Messenger marketing

Messenger marketing messages are paid messages sent from your Facebook Page. In a Messenger campaign, you can set a Lifetime budget for the total campaign budget and an optional Daily budget for average daily spending. Use the Messenger integration in YCloud to upload a customer list, let Meta match your customers to an audience, and create and schedule your message. You can then track campaign performance in YCloud.

​

Before you start

Make sure you have:

• Messenger Channel management permission in your YCloud workspace.
• A Facebook account with permission to authorize the Facebook Page you want to use.
• A customer list that you are authorized to use for marketing and upload to Meta.

Your Facebook Page must be located outside the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, Japan, and South Korea. The Marketing Message API for Messenger is available for web applications only. YCloud manages the ad account used for these campaigns. You only need to authorize your Facebook Page.

​

1. Connect your Facebook Page

1. Open Integrations, find Messenger, and click Install. If the integration is already enabled, click Details or open Messenger from the sidebar.

   

2. In Messenger, open Guide and click Connect Page.

   

   You can also open Facebook Pages and click Connect Facebook Page.

   

3. Complete the Meta authorization flow. Select the business portfolio and Facebook Page you want to connect, and grant the requested permissions.

   

4. Return to YCloud. Check that the Page appears under Facebook Pages with its Page ID, business portfolio, and Authorized status.

If authorization fails, check your access to the selected Page and try again.

​

2. Create and upload an audience

A Custom Audience connects a customer list to a Facebook Page. Meta matches the uploaded customer information to people who may be eligible to receive your campaign.

​

Create the audience

1. Open Audience lists and click Create Custom Audience.
2. Enter an Audience name and an optional Description.
3. Select a connected Facebook Page.
4. Click Create Audience to continue to Upload customer list.

​

Upload your customer list

Click Download import example (.xlsx) in the upload dialog and use it to prepare your file. The template contains only two columns: phone and email. Each row represents one customer. You can provide only their phone number, only their email address, or both. Leave the other cell blank if you only have one identifier. If you provide both, the phone number and email address must belong to the same person. Meta uses the phone number and/or email address you provide to match the customer to its users. At least one of the two fields must be filled in each row. Choose an .xlsx or .xls file and click Confirm. Each file can be up to 15 MB and contain up to 1,000,000 rows. Split larger lists into smaller files. If the upload fails, correct the issue and retry in the upload dialog. The audience already has an ID, so you do not need to create another audience.

​

Check the matching status

Matching can take up to 6 hours. Check the audience’s status in Audience lists: Uploaded shows the number of customers uploaded. Estimated audience size shows the estimated matched audience as a range. Neither number guarantees how many messages will be delivered. To add customers later, click Upload more. This appends customers to the existing audience. If any Active campaign uses the audience, pause all active campaigns using it before uploading more customers.

​

3. Set up a campaign

Open Campaigns and click Create campaign. The editor has three steps: Campaign setup, Message template, and Review. In Campaign setup, complete the following fields: Click Next to write your message.

​

4. Write and preview your message

Use the Generic message editor to compose the message. The preview updates as you edit. Greeting, title, and subtitle support plain text. Personalization variables are not supported.

​

Add media

• None: Send the message without an image or video.
• Image: Upload 1–6 JPG or PNG images, each under 2 MB. Select one image as the main image. If you upload more than one image, recipients can browse them in a carousel. Square images at 450 × 450 pixels are recommended. Use the preview arrows to check every image.
• Video: Upload one MP4 file.

​

Example message

For a seasonal promotion, you could use: Keep the headline focused on one offer, choose media that supports it, and make the button’s destination match the message. Check the preview before continuing.

​

5. Review and submit

1. Click Next to open Review.
2. Check the Facebook Page, audience, estimated reach, schedule, and budgets.
3. Review the message preview, including every image and the button destination.
4. Click Submit.

After a successful submission, the campaign appears in Campaigns. A campaign with a ready audience is Scheduled. If the audience is still matching, the campaign shows Waiting for audience matching and proceeds automatically when the audience is ready, subject to its schedule. If submission returns an error, your inputs remain available. Correct the highlighted fields or follow the error message, then submit again.

​

6. Manage campaigns and track results

Use the campaign name search and status filter in Campaigns to find a campaign. Click its name to open the details, or refresh the list to retrieve updated results. Campaign details include the Page, audience, schedule, budgets, amount spent, message preview, and performance metrics. Metrics may take time to update. A dash (—) means a value is unavailable or a percentage cannot be calculated; it does not necessarily mean zero activity.

​

Tips for your first campaign

• Add a Visit website button to every campaign. Link to a relevant landing page and use campaign tracking parameters, such as UTM tags, together with conversion tracking in your website analytics to measure outcomes such as purchases or sign-ups. The button provides a path to your website; adding it alone does not automatically track conversions.
• Prepare the audience early. Allow up to 6 hours for matching before your planned start time.
• Start with a focused customer segment. Use accurate customer identifiers and a message relevant to that group.
• Test with a manageable budget. Review delivery, reads, clicks, and actual spend before increasing your investment in future campaigns.
• Check your timezone. Campaign schedules use your computer’s local timezone.
• Review content before submission. Editing is available while scheduled or waiting for matching. Pausing an active campaign does not make it editable.

​

Troubleshooting