10 Reasons to Embed FB Messenger Customer Live Chat On Your Website

Facebook is not just part of our daily lives but is expanding its reach to more and more areas, so we have more reasons to get back to it. I mentioned in my article about a test of theirs how they continuously ‘push’ users to message businesses on Facebook and also give increasing help to the corporations to provide customer support via Messenger. This time they allow websites to embed the entire chatbot and enable live chat.

In the past, there have only been plugins that drove people away from the website or did not allow a proper back and forth messaging.

The old plugin on my website, users could send only 1 message and receive the answer in their inbox

 

It had already its use cases, but still not something I would suggest for every business.

The release of Messenger 2.2  finally answers one of my most frequently asked questions – how to embed a Messenger bot on my website.

FB now enables businesses to embed the customer chat plugin, so a real live chat is possible without leaving the webpage.

 

 

This is a massive update as you can allow people to use your bot on your platform. No friends or cat videos to draw the attention away. The main use case is obviously live customer support, where Facebook now represents a major threat to businesses providing similar services.

In this article, I have collected 11 reasons why I think every business should have the Messenger plugin on their websites.

1)      Frictionless (way to start)

This is how easy it is to start to chat. Just hit the button, you’re already ‘logged in’.

The vast majority of your readers are already logged in to Facebook and that means the chat is already available for them with just one click. I want to point out that not just the 1.2 billion Messenger users, but all Facebook users are included.

 

No need to ask for names anymore

 

Most people only one FB account but have many emails. So they might just give an email address they barely use or might even mistype it and never hear back from you. Not the case with the tick box.

 

2)      Powerful Communication Channel

 

Just a random screenshot of the last two broadcasts of a bot I manage

 

It is very unlikely that they miss your message. Unlike in email where overseeing a mail is very easy. You have probably heard about the open rates and click-through-rates that are usual in Messenger. It’s not unlikely to get higher CTRs in Messenger than open rates with email.

 

But not only do you get to answer their questions or inquiries in a channel with attention, but you’re also are able to use your chatbot to the fullest. With Messenger bots, you can provide them opportunities to just answer with 1 button click, or share their location. You can also easily send videos or voice messages right inside of Messenger.

 

Moreover, can also put users on automated message sequences so they receive several messages without you having to do the hard work. Think about a small challenge or a daily tip about the topic. With sequences, you can also set up automated follow-up messages

3)      Messenger List building

Building a list takes effort and time, but it’s worth it

As soon as people message your page, you are eligible to subscribe them to your list. The Customer Chat plugin is a great way to build your Messenger Subscriber List.

 

Barely any brand uses it to message their (potential) customers, but people use Messenger all the time for chatting with friends and family. Therefore, they are excited to check their inbox. You can send out broadcasts similar to newsletters. You can even schedule your messages according to the time zone of the user.

 

Advanced tip:

Build your list already with different segments in your mind. You can build these ‘buckets’ based on information you gather. That way you can personalize your messages more and they become more relevant to the user.

               

4)      Facebook provides data without you asking for it

It was a nice surprise for the user that I answered in his native language (German). And I wouldn’t have guessed it judging by his name

 

So you managed to greet the reader by their first name, without them telling you their name. How is that possible? Well, Facebook provides some information based on their profile. Among others their full name, the language of their FB profile, their gender or time zone.  You can already switch to a different language to give support in their preferred language or time zone. If it is a high-end client, you can even check out their public profile.

Another thing is that it gives you an accurate picture of these people’s demographic who engage with your site.

 

5)      The visited page says a lot about them – ‘browser history’

 

Where the user started the chat reveals already useful information. Track it!

 

When they start with chatting with your site, you can save the information about the url to the user. So if the reader was browsing your sales page you can ‘tag’ him/her differently than checking out your about page. Similarly, if you want to distinguish between different interests e.g. losing weight vs. muscle gain. You have this information for years to come added to the profile. Plus all the things they do within the chatbot, because:

 

 

6)      Every action inside of Messenger can be saved

Everything they click on or type is something that gives you extra information. This helps you create further segmentation so you can adjust your messages and offers accordingly. Were they interested in Product X but not in Y? Did they engage with every broadcast of yours in the last 2 month? Did they watch your video on a topic, but didn’t check out the sales page?

These are all different information you can use to create different buckets. There is a lot more here. You can ask specific questions and create mini quizzes or questionnaires.  A great book on how to utilize these segmentations is the Ask method by Ryan Levesque.

 

 

7)      Instant Answers – Automate Your Frequently Asked Questions

How many times do you answer the same questions?

Even though you can have a ‘Messenger bot’ without basically any automation, why not use the powerful technology you have in your hands. Most businesses receive the same few questions 80% of the time, so it is probably isn’t that complicated to build out your FAQ inside your chatbot. It is not only saving resources for your business but also a huge time saver for the user as well. It’s hard to beat instant answers, especially when it’s around the clock.

 

 

8)      Handover to the most suitable human

 

Of course, there will be users with questions that are a bit more complex and need human support. For them, you can bring in your customer support. Here you can choose already the best fit accordingly the information you have. Such as language, time zone, visited a webpage or a topic chosen by the user based on the options you’ve provided. Nothing really new or fancy here, but no need to start from scratch. Why ask the user if the sales representative is needed or the technical support? We know it already.

Do you have an existing system in places such as Zendesk or other ticketing software? Great, you can connect that with the chatbot. You can manage your messages from your already familiar system. The newest Messenger enables the Handover Protocol across the globe, so different software can interact with your users without any internal conflict between them.

