How to create the most effective chatbot Welcome Message

You probably have heard the old saying first impressions last. When it comes to business, this formula works too. Consumers with positive first impressions are more likely to select the innovation than consumers with neutral or negative impressions. So, you only have one opportunity to make a great first impression with customers.

At the offline store, customers' first impression can base on your window displays or the sales manager greeting them. It is the first moment the consumer is reaching out to you. And, if no one is there to greet and assist them, that first impression may be the last. And potential customers will leave your store and probably never come back.

Nowadays, more people prefer online shopping over offline. According to Meta’s studies, 55% of users buy products online, and 54% of shoppers use Messenger for purchasing online. That makes each interaction with your potential customer crucially important. Users' first impression of your businesses might depend on the very first message they receive from you. In this article, you’ll learn how to create an engaging Welcome Message for your Facebook Messenger and see some inspiring examples.

What is a chatbot Welcome Message

Welcome Message is the first message your Facebook chatbot sends to users. It generally includes a warm greeting, basic information about your business, and options to engage and continue the conversation. It is similar to a website homepage: the first place a prospect lands when they want to learn more about your brand and what you have to offer.

To set up a Facebook welcome message, you can use their built-in feature, Instant Replies. It allows plain-text responses. While this option works for many businesses, the functionalities of Chatfuel’s Welcome Message have the power to be more engaging. For example, you can use exciting media content and make conversations with your customers more interactive by using buttons.

What you can do with Welcome Message

Greet your prospectives

For Chatfuel bots, you can automatically import each Facebook user’s publicly available profile information. That way, your bot can address each person by name. To do this, type two open brackets (“{{”) inside a text block. For example, you could have your bot say, “Hi, {{first name}}! 👋”.

Introduce your brand and products

Your bot can briefly introduce itself and give users an idea of how it can help them. For example, it could say: “I’m Gigi, the personal shopping bot for this store. I’m here to help you find your perfect pair of jeans”.

Guide your clients

You can ask users a question and let them answer by clicking on a button. For example, in a restaurant chatbot, such buttons could be Reserve a table or Schedule Now.

Let users pick a language

With Welcome Message, you can let users choose the bot’s language by clicking buttons. Read more about adding buttons and other media assets to your automation here.

How to create a Welcome Message

You can send different greeting messages depending on the way users start a conversation with your bot. For example, they can enter your bot after commenting on your posts or through Facebook Ads with Messenger destination. Based on it, you’ll have to choose an Entry Point later.

To get started

1. Go to Automation → Flows tab.
2. Press + on the right. Then select Add Messenger flow from the list.
3. Choose an Entry Point. It will appear under the first block in your flow (starting point). Now you have two blocks.
4. Use the starting point block to create a Welcome Message. Press + Add Content to set it up. There you’ll see two options: Content Blocks and Collect User Data.

Content Blocks

With Content Blocks, you can make users’ experiences interactive and efficient. There are multiple options:

Text + Buttons lets you create a text message and a button selection to greet and guide users. The buttons can be customized, too. For example, you can edit button names and actions after users press each button: continue the flow, call phone, open URL, or Schedule Calendly event. To make it work, make sure that all buttons lead to a block, so the users won’t get in a dead-end after clicking them.

Typing animation lets you make a conversation with your bot look more natural to users.

Media content (images, your product gallery, audio or video files) lets you can make your automation attractive and informative.

Collect User Data

It is the second option in the + Add Content section of the starting point (and other blocks). If you wish to get users' contact information right away, you can use it from the Welcome Message. You can collect their answers, emails, phones, date and time info.

To set up and test

When you set up an Entry Point, you’ll have to select the Get Started button or FAQs to greet and assist users. Note that you’ll have to connect them to the following blocks to activate these options. That way, users will move to the next point of the conversation. You can choose the desired block to appear to users after pressing a button. For example, you can create a Product Gallery Content Block to show your catalog or menu.

Before launching, make sure you activate the Entry Point. To check if it works as you want it to, use the option Test this flow. Then, you can see the whole path of your automation from the users’ perspective and fix it if needed. That way, you can create an outstanding Welcome Message and give all consumers a positive first impression.

Chatbot Welcome Message examples

Let’s look at some Facebook Messenger greeting examples from our clients. Then, you can use them as an inspiration for your Welcome Message.

Tips

Keep it clear

We recommend using easy-to-read sentences that get right to the point. The users will get as brief info about your brand and products in the conversation as possible. Make sure that your text doesn’t have spelling errors and grammar mistakes. Such details can ruin the perception of your business.

Add human-like spirit

To engage users, make the conversation with your chatbot look natural. You can use typing animation to pace the conversation and give users time to read the messages. Also, you can use emoji if it’s appropriate for your audience. Keep the welcoming tone that can help put users at ease — especially if they’re new to bots.

Make it credible

Create your greeting message to look and sound professional. Choose visual and text content that is high-quality, engaging, and evoke an emotional response that reinforces your brand.

Start building your bot today

With Chatfuel, setting up and using automation is easy. Now that you know how to create an excellent Welcome Message, you’re ready to build a no-code Messenger chatbot yourself. Sign up today to get started.