Facebook Specification

A Facebook chat experience will often consist of:

• Introduction where user expectations are set. It is appropriate to advise the user they are chatting with an AI not a human, in some regions this is required by law
• Core flow which is the main user experience potentially comprising of a series of questions, information presentation, interactive content, and calls to action
• Re-engagement with 24H window. Facebook allows re-engagement of the user by the page for up to 24 hours after the last message from the user to the page. These can be used for nudges (more on this below) or for driving additional behaviors or collecting additional information
• Re-engagement can also be in the form of Marketing Messages which allows businesses to send proactive, automated messages, at a predetermined frequency (daily, weekly, monthly) to people who have opted in to receiving them on the Messenger Platform.  These messages drive re-engagement and keep the conversation going (refer to FB MM document for overview and best practices)
• Priority Topics are topics that must be addressed as soon as a user mentions them, even if it interrupts the core flow
• Regular (non-priority) Topics are topics that should only be addressed once the core flow is complete.

FB Messenger Experience implementation very easy to setup and comes with certain limitations. Please review below specifications for bot and features available on Facebook.

Entry Points :

Facebook Messenger chat experiences may also be initiated via a number of non-paid mechanisms including:

1. Comment Responder: Private replies to public comments on your posts, including both organic and paid posts.
2. Ice Breakers: Enable users to begin conversations with commonly asked questions.
3. Direct Messaging (DM): When users message your Facebook page directly.
4. QR Codes: Scannable codes that open a conversation in Messenger.
5. Persistent Menu: Always accessible menu within the chat for users to navigate core features or restart the flow.

Common Glossary :

Persistent Menu - Enable users to discover and interact with core features of the Page.

Private Replies : Reply to Post Comments with Facebook Messenger.

Private Replies allows Businesses to reply to comments made on their posts with a single message on Facebook. When using this feature, the user will get a message with a reference link to the comment that is getting the reply. 

Greeting Text - The greeting property of your bot's Messenger profile allows you to specify the greeting message people will see on the welcome screen of your bot. The welcome screen is displayed for people interacting with your bot for the first time.

User experience :

Welcome Message :

The Welcome Screen - The welcome screen is the first thing people see when they encounter your Messenger bot, and includes information that allows a person to learn about your bot and what it offers. The welcome screen displays the the name and responsiveness of your bot, the profile picture and cover photo from your Facebook Page, an optional greeting message, and the 'get started' button.

Marketing Messages (formerly Recurring Notifications)
Businesses can send proactive, automated messages to users who have opted in, at a predetermined frequency (daily, weekly, monthly). These messages keep conversations active and build stronger relationships with users.

• You can send one opt-in request per day.
• You can broadcast one marketing message per day to users who have opted in.
• Opt-in requests must be sent within the standard messaging window.
• If a user opts out, no further messages will be delivered to them.
• Avoid sending duplicate or irrelevant opt-in requests.              
  
  
  

  Best Practices for Marketing Messages

  • Ensure opt-in requests and notifications provide relevant and valuable content.
  • Clearly describe the types of messages users can expect in opt-in requests.
  • Avoid overloading users with frequent or redundant notifications.

  
  
  

  Best Paid Mechanism

  • Click-to-Messenger (CTM) Ads:
    • Ads on Facebook, Instagram, or Messenger that open a conversation in Messenger when clicked.
    • These are ideal for scaling conversations and finding relevant customers using Meta's targeting capabilities.
    • CTM ads can also integrate the Comment Responder feature for seamless re-engagement on paid posts.

Specifications and Features Available on Facebook Messenger:

Additional Notes :

• You can include a maximum of 13 Quick Reply Buttons.
• 7 buttons can be included in the Persistent Menu.
• Icebreakers are supported, allowing users to start conversations with commonly asked questions.

QR(Quick Replies) or QRBs(Quick Reply Buttons)  : QRBs popularly know as Quick Reply Buttons are the response buttons presented to user after a question is populated. There can be a question and multiple QRBs. When user selects any QRB a response is presented to user in messenger window based on the QRB message.

Quick Replies allow you to get message recipient input by sending buttons in a message. When a quick reply is tapped, the value of the button is sent in the conversation, and the Messenger Platform sends amessagesevent to user.

User Experience : 

In the above screenshot there are 3 QRBs built which are Entertainment, DNA Analysis and Sports News.

Quick replies provide a way to present a set of up to 13 buttons in-conversation that contain a title and optional image, and appear prominently above the composer. You can also use quick replies to request a person's location, email address, and phone number.

Text Quick Reply : Text reply enables you to ask a customized response to the question.

User Phone Number Quick Reply :

The user phone number quick reply allows you to ask a user for their phone number. When the phone number quick reply is sent, the Messenger Platform will automatically pre-fill the displayed quick reply with the phone number from the user's profile information.

If the user's profile does not have a phone number, the quick reply will not be shown.

The bot will not receive the phone number until the user clicks the quick reply.

User Email Quick Reply :

The user email quick reply allows you to ask a user for their email. When the email quick reply is sent, the Messenger Platform will automatically pre-fill the displayed quick reply with the email from the user's profile information.

If the user's profile does not have an email address, the quick reply will not be shown.

The bot will not receive the email until the user clicks the quick reply.

Best Practices