Do you need a live chat plugin on your website? It would be great if your web visitors would chat with you through Facebook Messenger and you could message them back any time you want. However, you would need some kind of Messenger Widget on your site. Guess what? There is one. It's called the Facebook Customer Chat Plugin, and we've got the ways to add Messenger to website.
In this article we're going to cover:
- What is The Facebook Customer Chat Plugin?
- How To Install The Facebook Customer Chat Plugin on Website
- How To Add Facebook Messenger to Website on WordPress
- How To Add Facebook Messenger to Website on Wix
- How To Add Facebook Messenger to Website on Shopify
- How To Add Facebook Messenger to Website on Squarespace
- How To Add Facebook Messenger to Website with GTM
- FAQ About Facebook Customer Chat Plugin
What Is The Facebook Messenger Widget?
Facebook launched the Customer Chat Plugin in 2017. What makes the Facebook Messenger Widget better than regular live chat? Your website visitors are chatting with you through Facebook Messenger.
Once they send their first message, you'll be able to message them back and find out more info about them through Facebook Inbox. You can even send broadcast messages to all the people who spoke with you through the Facebook Chat Messenger Plugin.
How To Install The Facebook Messenger Widget
We're going to show you how to install a Facebook Messenger Plugin for your website using a special code we developed at respond.io. While Facebook asks you to paste two separate scripts, we’ve created a single script to make installation easier.
To install this code using our script you'll need:
- A Facebook Page
- A respond.io Account (it's free)
- A Website
1. Log in to the respond.io platform and create a space.
2. Press connect a channel to connect a Facebook page.
3. Choose Facebook Messenger from the channel list.
4. Press Chat Plugin to start creating the Facebook Messenger widget script.
5. Add your website to the whitelist. This is required to add Facebook Messenger to your website.
6. Copy the Script and Paste it in the footer of your website. See how to add this footer for WordPress, Wix, Shopify, Squarespace and Google Tag Manager.
7. Done. Load your website, and the Facebook Messenger Customer Chat plugin will appear in the bottom right of the page.Â
Now you might be thinking how to insert Facebook Chat plugin code to your website. That depends on your CMS. Below we have guides for WordPress, Wix, Shopify & Squarespace.
Messenger Widget: How To Add Facebook Messenger to Your WordPress Website
Make sure to follow steps 1 to 7 first. This will give you the code you need to paste into your WordPress site to have a Facebook Messenger Widget on your website.
8. Add The Header and Footers Console on WordPress.
9. Navigate To Headers and Footers.
10. Add the Facebook Messenger Widget script to the footer.
Done. You have now added Facebook Messenger Live Chat to your WordPress website.
Messenger Widget: How To Add Facebook Messenger to A Wix Website
Make sure to follow steps 1 to 7 first. Once done you’ll have the Facebook Messenger Widget script you need to add to your Wix Website.
8. Navigate to Settings > Advanced Settings > Tracking & Analytics > + New Tool > Custom.
9. Paste Facebook Messenger Widget code and select the pages where you want the code to apply. Make sure you place the code in body – end.
10. Done. You have now added Facebook Chat plugin to your Wix website.
Messenger Widget: How To Add Facebook Messenger to Shopify
Make sure to follow steps 1 to 7 first. Once complete you’ll have the Facebook Chat plugin script you need to add Facebook Messenger to Shopify.
8. Navigate to Online Store and edit code.
9. Open the footer.liquid section and paste the Facebook Messenger Widget script.
10. Done. You have now added Facebook Messenger Live Chat to your Shopify website.
Messenger Widget: How To Add Facebook Messenger to Squarespace
Make sure to follow steps 1 to 7 first. Once complete you’ll have the Facebook Chat plugin script you need to add Facebook Messenger to Shopify.
8. Log in to Squarespace, select your site and open Settings.
9. Navigate to Advanced Settings.
10. Navigate to Code Injection.
11. Paste the Facebook Messenger Widget script.
12. Done. You have now added Facebook Messenger Live Chat to a Squarespace website.
FAQs
What if the user isn’t signed in?Â
If the user is not signed in to Facebook, the widget will still call out to the user to chat. Only this time they’ll be prompted to sign into Facebook. Which is as simple as Facebook popping up their own window in the user’s browser, and prompt a sign in.Â
How can I access the conversation?Â
Simply sign in to your respond.io account, and navigate to the Messages page in the lefthand menu. Here you’ll see a list of everyone who’s reached out to you.Â
Why A Facebook Messenger Widget Is Better Than Live Chat
Facebook Web Chat Creates Persistent, Consistent Engagement
With traditional live chat website plugin, once the user has left the website, you've lost them forever. Your only hope of continuing the conversation is them returning to your site. This is no longer the case once you add Messenger to your website.
With Facebook Messenger on your website, all your conversations are saved in Facebook Inbox. This means you can pick up a conversation with a user who chatted with you even if they left your website.
Along with the conversation, you get to see some of their basic profile info, helping you serve the customer better than any live chat could.
A Facebook Messenger Widget Let's You Build A Facebook Messenger Contact List
Now that people can message you easily through Facebook using Facebook Customer Chat, they'll be added to your contact list forever.
You can think of a Facebook Messenger subscribers list the same way you do an email subscriber list. You can use this as a new communication channel with your audience. You can even use it to deliver messenger newsletters with 90% open rates and 60% click rates.
Messenger Widget is just one way to build a Facebook Messenger subscribers list. To get more Messenger Contacts, you can set up Facebook Comment Auto Reply or use Messenger Codes.
Further Reading
If you're interested in knowing more about using Instant Messaging for Business, you should check out these blog posts.
- Everything You Need to Know About WhatsApp Business
- The Ultimate Guide to Using Telegram Business
- The Ultimate Guide Using Viber for Business
