Today we’re going to take a closer look at Facebook Messenger Ads — a lesser-known type of Facebook ad that consistently outperforms other ads.

I know. A bold claim, right?

But you don’t have to take my word for it. There are Facebook Messenger Ads case studies to prove it.

So, why do you care?

Facebook advertisers have to keep up with more competitors jumping into the ring than a WWE match and more changes to audience targeting categories than Beyonce’s Super Bowl halftime show wardrobe.

via GIPHY

Not to mention new Facebook ad formats, objectives, and rules that are added constantly.

Someone, please remind me, why do we marketers wrestle with Facebook Ads?

Maybe it has something to do with the 6.8 billion collective monthly active users across Facebook’s family of apps?

Yep. Let’s go with that.

But I have exciting news for Facebook advertisers. 

At Customers.ai we’ve been experimenting with Facebook tools, and Messenger ads have the power to change how you approach advertising. 

In this article, we’re going to take a detailed look at Facebook Messenger ads, what they are, and how businesses like yours are using Facebook Messenger ads to increase lead volume, automatically qualify leads, and cut cost per lead (CPL) with revolutionary new growth marketing tools.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this Facebook Messenger ads guide:

• What are Facebook Messenger Ads?
• Facebook Messenger Ad Benefit #1: Instant Lead Capture
• Facebook Messenger Ad Benefit #2: They Are the Ultimate in Mobile-Optimized
• Facebook Messenger Ad Benefit #3: 24/7 Automated Lead Qualification & Follow-up
• Facebook Messenger Ad Benefit #4: They Can Get Really Personal
• Facebook Messenger Ad Benefit #5: They’ve Been Shown to Outperform Other Ads 2X-10X
• How to Make a Facebook Messenger Ad

Jump to the sections above or read on.

What are Facebook Messenger Ads?

Facebook Messenger ads start a conversation with your business’s target audience in Facebook Messenger — the messaging app with 1.3 Billion users worldwide. 

The Facebook Messenger ad comes in a couple of flavors: An ad viewed on any Facebook property that directs traffic to Messenger; or sponsored content native in Messenger.

That’s right, a Facebook Messenger ad experience can start on many of the platforms across the Facebook family of apps. This includes:

• Facebook news feed
• Instagram feed
• Facebook Stories
• Instagram Stories
• Facebook Marketplace
• Audience Network
• And yes, Facebook Messenger

But all Facebook Messenger ads have one thing in common: They always lead to a conversation between a business and a prospect in Messenger.

Here’s a typical Facebook Messenger ad viewed in the Instagram feed:

Click on that ad’s call-to-action “Send Message” button and here’s what you’ll see. (← Link opens in Messenger)

Why are there ads on Messenger?

There are three key answers to this question:

1. Messenger is where conversations happen, and nothing beats a conversation for closing sales.
2. Consumers would rather chat in real-time with businesses than talk on the phone or email.
3. Businesses can scale conversations in Messenger thanks to chatbot automation.

With 20 billion conversations a month exchanged between businesses and users on Messenger, you can start to see why a business may want to start a conversation with prospects in Messenger.

Now, this doesn’t exactly support the claim that Facebook Messenger ads are better than other ads. 

But don’t worry, I’m not about to phone it in. 

So, why are Facebook Messenger ads “better” than other ads?

Here are five ways Facebook Messenger ads offer unique advantages over other ads, and the steps to fire up your own Messenger ad campaign in five minutes or less.

Facebook Messenger Ad Benefit #1: Instant Lead Capture

I’m not going to bury the lede here. 

The MacDaddy of reasons why advertisers need to jump on the Facebook Messenger ad bandwagon comes down to 3 words:

Instant lead capture.

Say it with me:

Instant. Lead. Capture.

When you send your Messenger ad traffic tdo an automation platform like Customers.ai, your business automatically receives a bucket of contact info for everyone who strikes up a conversation.

Facebook’s lead contact data your business receives by default:

• First and last name
• Locale (country and language)d
• Timezone
• Gender
• Profile photo

Now, on the one hand, you could use a lead gen ad or a traffic objective ad to send Facebook ad traffic to a form where they fill out all of the details captured in the above screenshot.

