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We’ve decided to discontinue our beloved Typebot experiment. We’ll go into all the details soon in an upcoming Inside Story article. Until then, here’s an inside look at one of our recent experiments.
A while back, our data team set out on a mission to learn about Typeform’s most active users. After some serious data sifting and number crunching, they came to a conclusion.
Marketers.
That’s right. Marketers. They ranged from entrepreneurs who also wear the marketing hat, to the slew of marketing positions at startups and small businesses, all the way up to marketing agencies.
The next largest user group? Product teams and engineers. This group is on a quest to find that elusive leprechaun: product-market fit. After all, what’s your business without that? A parking lot.
But no matter what the role, successful makers and entrepreneurs have one thing in common—they create continuous feedback loops between themselves and their users. And that feedback is the difference between good products and great ones.
Today, we’re sharing a new feature that opens up a powerful channel of feedback to really give your data-collecting adventures a boost.
Introducing Typeform Chat, codenamed “Typebot.”
The new Chat feature seamlessly integrates your typeforms into Facebook Messenger. It allows you to start conversations with anyone right on your Facebook page through Messenger—but it’s really a Typeform, so you can play with the data in your admin panel like you always do.
It’s simple to implement—you just need to build your typeform to get started. It’s fast—with a few clicks, you can have your own Facebook bot in as little as five minutes. The potential is enormous.
Why chat integration?
A few reasons. Sheer numbers, for one. Currently, there are almost two billion people on Facebook, and another one billion who are active on Facebook Messenger. That’s a huge market to tap for insights.
Andrea, our lead product owner on this project, explained it perfectly:
“If we’re a conversational data collection tool, then we have to be where conversations are happening.”
Hard to argue with that. Messaging platforms are growing like weeds, so getting you into these channels is our top priority.
Need another reason? Automation. Why manually answer the same questions over and over again, when you can have your intelligent chat assistant do it for you?
Finally, it gets tougher and tougher to stay close to customers as you grow. Here’s Andrea again:
“Chat is another way of helping businesses maintain a more personal relationship. When businesses start growing, they often become more distant.”
Though chat integration lacks the beauty and functionality of a regular typeform, it still allows you to add that personal touch that’s so often missing in traditional business interactions. Disclaimer: personality not included.
How does it work?
With Typeform Chat, your very own conversational bot can be up and running as fast as you can drag-and-drop.
Create a typeform just like you always do. When you’re done, go to the “Share” tab of the admin panel, and click on “Collect responses on chat (beta).” Take a look:
From there, you simply connect to your Facebook page. Done!
So when someone clicks on the “Message” button, Facebook Messenger pops up and Typeform Chat takes care of the rest.
You can also share this conversation through a link, so it’s easy to drive people to your Facebook page if you’d rather engage people there. You’ve got options.
Has the cover photo above got you hungry for more? Check out our Facebook cover photos guide.
MVP functionality
Today, Typeform Chat comes with the following functionality:
Welcome screen
Short text
Long text
Statement
Email
Multiple choice
Rating
Yes/No
Number
In addition to those specific field types, you have two main features: Recall information and Logic Jump. These features were prioritized to make your chat interactions feel more personal. With a little creativity, you can do some amazing things, such as telling an interactive story that gets people excited about your next product or feature.
If you try to use other field types, your Chat might have a hiccup, so we recommend sticking to the features on this list for now. And while Chat isn’t as robust as a stand-alone Typeform, there’s one thing Chat can do that Typeform can’t: maintain progress.
With Chat, your progress is always saved. If the boss happens to walk by, and a customer needs to close the Facebook tab, they can return to Facebook Messenger later. Then they can resume their chat where they left off. Pretty cool, eh?
Andrea tells me that more features are on the way, but her team wanted to launch this MVP into the wild to get the feedback loop cranking.
Some inspiration to get you going
How you use Chat depends on your needs. If you find yourself fielding repetitive questions from customers, then use Chat to funnel them to your main support page, or even as an FAQ. You could also:
Run an impromptu survey or on your latest product or feature release
Make a special offer to drive traffic to your latest campaign
Validate a new product idea with your market
Or, if you’re feeling extra creative, tell a behind-the-scenes story about your company, product, or even a feature
You have options. But more importantly, you’ve got a critical channel covered.
And what about other channels like Slack, Skype, WhatsApp, and WeChat? They’re on our radar. For now, our objective is to make the best Chat integration for Facebook Messenger.
And that’s where you come in. If you plan to use Chat integration with Facebook, would you mind sharing your feedback with us?
Enjoy your new toy!
