Jess

Two examples of smart replies (blue bubbles) were shown to participants

It would be beneficial to make it easier for admins to respond to messages by making the process more simple and less time-consuming.
• Responsiveness when messaging a Page is key in helping consumers complete their goals and is positively correlated with user retention and driving more P2B conversations [citations redacted]
• Consumers across verticals think that the primary way that communicating with Pages could be improved is by admins answering more quickly or at all [citations redacted]
• Most consumers message a Page to inquire about products or services prior to buying (35%) or to ask about availability of products/services (32%) [citations redacted]
• Admins, especially SMB admins, have very little time to manage their social media, which drives slower response times or unresponsiveness to messages [citations redacted]
• Admins want additional tools to make it easier to respond to messages [citations redacted]

AI-mediated communication (AI-MC) could be an opportunity for admins to reply more efficiently to messages. After a message is received, a selection of smart replies (based on parsing of the admin's conversation history as well as the incoming message; see figure above) is displayed, allowing admins to reply to some messages with one tap instead of taking the time to write an individual reply message.

Although limited because of the novelty of the topic, research on AI-MC suggests that human-human messaging conversations can be improved with AI assistance [citations redacted]. Additionally, over a year ago (the last time these figures were reported), smart replies were already driving 12% of replies on mobile Gmail Inbox [citations redacted]. The literature, along with the use of AI-MC commercially, suggests that its implementation for Page messaging could help admins improve their Page's responsiveness. Further, we know that the majority of messages that consumers send to Pages ask similar types of questions (i.e., details about or availability of products and services [citations redacted]), furthering the potential utility of smart replies for admins.

FB Page admins already have the ability to send automated replies whenever a message is received, which are perceived by consumers as subpar when compared with personalized messages from a real person [citations redacted]. It's important to note that smart replies are not automated replies (i.e. pre-written responses). They are generated based on the admin's conversation history using neural networks and must be physically tapped/clicked to be sent by the admin.

Methodology

We ran a large-scale online survey (N=1000+) with carefully-selected (using SQL) Page admins of both small and large business Pages. After showing admins examples of smart replies, we asked responsive admins whether smart replies would help them to respond more quickly to the messages their Page receives, and we asked unresponsive admins whether smart replies would help them to respond.

Main Findings

We find that overall, a majority of admins believe that smart replies would help them respond to their Page’s messages, and unresponsive admins may see marginally less value in smart replies than responsive admins (not stat sig). Mobile respondents saw more value in smart replies, while www respondents saw the least value in smart replies overall.

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