Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, recently stated that they were opening up their popular Messenger application to 3rd-party developers. As most observers expected, Salesforce was amongst the initial businesses to take advantage of the opportunity. The CRM leader, on April 12, announced an application which assists companies in managing and tracking their customer engagement upon Facebook Messenger.
What opportunity does Messenger present?
With over 900 million users every month, Messenger will present a massive opportunity for businesses wanting to automate their service and marketing functions when engaging customers upon an immediate and personal platform. “You will never need to contact 1-800-FLOWERS again,” Mark Zuckerberg stated as he demonstrated ordering some flowers in a conversational language from an automated robot. Facebook Messenger, according to Salesforce.com, offers businesses “a new, powerful engagement channel which offers them a scalable method of directly communicating with their customers.” Also, Messenger has the extra advantage of permitting businesses to engage with their customers upon the platforms in which they spend most of their time. With Salesforce for Messenger utilized by a Salesforce Developer, those interactions may easily be easily tracked and then integrated into your entire existing client relations platform.
When the lines between community and business blur, so too will the boundaries between marketing, sales, and service. Those developments will represent an amazing opportunity for businesses wanting to automate sales and marketing functions as they increase customer engagement. However, like any opportunity, it’s one which must be approached with a cohesive plan in mind.
