#F8: Facebook Messenger can now help businesses book appointments and more

In the series of updates that were announced at Facebook's annual conference for developers, F8, social media giant also revealed a few upcoming features of their messaging platform Messanger that will help Businesses connect with Customers.

Ted Helwick, Director of Product, Messenger Business, revealed that the platform is picking up with 300,000 developers on board, 40 million active businesses messaging people across the globe and people and businesses are exchanging over 20 billion messages each month.

"We’re making it even easier for businesses to connect with potential customers by adding lead generation templates to Ads Manager. There, businesses can easily create an ad that drives people to a simple Q&A in Messenger to learn more about their customers. And to make it easier to book an appointment with businesses like car dealerships, stylists or cleaning services, we’ve created an appointment experience so people can book appointments within a Messenger conversation" stated the Facebook's announcement.

The new set of updates includes plug and play features to for businesses to generate leads, drive in-store traffic, and provide customer care

Also Read: #F8: Facebook to update Messenger app, create Lite and Desktop version

Appointment Booking on Messenger

Appointment booking is an already existing way how Messenger Chatbots are used currently. Taking the learning from the insight, Facebook has built a dedicated solution that can be integrated with a business’ calendaring system to provide people with the most up-to-date appointment availability.

A new standard calendar interface makes it easier for people to select an available appointment and add it to their preferred calendar. A reminder keeps the appointments top of mind for people and also enables them to make changes or cancel directly in the conversation, allowing for real-time updates to the business’ calendar.

Appointment booking functionality is currently in Beta and will be available more broadly later this year. Sign up for Beta here.

Lead Generation and Qualification through Messenger

A new lead generation template will be added to the Ads Manager for advertisers to run lead generation campaigns on the platform with ease.

Leads will be qualified via an automated question and answer flow within Messenger and people will be able to input their answers easily with quick reply buttons. There will be handoff functionality for seamless transitions from automation to a live agent. Natural drop-off can be curbed with customized reminders and submitted leads can be accessed via manual downloads, CRM integration, or Pages Inbox.

Easy Authentication

In the coming months Facebook will be launching a new capability for m.me links – Authentication. This will allow businesses to direct customers who are already authenticated on mobile app or website seamlessly into a Messenger thread and create an instantly personalized experience. Easy Authentication will complement the existing account linking platform feature and will help businesses handle common care issues such as billing inquiries, refunds, and more.

Information Source: Messenger News