How to Create Effective Facebook Messenger Ads

Have you ever found yourself wishing you could get more out of your business’ Facebook page? Sure, you’ve got tons of followers and your posts are getting plenty of ‘likes’. You may even be getting a large amount of ‘shares’ and your website is seeing a moderate uptick in traffic. But still, couldn’t your Facebook presence be doing more? 

The short answer is “yes”. Your Facebook account can be doing more for your business, and Facebook Messenger Ads hold the key.

What are Facebook Messenger Ads? 

Facebook Messenger has approximately 1.3 billion regular users worldwide; with more than 2 billion messages being exchanged each month between people and businesses. That’s a sizable market just waiting to be tapped. 

Messenger ads allow you to go beyond the daily news feed to interact directly with potential customers. Instead of simply scrolling past news feed ads, your Facebook fans and followers will have the opportunity to interact with your company directly via messenger. This creates a more dynamic relationship with the public. 

Facebook Messenger ads can help you get the most out of your business’ social media presence. When properly used, Facebook Messenger ads can help you build brand awareness, cultivate new customers, and improve your company’s customer service.

The Three Different Types of Ads to Consider 

There are three basic types of Facebook Messenger ads, and each has its place in an effective marketing strategy. 

• Home Screen Messenger Ads – These ads appear in the Messenger home screen along with other messages received by the user. You might think of this type of Messenger ad as a bulk mailing. It goes out to everyone you have an ongoing relationship with on Facebook.
• Sponsored Messages – This is the most common type of Messenger Ad. These appear directly in the user’s chat box. Sponsored Message ads can directly target anyone you have an existing relationship with on Facebook, and can be used to promote new products, advertise exclusive sales, or follow up on warm leads that just need a friendly nudge to complete a transaction.
• Click-to-Messenger Ads – These are similar to standard Facebook ads that appear in all of our news feeds. The difference here is, the ad’s call-to-action (CTA) opens a FB Messenger chat allowing you to interact directly with the user. Think of it as personalized service at the click of a CTA.

Before You Run Your First Facebook Messenger Ad Campaign 

Before you rush head first into your first ad campaign there are a few things we should talk about. For your Messenger ads to be truly effective you should review Facebook’s Ad Specs guide. There you will be able to familiarize yourself with the important technical details regarding Messenger ads such as image size and resolution, click-to-action options, and supported apps. 

Once you’re ready to get started simply enable messaging for your business’ Facebook page. Be aware, however, that once you enable messaging and launch your ad campaign you need to be ready to respond to any and all incoming messages. If you don’t have the resources available your ad campaign will fall at the first hurdle. 

Now, let’s take a closer look at the three different types of Facebook Messenger Ads and how to get started with your marketing campaign.

How to Create a Facebook Messenger Home Screen Ad 

Messenger Home Screen ads are the most basic of the three options available to businesses. These ads are directed at all of your Facebook followers and will appear in their messenger inbox. You can think of them as a kind of direct mail advertising, going out to everyone on your mailing list. 

As with all of Facebook’s Messenger ads you will start by going to your Business Manager interface and selecting Create Ad. From here creating your Messenger Home Screen ad is simply a matter of following the next few steps. 

• Choose Your Ad Objective – First, you need to set your ad objective. You may choose from a number of options including traffic, brand awareness, app installs or catalog sales. In this example we’ll choose traffic.
• Name Your Campaign – Simple as it sounds, give your ad campaign a title.
• Choose Your Destination – At this point you need to set the destination for your CTA. This is where people will be redirected when they engage the ad’s Click-to-action. In most cases the destination will be your primary website.
• Edit Placements – The edit placements function allows you to decide where your ad will appear. You want to select the home screen option as well as Facebook feed.
• Complete Ad Details – Next, you need to fill in some specific details about your ad campaign. These will include target audience, campaign budget, schedule and duration.
• Build Your Ad – With the parameters of your home screen campaign in place it’s now time to compose the ad itself. Carefully consider the headline, text and imaging you want to use. You should also give special attention to your CTA and final URL destination.
• Preview Your Ad – Once you’ve composed your ad you will want to preview it to make sure the CTA directs to the correct URL, and that your text and images support your ad’s intention.
• Place the Order – If you the preview is satisfactory and you feel the ad is ready to go simply hit Place Order and the campaign is set in motion.

