By Emily Fontes

Today's post is the next in the occasional series - Building Your Birth Business. Marketing guru Emily Fontes shares with us her newest recommendation for connecting with potential and current clients and students using a tool that is sure to resonate with today's millennial parents. Learn all about ManyChat and how you can easily automate your communication with families and increase your marketing reach to new clients simply and easily. Check out all the posts in the Building Your Birth Business series here. - Sharon Muza, Community Manager, Science & Sensibility

The massive reach of Facebook Messenger

Facebook Messenger was the 2nd most downloaded app in iTunes in 2016 and is installed on over 1 billion smartphones worldwide. It has achieved massive growth in the past two years and Facebook has been intensively expanding and developing Messenger. Major integrations are being included in Messenger such as PayPal, Uber, Lyft and games. Facebook is actively building an AI virtual assistant similar to Siri. They've debuted new features such as filters, group messages and the "Your Day" stream. Without a doubt, Facebook sees MAJOR potential in Messenger or they wouldn't be investing so heavily in developing it.

As for users, in the last year, it's become clear that people use Messenger who aren't actually active on Facebook. Which means that even if people aren't going to interact with your Facebook page or Facebook group you may still have an opportunity to leverage that audience through Messenger. Users can also sign up for Messenger without signing up for a Facebook account. It is a completely autonomous app. Many people are moving away from email and using apps like Messenger, SnapChat, WhatsApp & Slack for a large portion of their communication not only for their own personal use but to communicate with companies. It is also cutting into the text messaging market as more people begin to use apps instead of their cell service for quick messaging.

Based on these changes, it should be no surprise that companies are finding ways to harness the Facebook Messenger audience, leverage it for marketing and monetize the experience. Social media is going through huge shifts in user behavior and expectations. NOW is the time to explore the cutting edge of this technology. In 2016, dozens of Messenger bot companies were debuted in order to shortcut this process. Recently I started experimenting with a Messenger bot called ManyChat that has really excited me with all of its capabilities.

What is a Messenger bot?

Messenger bots automatically handle or create conversations with visitors. Some features that are widely available in the general market are subscriber opt-ins, broadcast feeds, time dripped message sequences, auto responses, and keyword trigger automations. Companies are also developing bespoke Messenger bots that can do everything from sending flowers to ordering food to calling a ride.

If the concept of a Facebook Messenger bot still seems fuzzy to you and you want to experience what it's like on the receiving end. Try clicking this link and my own Facebook messenger bot will send you my free mini course about search engine optimization for local business owners. You can also take a look at some of ManyChat's video tutorials here.

So how does a savvy childbirth educator or birth professional use Messenger bots in their business? There is potential here for marketing to potential clients AND for providing value to current and past client families. Here are some concrete ideas for implementation.

Set up keyword triggers to reply to people on Facebook Messenger.

For example, a childbirth educator could set up a trigger to recognize the word "price" in any message. If someone messages "I'm wondering what the price is for your childbirth classes?" the trigger will fire off an automated reply that says "This is my handy autoresponder. :) Are you looking for class pricing?" with the buttons Yes & No beneath. If the person taps "yes" then an auto-reply can give an answer. If the person taps no a response could be "Oops, sorry about that, I'll reply to you personally ASAP". You can also direct them back to your website or have a button they can tap to call you right in Messenger. This reduces your time spent responding and allows people to potentially, get answers immediately. This ability to ask a question and create different branches of replies is extremely powerful.

Create a subscriber list for a childbirth class for follow up and interaction

Let's say you are a childbirth educator teaching weekly group class. You can create a sequence that sends your students a message three days after each class. It could include a reminder of their homework, a handy article to read, a worksheet or a checklist, even a mini-lesson! It could be a check in where you ask them how their week is going and if they had any questions from class. Once you have the automation set up, at the first class you have everyone take out their phone and message you a predesignated keyword. As soon as they send the keyword, your bot would add them to the sequence you made as described above.

