time are always a drag). The messages will then go into your Facebook page’s inbox, where you can respond and react to in a timely fashion.
Most importantly, surveys have proven that majority of customers are more likely to purchase from a shop that they can message directly!
Listen to the customers. Turn on your Customers Chat plugin here.
3. Exit-intent Popup
You probably came across many exit-intent popups yourself and are no stranger to the feature.
This strategy has been widely adopted by many web stores for lead generation purposes and vast majority have claimed wonderful results. Except that, traditionally, visitors are prompted to enter their email addresses.
Since the goal now is to increase Messenger subscriber list, your visitors will be prompted to give you permission to contact them via Messenger.
How it works:
Upon trying to leave your webstore, a popup will appear, incentivising the visitor to subscribe to your Messenger.
The incentive can come in many different forms — giveaway, discount codes, free shipping, etc. Go creative with this and find one that fits your business model best.
Once they click on the “Send to Messenger” button, they are now your subscriber. Viola!
So the trick here is to craft a compelling copy that makes it irresistible to click that blue button!
If you are using chatchamp, you have the option to either time this popup to appear upon exit, or after a specific time period. Customise your popup by clicking here.
4. Add-to-Cart Widget
For those web stores which did not make it for the cutoff of the pre-checked Messenger opt-in plugin, this is the best alternative to counter the problem.
Order updates are not necessarily the most appealing bonus to subscribe to your Messenger. This is also the reason why stores that cannot have pre-checked opt-in plugin are seeing low sign up rates.
So how can you solve this issue? Present customers with a stronger incentive to check that box, that’s how!
How it works:
Under the add-to-cart button, there will be a notice to communicate the additional discount and opt-in blue button which will send the discount code to customer via Messenger once they click on it.
You can of course customise the text and the discount code. Just click here to set it up.
Who does not like discounts??
5. Facebook Messenger Ads
If you are planning to promote your eCommerce business with Facebook ads, consider getting audience to send you messages as the main call to action.
How it works:
There are 3 main platforms where your ad can appear — Facebook newsfeed, Instagram feed and Messenger home. On each of these platforms, you can include a call-to-action button that leads to a conversation with the user in Messenger.
To learn more about how you can set up these ads, check out Facebook Help here.
6. Messenger URL
Perhaps you have already spent a great deal of effort growing your email subscriber empire, and is reluctant to see all your effort to go to waste.
This is a fair and understandable concern. However, that does not mean that you should miss out on the benefits of Messenger Marketing!
All you have to do is start migrating your email subscribers onto Messenger.
How it works:
Include your Messenger URL or Messenger code within the email newsletters that you send out to your subscribers, along with instructions for them to start a chat with you.
Let’s look at some great examples of how other brands have done it.
To get your Messenger URL: Add your username to the end of the url m.me/__
To get your Messenger Code: Go to your Page’s inbox
Do you know of other great ways to grow Messenger subscriber list? We would love to hear them!
