Messenger Lets Businesses Reach Customers Beyond Facebook

Facebook Messenger is looking to make it easier for businesses to interact with customers with a new update, according to a press release.

The new update lets users contact businesses any time without even logging into the Facebook app.

A new layout design, the company says, will make it easier to converse with the businesses. In addition, developers will reportedly find it easier to integrate the Messenger chat onto their websites as a new option.

Messenger reports that the testing phase was positive for businesses, resulting in a 45 percent increase in customers asking about their services.

The company then goes on to quote some businesses that have worked with the new updates already.

“As a developer, it’s much easier to convince a business  to use a live chat offering that is available to all their customers, ” said Soma Toth, founder of Recart, according to the release. “Our business customers are seeing sales directly tied to engagement on Messenger, and the Chat Plugin helps them leverage the same investment across both their Facebook page and their website at no additional cost. It also reduces the complexity of having to work with or support a fallback for users who are not logged into Facebook.”

And Ryan Pamplin, CEO of BlendJet, says the new open line of communication engenders a “sense of confidence” in customers.

“We noticed that customers who engage with us are three to four times more likely to checkout. With the Chat Plugin allowing us to reach more customers, we’ve tripled our sales since offering it as a customer engagement channel,” he said, according to the release.

Any business with a Facebook page will be able to install the new Chat Plugin for free, using Facebook’s own settings or going through partners such as WooCommerce, ManyChat and Haravan, according to the release.

Facebook has extended other olive branches to businesses as of late, including Facebook Shops, helping businesses with new options to put product listings Facebook Page, Instagram profiles and stories, or in ads, PYMNTS reported.