Facebook AI chatbot for business in 2024

With over 3 billion monthly users, Facebook is the platform of choice for businesses to connect with customers. And while most brands don't have the resources to be available 24/7, that is exactly what their customers expect. This is where the Facebook AI chatbot comes in.

In this article, you will learn what an AI Facebook chatbot is, why you should build one, and how to maximize its potential.

Facebook AI chatbot explained

Technically, any chatbot is a piece of code that simulates human conversation and interacts with users based on predefined settings and rules. A bot can answer frequent questions, provide basic assistance such as tracking packages or booking appointments, make personalized recommendations, and more.

Facebook bots operate in Messenger, a Metaverse’s instant messaging app. Messenger can integrate with websites and WhatsApp. You can duplicate and deploy a Facebook AI bot on your website or WhatsApp Business account to enable multi-channel communication with your customers.

Meta's latest AI chatbot

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, heavily invests in the development of various Meta conversational AI technologies and features. In 2020, the company rolled out an AI chatbot for Facebook called BlenderBot. Meta claims it was the first publicly available conversational model that could do many things, like understanding emotions, having knowledge, and showing personality.

The latest version, BlenderBot 3, can search the internet to discuss almost everything and improves its conversational skills based on user feedback. It’s a flexible and powerful tool that can be put to a range of uses. However, its drawbacks make it unsuitable for businesses looking for a chatbot to handle customer service. The large language models, which Facebook chat bot AI is at its core, tend to invent answers to user questions. Not to mention location restrictions – currently, BlenderBot 3 is available only to US residents. Building a custom bot is a more efficient option for brands that want to automate and improve customer service using AI.

Does Facebook plan to shut down AI?

You may have heard rumors about Facebook shutting down AI. Indeed, there was a wave of posts on the internet claiming that AI creates its own language. These posts described the scenario where bots created with Facebook AI were supposedly talking to each other. Meta's bots, Bob and Alice, attempted to communicate in some new language, but it turned out to be a completely meaningless set of characters. The bots were disconnected, but Meta continues its work in the field of artificial intelligence.

4 reasons to implement a Facebook AI chatbot

Conversational AI chatbots are cost-effective tools that can handle a wide range of tasks. While they don’t replace human agents, bots can help reduce the volume of tasks that would otherwise require a large customer service team. Additionally, they enable businesses to perform tasks previously abandoned due to limited resources. These tasks may include customer communication, engagement, re-engagement efforts, or gathering feedback.

If any of the following points match your goals, a Facebook AI chatbot may be your tool of choice.

1. Sell more

AI-powered chatbots can analyze customer preferences and behavior and provide personalized product recommendations.

2. Save costs

Chatbots automate repetitive tasks, reducing the need for human agents. This frees up time to focus on more complex issues that require human attention.

3. Make data-driven decisions

Customer data collected by AI-powered Facebook bots is an ultimate source of actionable insights. You can use this data for strategic decisions and targeted marketing campaigns.

4. Improve customer service

Facebook chat AI doesn’t get tired or need breaks. It can provide instant responses to customer queries 24/7, allowing your brand to stay in touch even outside of business hours.

Facebook bot best practices

Here are some proven tips that will help you make the most out of your AI bot.

Use customer data

Bot's log is a valuable source of customer data that can provide actionable insights. You can collect this information to:

• get actionable insights into your audience

• enable personalized customer experience

• provide more efficient and effective customer service

• increase engagement and conversion through targeted marketing campaigns

• identify areas for improvement

Different tools feature different approaches to data management. For example, in Chatfuel, there are system and custom attributes that help to collect, categorize, and save the data.

System attributes gather information like demographic data, timezone, contact details, and more. You can not change them. Custom attributes are assigned to a user by you and can be whatever you need them to be.

Collected data can then be exported from Chatfuel to Google Sheets and used to:

• learn more about your audience

• sort your audience into segments based on qualities or preferences, so you can retarget effectively

• personalize the chat for each user

Remember to prioritize privacy and security when handling data. Be transparent about data usage policies when obtaining customer consent.

Track the bot's performance

To assess the effectiveness of your chatbot, you can define relevant key performance indicators (KPIs). They may vary depending on the purpose of the bot and can include metrics like fallback rate, goal completion rate, and others. Another way to evaluate the bot's performance is by collecting user feedback. For example, you can allow users to vote with emojis at the end of each interaction. Keeping an eye on the bot’s performance, you can identify weak spots and continuously improve the bot, increasing its efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Ensure simple routing to human agents for non-standard inquiries

Though bots are efficient, you shouldn’t rely on them solely. Sometimes there are situations where a chatbot just isn’t enough. And that is when your support team should take it over. Ensure a smooth transition to human agents when there is an issue that the bot cannot resolve.

Define and set up specific triggers that will indicate when the chatbot should escalate the conversation to a human agent. This could include phrases like "speak to an agent," "human help," and so on.

Set up your first chatbot

By 2024, every brand seems to have a chatbot. If you haven't made one before, you might have felt overwhelmed by how complicated it seems. The great news is that making a chatbot doesn't have to be complex, especially with the right tool in place.

With Chatfuel, you can get your first chatbot up and running in a few simple steps. All it takes is to sign up, connect your Facebook business account, pick one of our comprehensive templates (or create your custom flow from scratch), and you’re good to go. Claim your free trial today.