Introduction

Facebook Messenger is one of the world’s most popular instant messaging platforms, used by nearly one billion monthly active users. Through this platform, brands can create engaging chatbots to interact intelligently and automatically with their customers.

MoEngage <> Facebook Messenger

The MoEngage and Facebook integration leverages  MoEngage Connectors to message your users in Facebook Messenger through the Messenger Platform API. The Facebook Messenger platform is intended for “non-promotional messages that facilitate a pre-existing transaction, provide other customer support actions, or deliver content requested by a person.” To read more, see Facebook’s platform guidelines and examples of acceptable use cases.

Integration

The following shows how to set up a MoEngage Facebook Messenger connector - 

Step 1: Collect customer PSIDs

To send messages on Facebook Messenger, you need to collect your users’ page-specific IDs (PSIDs) to identify your user and interact with them consistently. PSIDs are not the same as the user’s Facebook ID. Facebook creates this identifier whenever you message a customer or when a customer messages you.

PSIDs can be found using one of the various entry points Facebook offers. Once the user messages your app or takes an action in a conversation, such as tapping a button or sending a message, their PSID will be included in thesender.idproperty, so your bot can identify who took the action.

{
  "sender": {
  	"id": "<PSID>"
  },
  "recipient": {
  	"id": "<PAGE_ID>"
  },
  "timestamp": 1458692752478,
  "message": {
  	"mid": "mid.1457764197618:41d102a3e1ae206a38",
    "text": "hello, world!",
    "quick_reply": {
    	"payload": "<DEVELOPER_DEFINED_PAYLOAD>"
    }
  }
}

Whenever you send a message, their PSID will be included in therecipient.idproperty of the request to identify who should receive the message.

Step 2: Save PSIDs on MoEngage as custom attributes 

PSIDs are strings that can be accessed by making an API call to Facebook APIs. Once you obtain a list of PSIDs, you will send them to MoEngage. 

• If you have a user identifier such as phone number, you can add them on MoEngage as a ps_id - custom tracked user attribute/property (like phone number). You can save this data to MoEngage either using:
  • User Data APIs or
  • Upload them using User Imports inside MoEngage.
    
• If you do not have any user identifier (meaning the user has not shared his personal details with your bot), you can upload them as Anonymous users.  
  

Step 3: Create Connector Campaign on MoEngage to send message

To create a connector campaign on MoEngage, 

1. Navigate to Create Campaign >> Connectors >> Custom and choose delivery type most suitable to your needs 

2. Choose Segment of users for whom ps_id exists (You can combine with other Segment criteria) 

3. On step 2 of the campaign, enter the FB url, add parameters and payload for your message. Read more about Facebook messenger send API here. 

4. At this point, your campaign should be ready to test and send. You can also test your connector configuration using the Test functionality available on Step 2 of Create Connector Campaign

If your test user successfully receives the message, your set-up is ready. You can go ahead and Publish the campaign.