One of the first messages you’ll want to set up in Manychat is your Welcome Message. This is just what it sounds like: it’s the very first message that your contacts receive when they interact with you in Facebook Messenger.
They will receive Welcome Message only if they start the conversation with the page through Direct Messages, which means clicking "Send Message" on your Public Page first and then hitting "Get Started" button. Get Started is an automatic button provided by Facebook and mandatory for all chatbots:
How can you use Welcome Message inside your bot
The opportunities are endless for your Welcome Message. Manychat has the ability to add buttons, lists, images, videos, audio and much more to it.
Tell your contacts what to expect: what your bot specific is, how often you post and everything else that you think is important.
How to set up your first Welcome Message
Your welcome message can work as a greeting for new Facebook subscribed contacts, but also as a menu for what to do next. This is connected with the purpose of your bot. If you provide cooking recipes, include a button to your recipe website. If you sell real estate, ask people if they would like a quote.
You can also leverage the Keyword feature in Welcome Message to trigger messages when prospects type certain keywords.
So, how can you proceed with setting it up?
- Go to Settings -> Messenger -> Welcome Message
- Create a Text Block and add more details describing your business, your bot and the options it can provide. Note that there is no need to do smth with starting step (first message block).
- Create Buttons, so your contacts can interact with your bot and get what they're interested in.
- Keep in mind that in most cases people click "Send Message" button to reach out to you. Don't forget to provide this ability inside your Welcome Message.
- Make sure your Welcome Message works great by clicking "Preview" button in your account or "Send Message" button on your Facebook Page.
- Publish and Enable your Welcome Message.
- Come back to Settings -> Messenger -> Welcome Message to track the stats.
Do not forget to publish the Welcome message flow and enable the trigger by toggling it on.
How to replace your Welcome Message
If you need to replace your Welcome Message Flow with another Flow, simply go to Settings -> Messenger -> Welcome Message and click the "Replace" button here:
Then choose the Flow you need from the list of the Flows -> Select This Flow.
Please check this video tutorial to learn more on how to create your Welcome Message:
NOTE: Welcome Message also features the Button that can switch Welcome Message's statistics. You can switch the statistics display from Current Trigger to Aggregated. The Aggregated display mode shows how many contacts have gone through that flow overall, not limited to the number of people gone through the Welcome Message itself.