How to Create a Sponsored Messenger Ad 

Sponsored ads allow you to target specific followers with your advertisement. Bear in mind, however, that you can only target people with whom you’ve previously engaged over Facebook Messenger. While at first this may seem to limit the scope of your ads, using a Sponsored Ad is a good way to follow up with existing customers to promote new products, advertise special sales, and prompt uncompleted transactions. 

Sponsored Ads a bit more complicated to set up, with some additional steps along the way. However, the process is much the same as for static Home Screen ads. As always, we start by heading to your Business Manager interface and selecting Create Ad. 

• Choose the Messages Objective – This is the only option for a Sponsored Message campaign.
• Select Your Sender’s Page – In your Messages section you will find a drop down menu. Select Sponsored Message and then choose the Facebook page that will be sending the advertisement.
• Generate Your Custom Audience – Once you have selected the Facebook page that will be sponsoring the ad a custom audience will be automatically generated comprising those followers with whom you have previously engage via Facebook Messenger. To run a Sponsored Message campaign you must have at least 20 people in your intended audience.
• Edit Placements – The default option for Sponsored Message ads is Automatic Placement. Hit Turn On when the messenger placement notification is displayed.
• Campaign Details – Set your ad campaign’s budget, schedule and duration.
• Message Setup – In this section you can determine whether your ad appears as text only or as a combination of image and text.
• Choose Your Destination – Select the page you want your ad to be linked to and insert the desire URL.
• Choose Your CTA – Set your preferred call-to-action such as ‘Sign Up Now’, ‘Learn More’, or ‘Get Started’.
• Preview Your Ad – Review your ad to ensure that the text and images are meet Facebook’s standards and that your CTA and destination are correct.
• Place the Order – If your preview is satisfactory hit Place Order to launch your ad campaign.

How to Create a Click-to-Message Ad 

Click-to-Message ads are the most engaging and effective of the three types of ads we’re discussing. They are also the most labor intensive. While they provide an excellent opportunity to engage with customers you have to be prepared to follow through. Remember, Click-to-Messenger ads are designed to start a conversation and you have to have the resources in place to respond to your ad’s CTA. Make sure you have automated responses in place to greet people when they click on your ad. 

As always, we begin by going to our Business Manager section and select Create Ad. 

• Choose Your Objective – Here you will want to select Messages.
• Choose Your Destination – In this instance you are not redirecting the user to a separate site, but are merely opening a Facebook Messenger conversation. So, in this section you will want select Click-to-Messenger.
• Complete the Ad Campaign Details – Again, in this section you will fill in specifics about your campaign including target audience, budget, schedule and duration of the campaign.
• Build Your Ad – Now it’s time to create the body of your advertisement including the text, images, and call-to-action. Take some time to develop ad copy that will promote personal engagement with your ad’s target.
• Messenger Setup – With your ad copy completed it’s time to think about the content people will see when they click on your CTA. Take your time on this section of the setup and review your content carefully, Engagement is the goal, so the content should support that end at all costs.
• Place Your Order – There is no real option to preview this type of Messenger ad so it is important to carefully review your settings to ensure that your copy and content are satisfactory. If all is in place and proper simply hit Place Order to launch the campaign.

The Benefits of Facebook Messenger Ads 

Social media has been a boon for businesses looking for affordable ways to advertise their products and services, and Facebook has made it easier than ever for companies to reach out to their customers. With Messenger Ads Facebook has gone a step further, making it possible for businesses to engage on a more personal level with their followers. 

Businesses using Facebook Messenger ads as a marketing tool often find they are able to build stronger, more rewarding, relationships with their existing customer base while attracting new followers into the fold. The personalized nature of the ad campaigns promote a higher level of customer care and service, allowing you to establish greater trust and loyalty in your brand and its products. 

With private messaging becoming such a large part of the social media landscape Facebook Messenger ads will become a go-to marketing strategy for every business looking to get the most out of their social media presence.