Your Facebook Messenger account is about to see a lot more activity.
Chatcast has released a SaaS-based platform that will make it possible for brands to send news, offers, and any other content directly to their fan base through messaging apps like Facebook Messenger (other messaging platforms are reporting coming).
A brand's fans will need to opt-in to receive messages, but once they do the tool automates pretty much everything - from welcoming new subscribers to progressively profiling with surveys. Marketers can then create, preview, schedule and send messages through the platform, adding a variety of different content including photos, videos and even audio streams to messages.
Chatcast also provides insights into a fan's likes, preferences and past interactions with messages. Chatcast can even connect with business applications such as Salesforce, Hubspot, Marketo, HootSuite and SendGrid, which could provide ideas for segmenting and triggering messages based on other customer lifecycle and behavior data.
"People are increasingly using messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger and Slack to communicate, which has made it much harder for brands to reach their customers and fans through other channels. For example, social posts and email only get seen by about 20 percent of your audience," said Scott Edmonds, co-founder and CEO of Chatcast.
"Chatcast gives brands a high-impact way to get in front of their target audience. Chatcast messages get seen by 100 percent of the people who really want to see them, so organizations can drive more sales, raise more money, or get more people to their events. Chatcast turns Facebook Messenger and other messaging apps into your most powerful marketing channel."