August 31, 2015: Facebook recently launched a new “Send Message” CTA that allows users of its ad platform to communicate directly with the advertiser. “Until now,” writes Facebook, “admins could only respond to customers in the same way that the person reached out to the Page, either through a comment or private message. In the coming weeks, Page admins will be able to reply to public comments within a private message, helping them solve private customer requests more efficiently.”
Implementing this new feature will require advertisers to run a Local Awareness Ad. Up until now, direct interaction has only been possible from this kind of ad via “Call Now, “Get Directions” or “Learn More” buttons.
While any messaging coming from exposure to these ads will be private, the degree to which advertisers can actually respond to these messages will be public. “When a business responds privately to a comment, the comment shows a note that the business responded privately, so other Page visitors know that the business handled the request. As people consider reaching out to businesses on Facebook through messages, they can now identify Pages that are very responsive to private messages. Pages that respond to 90% of messages and have a median response time of less than five minutes will now have a “Very responsive to messages” badge on their profiles.”
It’s too early to say whether Facebook’s ultimate intention is to insert itself into the suite of tools used by Corporate America to manage relations with their customers. What is evident, however, is that firms who work hard to answer queries from customers promptly will be rewarded, and it’s possible — even likely — that this kind of credit will reflect itself elsewhere in Facebook’s algorithms as a proxy for “good corporate behavior.”
The new “Send Message” functionality will likely help advertisers eager to enter into a one-to-one dialog with their audiences. It will be interesting to see which kinds of companies begin using this new functionality. Will B2Bs interested in initiating high-level person to person to conversations with prospects be the first to get on board? Or will service-based B2C companies seeking to prove their stellar service & support chops — via the “very responsive to messages” badge — be first?
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