Messenger Bots as an Educational Sector Growth Tool

Higher education and Messenger bots as educational sector tools for growth go together like peanut butter and bananas.

Don’t worry. You won’t have to learn how to use Snapchat or start a TikTok challenge (though it can’t hurt). 

Just use good old fashioned SMS text messages, Facebook Messenger, web chat, or other chat platforms to reach over 75% of Gen Z and Millennials in the U.S. who say they prefer to talk via text message.

Education Sector Lead Gen Tip: Hit all of the platforms where all the fickle Gen Z (Gen Zers? Zoomers?) are jabbering away like monkeys on typewriters with one app, Customers.ai OmniChat platform and unifying inbox. 

Once you’ve figured out that you need to be completely digital and start getting some applications for your techy curriculum, you’ll quickly find jumping from channel to channel to be a pain. 

Signing up for Customers.ai’s Free Forever Special Edition will be the best thing you ever did for your school’s enrollment. 

Easily connect your Facebook page and become a chat blasting ninja in no time, slicing and dicing through pre-qualified leads from every messaging channel in one inbox. 

What Are The Advantages Of An Education Institution Chatbot?

Yes sir or maim! A chatbot for educational institutions on your website can generate massive student leads and so much more!

Summit Academy OIC is a tuition-free accredited vocational school that found the most cost-effective way (10X lower CPA of prospective students!) to increase enrollment was utilizing Customers.ai — the best messenger bot as educational sector lead gen tool available.

In the past, Summit Academy OIC ran awareness campaigns on radio, TV, and Facebook ads. They would get some leads but lose the prospects at the website application or form. They realized they needed a chatbot for educational institutions. 

Turning to Messenger with Customers.ai, Summit Academy OIC could automate lead generation, lead qualification, and lead nurturing and has been breaking enrollment records month over month. 

“Our Customers.ai Messenger bot has transformed how we educate prospective students and enroll them. Our helpful chatbot has scaled the effectiveness of new student outreach across our community.” – Jay Rathell, Digital Marketing Specialist, Summit Academy

If you’re on Facebook and you’re not taking advantage of messaging, you are failing. 

Zuckerberg himself says that private messaging is the ‘foundation’ of Facebook’s future. 

This simple software that is featured in Entrepreneur, Forbes, INC Magazine, VentureBeat, and more will completely replace and revolutionize your current admissions and student support services. 

So when the freshman funnel runs dry, give something techy a try. 

Millennials and Gen Z “expect digital convenience in all aspects of their lives” according to a study by LivePerson. 

Universities, colleges, and trade schools are desperately trying to appeal to Gen Z. You need the best chatbots for education. Glow up your admissions and start vibin’ with a fire 24/7 Automation and Live Operator Takeover in SMS, Web Chat & Facebook. 

Messenger bots as educational tools hits different, bruh. Tell your squad. 

How Do You Use Messenger Bots For Education Sector Lead Generation?

Your enrollment marketing strategy has been all wrong for Gen Z Lead Gen. The secret sauce is in Messenger bots as educational sector lead gen tools.

Not only do you automatically build an email campaign and retargeting list with every person who engages with your chatbot (easiest opt-in ever), but you also boost your existing ad strategy. Here is an example:

Movimientos Sagrados, or Sacred Movements, a family-owned yoga studio in Mexico City, was spending 3 or 4 hours a day just answering questions online! Sound familiar? 

They wanted an efficient method to pre-qualify prospects and harnessed the energy of Customers.ai to weed out the tire kickers before speaking to a live person. 

Yoga and mediation guidance are intimate services that depend on customer relationships and trust. 

There are going to be lots of questions before a conversion, and a chatbot is the most effective way to promptly provide answers and keep their interest piqued. 

Customers.ai proved to be the perfect blend of automation with authenticity by creating top-of-funnel awareness for target audiences in Facebook ads, starting more conversations with click-to-Messenger Facebook ads, answering frequently asked questions of prospective students automatically, and transferring conversations to live agents to sign up more qualified students.

When a prospect has engaged the chatbot through a series of questions and wants to move forward, the Movimientos Sagrados team receives an alert for a qualified lead and is able to takeover with live chat. 