Or, you could just automatically get it, without even asking, from anyone who starts chatting.

Which option would you prefer?

Facebook Messenger Ad Benefit #2: They Are the Ultimate in Mobile-Optimized

Does this sound familiar?

Will my landing page look and act right on the 43 most common screen resolutions?

Well fuggedaboutit.

When Messenger is the post-click experience for your Facebook mobile ad, you can sleep well knowing that the experience is 1000% mobile optimized.

After clicking the “Send Message” call-to-action button in the ad, they’re dropped right into their Facebook Messenger mobile app or desktop browser Messenger inbox. 

From here, they see the conversation starter you designed for your ad audience.

You’ll never have to worry about a form or landing page malfunctioning because of responsive design failings again.

Facebook Messenger Ads Case Study: Instant Lead Capture

Customers.ai customer Car Loans Canada changed from sending Facebook ad traffic to a webpage form to collecting car loan applications directly with a Messenger bot.

Because Messenger ads automatically capture basic lead info like name and location, users didn’t have to answer as many questions. And the conversational chatbot made it easier for people to answer questions in the chat or return to the chat later to complete their application.

As a result, Car Loans Canada cut their lead acquisition costs over 40 percent and increased their captured lead conversion rate 75 percent.

Facebook Messenger Ad Benefit #3: 24/7 Automated Lead Qualification & Follow-up

One of the advantages of chatting with customers is also a drawback.

One-on-one chat is an effective avenue for persuasive sales conversations. 

But one-one-conversations are costly to scale.

I’ve talked to more than one Customers.ai customer using Messenger for lead generation, but the number of conversations a salesperson can have in a day is limited by — well, hours in the day.

However, not if you can automate the initial lead qualification questions and lead nurture follow-up.

This is where another unique benefit of Facebook Messenger Ads comes in: the Facebook Messenger chatbot.

Facebook Messenger Ad Case Study: Lead Qualification

Customers.ai customer Sacred Movements cut the cost of sales by automating lead qualification with a Messenger ad bot.

Sacred Movements sent ad traffic to Facebook Messenger where they automated the initial conversation, answering questions from prospects with a bot, and ultimately increasing their meditation class sizes by 50 percent.

Facebook Messenger Ad Benefit #4: They Can Get Really Personal

The sweetest word a person can hear is their own name. We go wild for it.

Remember, using Facebook Messenger automation, you can personalize any conversation with default Facebook contact info like name and location, and take a step further by sending leads through a conversation flow designed for what they need or are looking for.

Personalizing a conversation is easy using a smart chatbot builder that funnels users to different conversation dialogues depending on what they select.

The result is more relevant offers and more closed deals.

Facebook Messenger Ads Case Study: Personalization

Customers.ai customer Summit Academy OIC used Facebook Messenger ads to connect to new prospective students.

By asking a few simple automated questions in Messenger, like what type of courses they are interested in, they sent follow-up information about upcoming class enrollment that was relevant to their interests.

As a result, Summit OIC increased their prospective student count by 30 percent, at a CPA 10X lower than other Facebook ad campaigns.

Facebook Messenger Ad Benefit #5: They’ve Been Shown to Outperform Other Ads 2X-10X

At the end of the day, every ad is going to be judged a success or flop by key metrics: lead volume, cost per lead, and sales.

All the bells and whistles don’t mean anything if the ad doesn’t add up on paper.

So here’s where Facebook Messenger ads win the title of the best ad out there.

Four unique benefits of Facebook Messenger ads:

• Instant lead capture
• Mobile-friendly
• Automated qualification and follow-up
• Highly personalized and relevant

The results? An increase in Facebook ad performance.

Facebook Messenger Ads Case Study: Ad Performance

Customers.ai customer Technosetbee increased brand awareness of its beekeeping technology by running a contest through click-to-Messenger ads.

Then they remarketed to new contacts with a special discount offer on their products.

The results are priceless:

• 97% decrease in CPA compared to other ads
• 211% increase in average order value by these customers
• And a whopping +6000% increase in bottom-line revenue

Facebook Messenger Ad Performance Case Study: Customers.ai

Using our own chatbot software at Customers.ai, we’ve tested click-to-Messenger ads for lead gen compared to Facebook traffic ads and gotten a 97% better CPA from Messenger ads.

