Real Estate Prospecting With a Facebook Messenger Bot

Are you ready to explore the next frontier of real estate prospecting? A new breed of agents is taking advantage of Facebook’s messenger bot platform to generate qualified leads and uncover listings. And you can be one of them!

Think about how often you text or receive an instant message in a day, and multiply that by everyone on the planet. In the 21st century, messenger apps are used more heavily than social media networks.

There really is no better way to reach prospective buyers and sellers than instant messaging. With an AI-driven, automated messenger bot working for you, your online prospecting can generate amazing results.

Let’s examine the value of implementing a bot before we dive in

Key Benefits Of A Facebook Messenger Bot For Real Estate

• Qualify Leads
• Save time
• Increase engagement
• Higher ROI
• Lower CPL (cost per lead)

Now don’t get me wrong. There are other sources besides Facebook that you can use to create a messenger bot. After all, a bot is really just a highly sophisticated software program.

The fact is, your prospects are on Facebook already. A lot. And they prefer to interact with a brand or business through Facebook. 45.8% of consumers, in fact, would rather talk to your bot than read your email.

So, even if you have reservations about using Facebook for business, you really can’t afford to miss out on such a large market. Go where your prospects are.

Why Do Prospective Buyers And Sellers Prefer Bots?

Don’t take it personally. The average consumer, according to research, would rather communicate with a brand or service via bot than a live person.

The reasons, however, vary:

Of course, bots aren’t perfect. If you don’t plan your threads carefully, AI-automated conversations can leave prospects more frustrated than relieved.

What Your Facebook Messenger Bot Can Do

A messenger bot works most effectively as a lead generation and cultivation tool. It has been proven more effective for marketers than email simply because the engagement with prospects occurs in real-time.

An email doesn’t offer the same immediate gratification that a messenger bot does. Prospects can interact with the messenger bot as if they were speaking to a person. Advancements in AI technology make it possible to create a personalized conversation thread.

With careful research and strategic planning, you can program your bot to:

• Initiate a conversation with prospects to determine intent (research, assistance, purchase)
• Direct cold traffic from your ads to the desired landing page (Facebook/Instagram)
• Start a conversation with a prospect in your absence
• Display a specific real estate property to the potential buyer
• Provide property details such as square footage, location (incl. images/video), price, etc
• Qualify prospects and their interest level
• Probe curious buyers for their preferences (ie type of home/size, price range)
• Capture and save contact information to your SMS/CRM
• Alert you by email of new contacts
• Pursue follow-up actions with missed conversations and other opportunities  

Facebook Messenger Bot Workflow Strategy

Before you integrate a messenger bot into your sales funnel, you’ll need to map out a strategy that defines how your bot will function. A workflow strategy outlines the specific stages and tasks your bot will perform at each stage of the conversation with a prospect.

There are 5 essential steps to your bot’s workflow:

Step #1

Create a link from the Messenger bot to your Facebook ad. Use the ad image, headline or a call-to-action button as your link.

Step #2

Send an automated customized welcome message to initiate a conversation with the prospect.

Step #3

Nurture the lead by being helpful, asking questions and offering solutions. During this stage, your bot is gathering data to help it assess the prospect’s specific need or intent.

Step #4

After qualifying the prospect, the bot can prompt the user to speak with you directly or submit their preferred contact information.

Step #5

Follow-up actions can be programmed that include:

• view more images or details of a property
• direct the prospect to more listings
• offer financing options
• schedule a listing appointment with an agent
• complete an online document

What About Unqualified Leads?

Your Facebook messenger bot can instant message/dm prospects who may have clicked on your ad by accident, or who left the chat conversation early.

A messenger bot can engage the prospect to determine why they left the conversation. The feedback gives you deeper insight into what your prospects are looking for.

If the conversation was untimely, for instance, the bot can follow up at a later time and continue the conversation where it ended.

On the other hand, If the prospect has no wish to proceed, the user simply selects the appropriate reason and the bot will disengage:

• Found another property
• Found another service
• Not looking for a home at this time
• Clicked on your ad by accident…

How To Create Your Free Messenger Bot

To create a messenger bot, you’ll need to access Facebook Developer Messenger Platform, which is extremely user-friendly. Their dashboard is also easy to navigate, even for a solo agent with little computer expertise.

There are online tutorials and helpful blog articles that offer step-by-step instructions for building your chatbot or messenger bot.

A simpler way to create your free messenger bot is through an online service called ManyChat.

Create A Facebook Message Bot With ManyChat

Programming Your Real Estate Messenger Bot

Programming the conversation threads for your messenger bot requires trial and error. An experienced developer and your marketing team can collaborate to create a personalized bot.

Even with their help, though, your bot will need refining over time.

Fortunately, there are a number of reasonably-priced real estate chatbot templates for Facebook to get you started quickly.

Summary

When it comes to online lead generation, messenger bots are proving themselves more efficient than any other marketing strategy. Real estate agents who adopt this technology can expect to be more effective at qualifying and converting leads into listings as well.

Facebook Messenger is among the top messenger platforms in the world. Your prospects are already using it, so why not engage them where they spend their time?

Over time, your messenger bot will learn from experience. The data gathered from your prospects will provide you not only with referrals and listings, but deeper insights into your prospects’ behavior.

Digital marketing is never going to be the same again. Get in now while the frontier is still open, and you’ll never look back.

What results are you experiencing with your Facebook messenger bot? We’d love to hear in the comments below!