Offer a mini monthly newsletter or check in for your clients or students

Maybe you've heard of people offering a monthly email newsletter for their expectant families? With a Facebook Messenger bot, you can deliver the same content right in their Messenger instead of email. You can also have keywords trigger subscribing, unsubscribing or switching subscriptions. Perhaps you have a sequence of nine monthly messages that families can subscribe to by sending you the word "pregnant" and then when they give birth, you have a series of 12 monthly messages they can switch to by sending you the word "postpartum". Along with having some type of useful content, you can ask them a question such as "How have your prenatal appointments been going?" or "Do you have any questions about breastfeeding". When people reply to an automated message, it appears in your Messenger just as usual and you can send a personal response. Remaining in touch this way throughout the first year provides them with useful information and keeps your name fresh in their mind for referrals to their pregnant friends.

Set up an opt-in bonus

Some bots like ManyChat allow you to make custom opt-in buttons to embed on your website. A childbirth educator could set one up so that it sends anyone who clicks a free guide to choosing a childbirth education class via Messenger. Once they have received it, you can reply personally to continue a potential enrollment conversation or you could also have the bot send them a series of follow-up messages.

Create a welcome message with options

When people go to send a message to you on Facebook you can offer a pre-menu they can select from before they even type something. This allows you to provide commonly asked for information right off the bat. A doula could have a "Want to check availability for your due date?" option that people can tap to visit the doula's availability calendar. A childbirth educator could have a "How to register for class" option that people can tap to go straight to registration. Any business could have a "Want to talk to a human?" option people can tap to dial your phone number immediately.

Boost engagement on Facebook posts

One feature of ManyChat is the ability to trigger Messenger conversations when people comment on posts on your Facebook page. So if a childbirth educator posts a discussion about preparing a birth plan and asks if anyone has struggled with getting started, ManyChat can be set to watch the post for responses containing "yes" and then reply via Messenger with something like "Many people are unsure where to start with creating a birth plan. I thought you might like this video tutorial of my top tips". Alternatively, you can tell people to reply with a specific keyword if they want to receive a set of tips via Messenger.

Things to like about Messenger bots

These ideas might pique your interest or make your head spin (maybe both!). What I like about Messenger Bots is that they feel more conversational and interactive than email. It offers a chance to customize a marketing conversation that for so long as been very one directional. I also find that most people's email inboxes are overfull and connecting with them on Messenger may be one way to cut through the noise.

I also like that there is massive flexibility in how you can build a Messenger bot to suit your needs and your unique clientele. On the flip side, there is a potential that using a Messenger Bot will make your communication feel, well, robotic. So if you are going to use one, be sure the replies you create are personable and that you follow up with your own personal messages as soon as possible. Remember the job of the bot isn't to replace you, its job is to be helpful while opening the door to conversations so that you have an opportunity for more personal communication later. You can use this Messenger bot to help attract potential clients, engage and connect with current students outside of class and offer personalized attention to all.

Give it a try yourself

The feedback from my users on the ManyChat experience has been astounding. I'm getting excellent open and click through rates. My users say it is fun to use and innovative.As I mentioned previously, I've set this up on my own business page and if you'd like to test it out yourself and receive my 5 Ways to Increase Your Local SEO in 5 Minutes or Less, just click here! I love to hear how you implement Messenger bots in your birth business or if you have questions. Feel free to comment below or send me a private message here.

About Emily Fontes

Emily Fontes is a website whisperer, brand stylist, and local SEO ninja. She has been a birth professional since 2003 and currently runs the marketing strategies for two Seattle area birth businesses and co-owns a manufacturing business. Emily also coaches birth professionals in marketing through Bloom Business Solutions and the highly popular Grow Your Birth Business online courses. Even though she found her passion in supporting birthing families, her first love was website design, branding, and SEO, in which she has been honing her skills since 2001. Aside from all the birth-y and design-y activities, Emily is an eclectic homeschooling mama, voracious reader, and novice Irish fiddler.

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