With traffic ads, we spend about $3 to $5 per click. And our average website traffic conversion rate is 2%.

Do the math and we’re looking at $300 to $500 for 100 visitors.

Since we convert 2 out of 100 visitors, the cost per acquisition is $150 to $250 per lead.

With our new Facebook Messenger ads playbook we cut the cost to $5 a lead:

• Switched to the Facebook ad campaign objective optimized for messages.
• Send users to a Facebook Messenger chatbot.
• Save leads to the contact database in the Customers.ai Facebook Messenger marketing platform.

After executing Facebook click-to-Messenger ad chatbot marketing campaigns, here’s what our latest click-to-Messenger campaign reports look like:

Instead of $4 per result for anonymous website traffic that converts at 2%, our CPA is between $3 and $6 for a lead with a name and direct line of contact.

There are some monumental benefits of send-to-messaging Facebook ads:

• Epic reduction of cost per lead at an average of 30-50X.
• Turns every interaction into a named contact.
• Drives users to a mobile-friendly and ultra-engaging conversion funnel experience.

How to Create a Facebook Messenger Ad That Boasts These Unique Benefits

If you’re ready to get a piece of the Messenger ad action, by now you’re wondering:

How do you put ads on Messenger?

You can build and run a Facebook Messenger ad campaign through Facebook Ads Manager.

But that won’t get you the unique benefits we talked about like instant lead capture in a contact database and automated follow-up for lead nurturing.

For that you need Customers.ai’s Facebook advertising tools.

I’m going to show you how to make your own Facebook Messenger ads in five minutes flat using Customers.ai’s Facebook ad builder.

Here’s how to create a Facebook Messenger ad with instant lead capture and automated lead nurture:

• Step 1: Connect your Facebook Page to a Free Forever Customers.ai account then upgrade to a PRO account to get Facebook ad features.

• Step 2: In Customers.ai, go to Campaigns > Click-to-Messenger Ads > + Create Click-to-Messenger Ads.

• Step 3: Set up your ad campaign target audience, budget, and schedule.

• Step 4: Create the ad by cloning an existing ad’s creative and text, or by uploading an image or video and text from scratch.

• Step 5: Write the conversation flow to greet and qualify leads automatically. Hit “Send” to activate the ad.

Leads from Facebook Messenger ads are saved in your Customers.ai contact database where you can view and segment audiences based on default Facebook contact info and previous chat history.

From here, you can set up drip campaigns to automatically nurture leads, and send sponsored message ads to re-engage qualified leads directly in their Messenger inbox.

Facebook Messenger Ads Final Analysis

Facebook Messenger ads are a unicorn in the sea of digital ads with unique advantages over other ads.

You can reach people in Messenger and automatically capture valuable lead info without even asking for it.

When you link ads to Messenger, the post-click ad experience is optimized for mobile and happens in chat, where customers would rather connect with businesses.

Lead qualification and follow-up is automated around the clock, saving your business on the cost of live sales and support agents.

The post-click experience is highly personalized and learns more about your prospects instead of making assumptions.

And all these benefits add up to a huge performance boost in lead volume and cost per lead acquisition.

So, want to learn how to build Messenger sponsored messages ads and Facebook click-to-Messenger ads? Check out some of the best Facebook Messenger ad examples of all-time here.

Thanks for joining me on this epic journey of Facebook Messenger ads, my new favorite way to advertise on Facebook.

Important Next Steps

Facebook Click-to-Messenger Ads: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What are Messenger ads?

What are Messenger ads? Facebook Messenger ads are conversational ads served via a Facebook Messenger chatbot. They’re always mobile-friendly, and the conversion rates are nearly 100% because you capture the contact information of everyone that interacts with your Messenger ads. Once you have the Facebook contact information of a person, you can message them back via Facebook Messenger retargeting campaigns.

Does Facebook use Messenger for ads?

Businesses use Facebook Messenger for ads, however, Facebook itself does not. There are many powerful Facebook Messenger advertising tools used by digital marketing professionals every day. 