What followed was a dramatic decrease in time to conversion and cost of lead qualification. 

They reduced CPA 87% through Messenger Ads and average class size grew 50% larger as more qualified leads kept coming in through their Customers.ai chatbot.  

Increased ad performance and decreased lead qualification costs with Click-to-Messenger Facebook ads combined with Customers.ai chatbot to answer FAQs. 

At the top of the funnel, and as their audience targeting strategy, they used a ‘Lookalike Audience’ based on people who had conversations with their Facebook page.. 

“As soon as we added the chatbot, people actively ask us about the class and we instantly provide information. It gives them confidence that the class is right for them (or not, in some cases) and it allows people to trust you and sign up for the course. Once they are in the door we can start a real conversation and that creates trust that leads to new registrations.” – Angel Buendía, Director of Marketing, Movimientos Sagrados

It is the gift that keeps giving. Building and growing a funnel that generates applicants prequalifies leads and nurtures prospective students while you sleep. 

You can utilize Cat Howell’s, of Eight Loop Social, lead-qualifying bot template which comes pre-loaded with Customers.ai. Or copy Movimientos Sagrados formula for chatbot magic with these tools: 

• Facebook click-to-Messenger ads – top of funnel
• Customer support FAQs – consideration and engagement
• Live chat takeover – completing the student signup, booking an appointment or tour, etc.

How Do You Get Bots On Messenger?

We thought you’d never ask! Here are five easy steps to start reaping the benefits of utilizing messenger bots as educational sector lead gen tools. 

1. Get the Customers.ai free-forever edition.
2. Follow the guided setup. 
3. Choose a free template such as lead generation.
4. Customize the template with your organization’s info. 
5. Add web chat to your website, connect the chat tools to your Facebook page, posts and ads, and utilize other chat starters to connect with more prospective students.

Customers.ai comes suped-up with out-of-the-box chat starters that automatically keep your funnel overflowing:

• Website chat
• Facebook ads with Messenger bots as educational lead gen tools
• Facebook post autoresponders to capture leads from Facebook comments
• Custom landing pages
• SMS opt-in keywords
• SMS website pop-ups

There are plenty of free chatbot templates available that you can copy and paste to start slaying next semester’s enrollment! 

Here is a helpful checklist to make sure you have a well-polished chatbot conversion machine. It’s so easy we could train a monkey to do it! 

Make your school stand out to future career seeking students and invest in the most innovative chatbot to interact with and help your student prospects. Vocational school, Summit Academy OIC did just that, and more! 

By utilizing Customers.ai as a fun and interactive way to provide prospective students information, Summit Academy OIC increased the number of information sessions applicants. 

The North Minneapolis vocational school and community institution of 50 years took to the innovative approach of combining highly targeted Facebook Ads with their website chat widget. 

What happened next? 

They transformed their student outreach and achieved a 30% increase in prospective students between April 2019 and July 2019 and 10X lower CPA compared to their other Facebook ad objectives.????

Your educational organization can do it too! 

Start filling classes up with eager students by connecting with more prospective students and re-engaging and nurturing them to enroll. 

Here is the secret sauce to Summit Academy OIC’s record breaking enrollment:

• Facebook click-to-Messenger ads as educational lead gen tools
• Website chat to capture anonymous website visitors as reachable contacts and to connect live chat agents to website visitors to answer questions
• Chatbot forms to learn about prospective students
• Drip campaigns to re-engage prospective students and nurture them to enroll

Attracting students to enroll in your educational organization is about generating awareness and immediately following by building a relationship.

If you’d like to jump in and chat live with a student lead, there is a Live Chat Takeover option with keyword triggers. This can function as a personable gesture or welcome greeting for serious inquiries.

Colleges, universities, and trade schools must maintain a competitive edge with their marketing and messaging. 

Keep the freshman coming and replace your grumpy admissions secretary with the lead-generating, attrition-reducing, conversion-producing prowess of the Customers.ai, messaging tools for web chat, SMS, and Messenger bots as educational enrollment superstars. 

Important Next Steps