In just a few short months, Facebook chatbots have exploded onto the digital marketing scene.

Not a day goes by without a new article, or a new opinion, about how they’re the Second Coming.

And while the initial results are incredibly promising, chances are, you still probably should avoid them for now.

Here’s why.

Over 11,000 Facebook Bots and Counting

Despite only debuting a few months ago, there are already over 11,000 Facebook chatbots (and another 23,000 people who’ve created accounts for the Facebook Bot Engine Tool.

There’s been so much activity that Botlist sprung about as an unofficial bot-style app store, helping you browse the exploding number of distractions interesting bots to play with. (Don’t worry… of course, there’s already a marketing one too.)

It’s unsurprising, given there are 900 million users on Facebook Messenger, to begin with. And chatbots have already been successful on other chat-based platforms like Slack.

There is so much hype and excitement that they’re expected to “eat the web.” (Um, k?)

Despite the fact that not everyone’s convinced, as one VC reportedly likened it to the same Bitcoin hysteria of last year.

But that hasn’t stopped many companies from already doing interesting things, as Andrew Tate excellently pointed out in his previous article. Even the Army and Alaska Airlines are considering enlisting (corny and obvious, I know).

Chat platforms are nothing new of course. They’ve literally been around for decades. It seems like a lifetime ago when my high school algebra homework was neglected because I was spending too much time talking to girls on AIM. (A/S/L?)

However, the promise of bots added to the mix has changed the game.

Currently, most the chatbots are actually kinda dumb. Many interactions are pre-built, with bots able to only kick back relatively primitive data.

But they’re getting smarter.

In the not too distant future, low-level artificial intelligence will be baked into infer and predict what you’re saying. Both Facebook and Google are reportedly investing in developing virtual assistants. There’s also companies like Magic+ springing up to help people solve complex problems through a unique mix of machines & human capital.

The future is incredibly bright. Currently, nascent, no doubt. Yet promising as hell. There’s only one problem. You already have enough on your plate.

The Same as it Always Was

Waaaaaaay back in like 2012, you couldn’t read a blog without hearing about the incredible opportunity of Pinterest for your business.

Every two-bit ‘journalist’ (heavy on the air quotes) couldn’t stop writing about how amazing it was and how it was transforming marketing at the time.

Then one day it sent more referral traffic than Twitter and Facebook and the internet exploded.

Despite the fact that – at the time – many popular blogs at the time saw incredibly high bounce rates from that referral traffic (as much as 90%+ in some cases). Also despite – again, at the time – they had like 1/10 the user base even Google+, which took the stick for being a ‘ghost town’.

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Oh, and don’t forget that initially like 97% of Pinterest’s users were women. Which is awesome! If you were targeting young women.

And therein lies the dilemma.

With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that Pinterest has matured into an awesome platform. However, at the time, would it have been worth betting the future of your company on it? Sinking your lead gen time and money into a then unproven, highly niche opportunity?

Possibly. If you were a highly visual company catering to young women (think: weddings, events, etc.).

But more than likely, no. It’s incredibly speculative. That’s not sexist. That’s just looking at the facts and making an unbiased decision.

There’s a reason more fortunes are made by merchants than miners. Even today.

“Get in on the ground floor,” they said.  “Build your platform early,” they said. Despite the fact that the ‘first-mover advantage’ isn’t always it’s cracked up to be in technology, especially when “technological innovation and consumer acceptance advance rapidly”. (MySpace anyone? Friendster?)

The good thing about digital marketing is that it’s always changing. However, the bad thing about digital marketing is that it’s always changing. There’s no shortage of trends to latch onto, or platforms to try out.

In other words, the problem isn’t the lack of opportunities. The problem is execution. On the existing. On the fundamentals.

Here’s What to Fix Before Developing a Facebook Chatbot

Half of companies using digital marketing don’t have a digital marketing plan. Only ~35% of which have a content marketing plan.

Some facts:

• Content marketing is 62% less than ‘traditional marketing’ (which I’m assuming means offline advertising. Which ain’t marketing FYI.)
• It also generates 3X the number of leads, too.

It’s unanimous. It works.

Then. Why. Does. Your. Content. Still. Suck?

Only a dismal 12% are optimistic. And 68% say their efforts are “basic” or “inconsistent”.

Sound familiar? Here’s how to kickstart your efforts:

• Tip #1. Make sure you have a mix of commercial and unbranded content to bring in visitors who’re searching for solutions to a problem or pain point (and not your services yet).
• Tip #2. Liven’ up your tone to inject personality, humor and – gasp! – entertainment into your content. That will give it a leg-up on the other 2+ million posts getting published daily.
• Tip #3. Always focus back on the problem (i.e. the hole) and not the tool (i.e. the drill you sell) when creating content. That keeps the message on-point from a customer’s perspective, giving you the chance to eventually show them how your widget can solve this problematic pain point.

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How’s your Facebook ad funnel going? Are you targeting fans, running multiple campaigns and consistently testing images? Have you set up Canvas yet? Dynamic product ads?

Or, like 70% of marketers, are you still struggling to prove ROI on mobile ad spend?

Remember, ‘Likes’ ain’t the goal. So try these tips instead:

• Tip #1. Make sure you have campaigns set up to target the Top of the Funnel (like a content piece to draw in visitors), the Middle of the Funnel (target those website visitors with a lead magnet) and the Bottom of the Funnel (like sending those new leads an offer to purchase or sign up now that they’re ready)
• Tip #2. Lackluster results? Try testing the offers, or using a ‘product splintering’-like a one that helps you separate the buyers from the triers.
• Tip #3. Still nothin’? Start by messing with your combination of Audience + Ad Creative + Landing page first to boost relevancy or message match.

Or take marketing automation for example. The fastest growing CRM trend over time. Proven; capable of delivering a 451% (!) increase in qualified leads.

I dare you to almost find any negative report about marketing automation & personalization in emails.

And yet… 85% of executives using it aren’t satisfied with their effort. So try this:

• Tip #1. Setup a dedicated workflow for each of the three ‘funnel stages’ you created above.
• Tip #2. Send nurturing emails every 3-4 days, for a ~30 day period with a specific action or goal in mind (e.g. sign up for something, click something, purchase something).
• Tip #3. Create a ‘re-engagement’ campaign after that 30 days (like a discount, promotion, or even an unsubscribe notice) to make sure they’re still interested in what you have to offer and ‘win back’ these peeps to inspire action.

I’m not blaming you – it ain’t your fault. Simply securing a budget for these activities is still a problem for most.

But we haven’t even scratched the surface yet on organic search, mobile, conversion testing, etc.

The list goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. (Wow, that was annoying.)

Throwing up a chatbot will deliver a nice little PR boost no doubt. But then what? And at what cost?

Conclusion

Facebook chatbots have an incredibly promising future. Even in the small sample of early examples, it’s clear how compelling and ultimately useful they will be to your marketing plan.

You shouldn’t ignore them. But you shouldn’t rush to join them quite yet, either. Because chances are, you’ve got enough to deal with already.

You need to get a content plan in place. You need to start utilizing marketing automation and other personalization techniques. And you need to right-size your advertising efforts to make sure you see a clear line from ad spend to ROI.

Those things ain’t easy. They take time. Attention. And money. In other words, they take a lot of the stuff that would otherwise be sunk into developing a new chatbot.

A speculative gamble with huge potential, no doubt.

But still, an incredibly risky gamble when other proven opportunities have been left untouched or neglected.