Facebook is envisioning a day when you won’t need to leave their main and Messenger apps the whole day, just to do other things. That’s because they’re bringing those other things to the app as well. Mark Zuckerberg himself announced during the F8 developers’ conference that they are opening up the Messenger Platform so businesses and developers will be able to create chatbots and bring customer service, e-commerce interactions, and other interactive experiences to the Messenger app.
The possibilities are endless as to how brands can now interact with their customers and loyal users through Messenger. It’s not just about them letting people know about their latest news or product offers or freebies. It’s now about actually doing transactions themselves on the app. You can order flowers’ publishers can send a daily digest of important news items; you can reserve a room at a hotel, the possibilities are endless. And all you have to do is type a few words and swipe and press buttons on the Messenger app.
The Send/Receive API is not just about sending or receiving texts. Businesses can also now send images and even call-to-action interactive rich bubbles. Developers and brands will now be able to build bots and send them for review and if approved, it will then be populated to the targeted market. Initially, Facebook has also initially partnered with bot-building brands, but they also have their own Bot Engine which will continuously learn through artificial intelligence.
But lest you think that eventually, businesses will take over our Messenger conversations, Facebook is still thinking of the ordinary user, or so they say. They have a whole slew of new policies to keep the businesses and brands in check. Most importantly, there is a block button there so you can mute brands that you don’t want to follow anymore. Let’s see how this whole chatbot thing will play out.
SOURCE: Facebook