 

 

9)      Time and Device Flexible for the user

The transition between live and not live, machine and human or desktop and mobile is really smooth. The bot is asynchronous, which means that the answers are instant but the user can type anytime. No time pressure of being there at the same time.

 

One could start the whole process on his/her phone while waiting for the food to arrive, then go back to the office after and pick up the conversation exactly where it’s left. But this time on a more comfortable desktop ready for some live chat with a representative. The conversation may need just a finishing confirmation, which can be done on the phone while in the elevator.

 

 

10)   Easy  Satisfaction Survey

Engagement tends to be quite high on Messenger, even if it’s as vanilla as a satisfaction survey. A single button tap can turn into a great conversation that not only gives you feedback but can turn non-buyers into buyers. You can automate processes here depending on their answers.  It can also be a gentle reminder for the desired action, like watching a webinar, filling out a form etc.

 

As always, you can time and filter these messages to make it more relevant. No need to ask 3x a day how your company did… but why not ask for a great testimonial from a very engaged guest.

 

 

Bonus reasons:

 

A couple of extra things that didn’t make it to the list. Still powerful, but probably less ‘typical’ or applicable to the Messenger Chat plugin as the ones on the list above.

 

More features (if not within the customer chat plugin)

When the conversation is brought from your website to Messenger (browser or mobile app), more functions become available. Just ask the user to open Messenger on their phone (which is within arms reach anyways :)) and continue there.

 

Users can easily (if not on your website):

–          Send multimedia (images, videos, voice, files)

–          Share their location

–          Pay with 1 tap

–          Use more of your chatbot (lists, share, persistent menu)

 

Imagine how easy it would be to send an image of the damaged good and ask for a refund. One can hit the photo icon right inside of Messenger.

 

 

Local businesses can ask for the users’ location and provide them directions just by a button click. I used this function on a conference I attended back in April. I loved it. No need to memorize or copy paste anything.

 

I even sent this screenshot to my PC via Messenger – fast and easy

 

Payments in Messenger is still in Beta, but people can buy just only a tap once they’ve submitted their cards to this powerful chat app. This is the US only, but payments are rolling out in France and the UK now.

Messenger Chat brings your business to the top of the inbox

 

Your business will be on the top of their Messenger Inbox.

What a subtle reminder of your business, depending on how busy the user’s inbox is, this can give you an extra few days of a ‘brand recognition ad’.

 

Lead magnet delivery

Once people started the chat why not offer something extra value to them when they provide their email addresses? This is a great opportunity to connect your chatbot with your existing CRM tool if you haven’t done it yet. They might have ignored your carefully planned and designed banner in the middle of the page, or ‘auto-closed’ your popup. Here is another chance to get them on your list.

 

Lead Qualification

Let the chatbot filter out how important a user is for you. I know it’s not the politically correct thing you want to hear, but customers are not made equally. It would be a bad business strategy to treat everyone equally when the revenue can be easily 10x bigger. Of course, you want to do your best support for everyone, but no need to jump on a call with someone who can’t afford your services. It’s related to the segmentation, I just wanted to add this extra as it’s slightly different.

 

Ideal for small businesses

Small businesses often rely heavily on FB, and not in a place to maintain many channels. This is a great way to combine a communication channel and not add another one for your website like tawk.to.

There are even ways to have the FB customer chat free. Yes, no extra costs.

 

The mobile app ‘Facebook Pages’ enables you to message people on the go as well. So no worries if you’re a one-person team, you can answer while stuck in the line in the bank or running late because of the traffic.

 

Also, with Facebook Inbox you can set up saved replies with custom fields (like the name). These templates can be used, no matter if they contact you from your website or FB itself. This way I can still greet people by their first name even if it’s written in Cyrillic or Arabic letters.

Facebook auto detects if you’re talking about date and time, so you can set up an appointment and FB automatically reminds the users an hour before. No need for you to send out reminders

 

 

How to add Messenger Custom Chat Plugin to your site

 

1)      Add a chatbot to your page – I suggest using a bot builder to 15 bot builders, although not all of them support this yet.

2)      Whitelist your domain – it is an extra security level added by Facebook. No worries, no need to wait for approval, just type your URL into the appropriate place. You can also submit up to 50 domains, should you want to embed your bot on more sites.

3)      Add the plugin to your website. It’s a simple code to insert into the page (or the whole website). Similar to the Facebook pixel. If you’re not familiar with adding code to your website, just ask your web host or a technically savvy colleague/friend.

Advanced users can refine things of course. Tracking the actual website the user started the chat on, different ‘welcome messages’ according to filtering and disabling the chat on mobile are just a couple of ideas you can start with.

Is Facebook Live Chat the right choice for your business?

What is the best way to interact with clients and visitors on your website? This everlasting question now has another great answer available. The answer depends ultimately on your business. I believe it is a very viable option for most businesses, and your business should have some big reasons for not considering it. (E. g. the target audience is mainly in China).

Messenger customer chat plugin is here and it will get only bigger. With time more and more functions will be available making it even better.  The growth will create increased familiarity among users, not that it would be hard to use

Actually, its simplicity and efficiency will make it a great addition to any website that aims to interact with its visitors and make them feel as if they received all the attention needed in a great and interactive way.

What do you think? What is your list, is there something you see differently? Let me know in the comments below.

Also, if you’re interested in Chatbot and Messenger marketing, register for my upcoming free live training.

 

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