Having a chat feature on your website can be a great way to engage with visitors and provide real-time customer support. If you have a Facebook Page, one easy option is to use Facebook’s Messenger chat plugin to add a chat box to your site.
What are the benefits of adding Messenger chat to my website?
There are several advantages to enabling Messenger chat on your website:
- It allows visitors to your site to easily reach out and message your business through a channel they are already familiar with.
- It provides an instant, real-time way for you to communicate with potential customers and answer their questions.
- The chat box pops up on mobile devices, allowing you to connect with visitors no matter what device they are on.
- You can enable automated chatbot responses to common questions to provide quick answers even when you are not actively available.
- Chat conversations can lead to more sales opportunities and improve customer experience.
How does the Facebook Messenger chat plugin work?
The Messenger chat plugin integrates with your existing Facebook Page. When a visitor clicks on the chat icon on your site, it will open up a Messenger conversation with your Page.
You can then chat with visitors directly from your Facebook account. The conversations will show up in your Facebook Inbox and Messenger, allowing you to manage everything from one place.
What do I need to enable Messenger chat on my site?
To activate Messenger chat, you will need:
- An active Facebook Page for your business
- To be an admin of that Facebook Page
- The Facebook page ID for your page (this is displayed in the About section)
- To whitelist your website domain in Facebook
Step 1: Whitelist your website domain
In order for the chat plugin to work properly, you need to whitelist your website domain in Facebook. This verifies to Facebook that you own the site.
To whitelist your domain:
- Go to the Facebook for Developers site: https://developers.facebook.com/
- Click My Apps > Messenger > Settings
- Under the Web Plugins section, enter your domain and click “Add Domain”
Step 2: Generate the chat plugin code
Once your domain is whitelisted, you can generate the code to add the chat plugin to your site:
- Go to the Messenger settings page again under Facebook for Developers
- Click on the “+” icon to create a new plugin
- Select the “Messenger” plugin type
- Select a Page to link the chat to from the dropdown menu
- Choose your plugin size (small, medium, or large)
- Select your preferred color and language
- Click “Generate Code”
This will generate a code block that you will copy and paste into your website code.
Step 3: Add the chat plugin code to your site
To enable the chat box on your site, you need to add the code Facebook provides to your HTML. There are a couple ways you can do this:
Add before tag
The easiest option is to paste the code right before the closing tag on every page you want the chat box to appear. For example:
<!-- Your page content --> <!-- Paste code snippet here --> </body>
Add through a tag manager or plugin
If you are using a tag manager like Google Tag Manager or plugin like WordPress, you can add the Messenger code there so it gets inserted on all pages.
Just create a new tag or plugin and paste the code from Facebook into it. This way you can also set rules for which pages you want the chat box to be added to.
Test it out
Once you’ve added the code, test it out! Load your website and look for the Messenger chat icon in the corner. Click on it and try sending a test message.
If the chat box does not appear, make sure you’ve pasted the code in the correct place and whitelisted your domain properly in Facebook.
How do I customize the look and settings?
When generating the plugin code, you can customize the following settings:
- Size – Small, medium or large
- Color – Default blue or white
- Language – Select language for chat UI
- Greeting text – Custom message to display when chat opens
To change these later, just go back to the Messenger settings page and regenerate the code.
How do I manage the Facebook chat?
You can manage the conversations from your Facebook Page inbox. On desktop you can access it at: https://www.facebook.com/messages/
In the inbox, switch to the “Messages” tab to view your Messenger chats. You can reply directly from there.
On mobile, you can use the Facebook Pages Manager app to manage chats.
Can I enable automated replies?
Yes! Using Facebook’s Chat Plugin API, you can set up automated canned responses, persistent menus, and chatbots to engage visitors even when you are not available to chat.
Some things you can do:
- Set up saved replies to frequently asked questions
- Add a persistent menu to your chat box
- Build a chatbot to handle common queries
- Set up welcome messages and call-to-actions
Chatbots do require more development work but can really enhance how you interact with website visitors even when you cannot respond personally.
What are best practices when managing Messenger chats?
Here are some tips for providing great customer service through your website chat:
- Respond promptly when visitors message you
- Set up notifications on your phone so you never miss a message
- Have multiple people monitor chats if possible
- Use a tool like Chatmeter to manage chats from one inbox
- Personalize your responses and avoid canned templates
- Add emojis and gifs to make chats more conversational
- Follow up on conversations to make sure issues are resolved
Can I offerMessenger chat support when I’m offline?
Yes, even when you are offline Messenger can still be a valuable customer service channel using the following methods:
- Set up auto-reply messages to let visitors know when you typically respond
- Configure canned responses for frequently asked questions
- Build a Messenger chatbot that can handle common queries
- Enable message deliverability so conversations reach you when you come back online
- Set business hours and away messages to set expectations
While not as good as live chat, these options allow you to provide helpful self-service support 24/7.
Conclusion
Adding Messenger customer chat to your website is an easy way to open new sales and support conversations with visitors.
With the Facebook chat plugin, you can quickly set up live chat or automated messaging right on your site. Just be sure to properly whitelist your domain and copy the plugin code to your pages.
Managing chats directly from your Facebook inbox allows you to continue the conversation on Messenger. With proactive chat management and a focus on great support, Messenger can become an invaluable customer service channel.