Having a live chat on your website adds a human touch to your business. It connects you instantly to the people using your site, in a way that emails can’t. In this post, I will show you how to add Facebook live chat to your website to improve customer service and increase sales!
What Is Facebook Live Chat?
Facebook Live Chat feature appears as a small floating chat icon that is usually on the bottom right of a website.
In 2017 Facebook rolled out the beta version to allow people to chat with businesses without leaving the website or waiting for a response from a contact form. With over 2.8 billion people using Facebook to date, if you envisioned your customer base to be Facebook users there is really no reason why you shouldn’t integrate the live chat feature to gain more leads to your business.
The Benefits Of Adding Facebook Live Chat To Your Website
Website live chat is becoming more and more popular and it’s a great way to engage with customers in real-time. Not only that, but a chat feature can lead to higher conversion, it also gives your client a personal one to one conversation. Below are just some of the benefits of why adding live chat can improve your business.
Improve Your Customer Service
Chatting in real-time with your customers to solve their problems is a lot more effective than an email or a call. Improve your brand by being there whenever they need you.
Provide Automated Answers
Automated replies are messages sent automatically as your page’s first response to new messages or enquiries. For example, you can use the automated feature to let customers know that you will respond to their enquiries as soon as possible. You can also greet them by their first name with a thank you message for contacting your Page.
Solve Your Customers Problems Instantly
Instant customer care and communication can only be a positive thing. Having Facebook live chat on your website is the fastest way to help your customers and they will appreciate that too!
Increase in Sales
Chatting with your potential customers in real-time can be a real game-changer when it comes to customer satisfaction and conversion. Just being there for people when they need advice or information can potentially increase the chance of turning a visitor into a customer by 82%!
Boosts Credibility
Adding Facebook Live Chat to your website adds credibility. Your visitors will instantly know there are real people on the other side ready to help at any moment.
Requirements
- If you haven’t already, you will need a Facebook Business Page. Check out my guide on how to create a well designed Facebook business page.
How To Add Facebook Live Chat To Your Business Website
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- Navigate to settings in your Facebook Business Page and click on the ‘Messenger Platform’ tab on the left-hand side.
- Scroll down to the bottom and click ‘Set Up’ on the Customer chat plugin
- Follow through the instructions. From here you can change your preferred language, greeting or even create custom colours to match your website’s branding.
- On the third and final step, you will be asked to add the website address that you want the chat to appear in. Save this, and copy the code that appears on the right-hand side window.
IMPORTANT: Before changing your files it’s important that you backup your website. You can do this by installing a backup plugin (if you’re using WordPress or you can go to your cPanel and create a Full Backup. Click Generate/ Download a Full Website Backup).
How To Install If You’re Using WordPress
Once you have copied the code you will need to go to your website. Navigate to ‘Appearance’ and click on ‘Theme Editor’. Here you can see the files of your theme. Choose the header.php file, and find the <head> tag. Insert your copied code between this tag and before the </head>. Click Save.
How To Install Using FTP
- Follow the same instructions as above to obtain your code.
- Go to your FTP client and go to the File Manager.
- Depending on how your website is built will determine how you insert the code. The code snippet is inserted between the <head> and the </head> tags. This does not matter if your website is built with PHP or HTML. If your website is built with PHP (like WordPress), your website is dynamically building the headers with a separate file, you will then need to insert the code into that file.
Once you have installed the code correctly the chat icon should appear at the bottom right of your website.
Tips On Customising Your Chat
Once your widget is installed you can customise your chat to make it more personal. Below are just some examples of what you can do to improve user experience. Head over to the ‘Messaging Settings’ tab and set up how people can message your page.
Set up a personal greeting
Create a personalised greeting that people will see the first time they open a conversation with you on Messenger.
Automated Responses
A great feature if you want to add an FAQ as soon as people open the chat. You can add questions and information for people to click on so it’s easier for them to start a conversation. Then set up automated responses to those questions.
Response Assistant
Respond to the first message someone sends your Page. You can customise your message to say hello, give people more information about your Page or let people know when to expect a response.
Appointment Messaging & Follow-Ups
Send customers on Facebook an automatic reminder via Messenger the day before their appointment or send customers a message after their appointment reminding them to book with you again.
Summary
In today’s digital age, modern companies should be aware that having a live customer chat function can do so much more for your brand image. It shows that your company is accessible and interested in the needs of clients and potential customers, which can do a lot for your companies reputation.
Adding Facebook Chat on your website is a cost-effective and modern online tool for businesses that can benefit and influence your income and reduce customer support costs, and more importantly, it can boost customer loyalty and satisfaction.