Some of the more common and proven Facebook Messenger marketing tactics include running Facebook Sponsored Messages. In fact, there are a number of Facebook ad examples where the data proves out that Messenger ads are more effective than regular Facebook ads.

Additionally, there are creative Facebook Messenger advertising strategies and Facebook Ad hacks that aren’t as well known.

Are there different types of Facebook Messenger ads?

Yes, there are two main types of Facebook Messenger ads. In fact, one of the most important thing to understand when it comes to Facebook Messenger ads, is that the two types of Messenger ads should be used for different purposes:

• Sponsored Messages Ads: Messenger sponsored messages ads should be used to send promotions directly to your Messenger contacts list or highly targeted segments of your Messenger contacts list. Sponsored message ads are great for retargeting and keeping your engaged audiences up to date on the latest announcements from your business.
• Facebook Click-to-Messenger Ads: Use click-to-Messenger ads to reach new audiences. See this Facebook Messenger ads example to learn more about how to create and run click-to-Messenger ad campaigns.

How do I set up Facebook Messenger ads?

In order to set up Facebook Messenger ads, you’ll want to use a chatbot platform, such as Customers.ai where you can properly integrate your Messenger contacts and manage Facebook Messenger ads.

Ads that click-to-Messenger are Facebook, Instagram, or Messenger Inbox ads that send people into a conversation with your business in the Messenger chat app.

Businesses can use ads that click-to-Messenger to start conversations at scale, leveraging Facebook targeting to find customers relevant to their business. Whether the goal is to generate leads, raise awareness of brands or products, boost a post on Facebook, or drive sales, businesses can then tailor conversations in Messenger to meet their specific needs.

There are a few types of Messenger ad examples:

• Facebook send to Messenger ads
• Click-to-Messenger ads, and
• Sponsored content that’s native in Messenger, known as Sponsored messages ads.

It’s also important to note that Messenger ads are great chatbot examples of how to do mobile advertising on Facebook.

What are Sponsored Messenger ads?

Messenger sponsored messages could also be referred to as Facebook paid messages. In the simplest of terms, Facebook sponsored message ads are a great way to send a mass message to all your Facebook Messenger contacts at the same time.

Messenger sponsored messages let you send offers, promotions, and updates directly to the people your business talks to on Messenger. If you’ve already connected with your customers on Messenger, either through a bot for Messenger or live chat support, use sponsored messages to re-engage them.

How do you create Click-to-Messenger ads?

You can build and run a Facebook Messenger ad campaign through Facebook’s Ads Manager. However, that won’t get you the unique benefits I mentioned earlier, such as instant lead capture in a contact database or automated follow-ups for lead nurturing. 

For that, you’ll need Customers.ai’s Facebook advertising tools. You can make great Facebook Messenger ads in just five minutes using Customers.ai’s Facebook ad chatbot builder. Here’s how to create a Facebook Click-to-Messenger ad for your business.

How do Facebook Messenger ads work?

Facebook Messenger ads are a type of advertising format that allows businesses to promote their products or services directly within the Messenger app. These ads appear as sponsored messages and can be customized with images, text, and call-to-action buttons. By leveraging the vast user base of Messenger, businesses can reach and engage with their target audience in a more personalized and interactive way.

What are the benefits of using Facebook Messenger ads?

Facebook Messenger ads offer several benefits, including increased reach, improved engagement, and personalized communication with potential customers. These ads provide a direct channel to interact with users, enabling businesses to build relationships, provide customer support, and drive conversions more effectively.

How can I create Facebook Messenger ads?

To create Facebook Messenger ads, you need to use Facebook Ads Manager. Within Ads Manager, you can choose the campaign objective, target audience, ad format, and set a budget. When creating the ad, select Messenger as the placement option. You can then customize the ad content, including images, text, and call-to-action buttons specifically for Messenger.

Are Facebook Messenger ads effective for driving conversions?

Yes, Facebook Messenger ads can be highly effective for driving conversions. By delivering targeted messages directly to users’ Messenger inboxes, businesses can engage in personalized conversations and guide potential customers through the sales funnel. The interactive nature of Messenger ads, combined with the ability to provide timely assistance and answer queries, can significantly increase conversion rates.