Facebook chatbots provide a powerful way to engage with your customers, and they’re surprisingly easy to set up and manage. Instead of sending a 400-word follow-up email to your new leads that answer every question they might have about your product—and many they don’t—you can create a custom choose-your-own-adventure-style chatbot responder. Because they live in the same ecosystem, they’re the perfect way to follow up on Facebook lead ads.

At their core, Facebook Messenger chatbots “take over” the messaging for your product’s Facebook page. If a user sends you a message on Facebook, your bot will automatically send a customized response. User chats and responses are then stored within the chatbot app itself and can be surfaced later or integrated with an external database or CRM. For example, a chatbot for your meditation app might ask users, “What’s your biggest challenge with meditating?” Then you can give users customized help, content, and sales pitches based on their response.

Another benefit of chatbot conversations: They let you segment your audience based on how they respond to chat questions. In the case of a meditation app, you could segment “first-timers” and “experienced meditators” based on an initial question asking about the user’s experience level.

Not sure where to get started building your own chatbot? Check out ManyChat(from $10/month). You can play around with their free trial, and if you decide to launch, they have a helpful feature that lets you automatically follow up with Facebook engagers. You might also consider Chatfuel, Microsoft Bot Framework, or Massively.

If you’re having trouble hooking customers by email, consider a chatbot. They provide a fun, personalized way to engage with—and segment—your growing audience.

Come and talk to us if you are interested and don’t know how to get started with Facebook chatbots.