Use Facebook Messenger to Increase Sales for Shopify stores

First, you’ll need to connect Facebook Messenger to your eCommerce store. This is only available with Shopify, as of writing this article. Connecting Facebook to Shopify means you can directly link your business’s Messenger account to quickly reply to questions. 

But Messenger isn’t just for replying. You can send leads messages after you’ve connected with someone on Messenger through your eCommerce website, meaning the sales funnel continues even once they leave. 

Of course, sending messages on Facebook is quite a push into a lead’s personal space, so make sure you’re not too spammy or they’ll likely block you. 

How to connect Facebook Messenger to Shopify 

You can connect Messenger to Shopify in just a couple of minutes. You can focus on optimizing your customer experience after. 

1. Open your Shopify Dashboard. 
2. Go to Sales Channels on the left side.
3. Press the + to add a sales channel. 
4. Select Messenger. 
5. Link your business’s Facebook page. 
6. Choose a custom appearance for the Messenger tab. 
7. Done. 

You’re now ready to start optimizing your Messenger with automated responses, buy now options, and expert account management solutions to drive up your conversion rate. 

Messenger is a powerful tool to get more sales. It’s used by most people on social media and has an 80% open rate. This means you’re very likely to get impressions when using Messenger for marketing. 

The first step in doing this is to set up some automated responses in reaction to particular events. You can do this through your Facebook Settings, simply:

1. Open your Facebook business page.
2. Go to Settings in the left panel.
3. Go to Messaging. 
4. Click ‘Set up automated responses’ 
5. Choose which actions to respond to.
6. Set up your responses. 
7. Save and exit. 

Setting up automated responses is easy and it’s a major win for UX

Setting up automated responses is a stepping stone to guiding the customer into your sales funnel. It’s unlikely you’re going to convert them through a bot. Still, having an automated response with a 10-second delay that says you’ve received their message and will reply soon. 

Why the 10-second delay? An immediate response shows the person this is automated. While the delayed message is also obviously not typed by a person, it makes the experience feel more human. 

Set up automated responses on your eCommerce store

Don’t forget to set up some responses and greetings on your eCommerce store. This is more important than on Facebook because it’s how you initially engage customers in your Messenger sales funnel. 

You can continue messaging someone after they respond to your chat on your eCommerce store, so this is a goldmine for grabbing new leads. 

• Have a welcome message when someone new comes to your store. 
• Greet people when they land on your collection pages. 
• Send them a tracking code when they make an order. 
• Thank them after checkout and tell them they look great today. 

Using Facebook Messenger on your Shopify page is a very effective way to proactively gain new leads. To set it up, simply: 

1. Go to your Shopify dashboard. 
2. Click Messenger under Sales Channels. 
3. Go to Customizations. 
4. Click on a message template.
5. Edit as you wish. 
6. Done. 

Custom automated messages in response to different actions are a win for conversions and UX.

Now when someone visits your store for the first time they can receive a message offering them an offer for a 10% discount code for their first purchase. Who wouldn’t accept that? Make sure you don’t just give them the code – by offering it you make them send a message, which enters them into the Messenger sales funnel and allows you to contact them later for more great promotions. 

PRO TIP: The thing about Messenger marketing is that it’s very invasive and spammy if not done right. You can’t just pop up and say “I’ve got a new product in, have a look”. Instead, you have to always give something valuable, like a discount, something free (an eBook, or even a product addon to purchase), and not reach out too frequently. 

Save yourself time and effort logging into different accounts and instead manage them all from a central hub. The Socialreply app syncs with your Shopify store and Facebook Messenger so you can reply to everyone in one place quickly and easily.

Making sales in Messenger is even easier with the Socialreply app. Offer discounts, import products, track all your accounts in one dashboard, plus more.

You can also use the Socialreply app to send products in Messenger and apply discounts before sending. This allows you to chat directly with the customer while coming to a great deal and showing them some genuine customer care that will build loyalty to your brand. 

Having a Messenger management tool is a big help if you have more than one Facebook business page, or if you just want extra tools to help you convert leads with your chats. 

You can also use it to reply to comments on your posts, giving you more oversight without having to jump around between pages. 

You need a Buy Now button to sell on Messenger effectively. This allows customers to complete orders directly within Facebook Messenger without even needing to visit your store. Obviously, this allows you to direct customers through a much smoother sales funnel with you there to guide them all the way to checkout. 

Sending products to customers in chats allows them to buy directly within Messenger.

Merchants with a Shopify store can set up the Buy Now button so that customers don’t even need to leave the Messenger app. All you have to do is sync your Shopify account with your Facebook. Customer details for shipping and payment will be synced to your Shopify. 

This makes it incredibly easy for the customer to buy products – especially seeing as Facebook will save their checkout information after their first purchase, meaning they no longer have to fill anything out when they shop with other brands. 

Merchants using another eCommerce platform can still have a Buy Now button, but it’ll take the customer to the checkout page on your website. This is still much better than not having any Buy Now option. 

Ads are an obvious way to boost sales on Facebook. It’s worth noting that Messenger marketing results in 70% more leads than email marketing, so you’re certainly getting your money’s worth. 

Indeed, dozens of Facebook shop owners have been using Facebook ads to stimulate chats with their customers

The first stage in launching a Messenger ad campaign is to define your goals. This is key to knowing how to sell on Messenger. This could be to: 

• Boost sales
• Increase website traffic 
• Grab leads
• Brand awareness
• Increase sign-ups 

Define your goal, then set up a Messenger ad that will start an automated chat when a user clicks on it. It’s best to set up responses for users to choose from, as this allows you to have full control over guiding them through the sales funnel. 

Remember that sometimes you need to spend money to make money and running ads on Messenger is a great way to boost sales for your business. Here are some ideas to boost conversions on Messenger ads: 

• Offer free add-ons or discounts with purchases
• Offer free shipping
• Be enthusiastic and fun in tone
• Input a game into your Messenger chat 
• Send photo examples of products being modeled
• Try to be different from the generic competition 
• Admit that it’s a bot

Always track the conversions and CTR of your Messenger ads and install a Facebook Pixel to your eCommerce site to track conversions that originated from Facebook ads. Pick out what works and what doesn’t to gradually optimize your Messenger ads for maximum conversions.