Messenger and Your Business Inbox: a Crash Course

Sally Eubanks
Jun 7, 2022
8 min read

Updated: Jul 27, 2022

Messenger is an integrated messaging feature on your company’s Facebook Page. It is comparable to texting, but you do not have to pay for each message or platform usage. The ability to communicate helps your company to build connections and promote trust. According to a recent survey commissioned by Facebook, 69% of respondents claimed that the ability to send a message to a company enhanced their confidence in the brand.

Benefits of Using Messenger Business Inbox

Connect With Customers Where They Already Are

Approximately 76% of smartphone users interact using mobile messaging. A digital presence on Messenger will facilitate communication with your company.

Communicate Anywhere, Anytime

Activate messaging when you are prepared to accept and reply to messages. With computer and phone messaging features, you will never miss a potential client’s correspondence.

Stay Organized

It can be challenging to manage everything, from fulfilling orders to answering customer requests. Facebook has created messaging tools to help you stay organized, increase productivity and never miss a sale.

Expand Your Reach With Advertising

Messenger supports the delivery of approximately 20 billion messages every month between people and organizations throughout the globe. To reach new customers and improve your reach, promote your company directly on Messenger.

Messenger Business Inbox Features

Messenger enables the monthly delivery of over 20 billion messages between people and organizations across the globe. Promote your company on Messenger to attract new customers and grow your reach. Using the Business Inbox as part of Facebook’s new Meta Business Suite lets you do even more.

Switch Accounts

You may simply switch between your profile and business Pages in Messenger by long-pressing your profile picture or choosing Switch account from the Me menu. This means you can easily switch between personal and business accounts.

Notifications

Receive alerts on your phone whenever your company receives a new message. In Messenger’s settings, you may also temporarily or permanently silence alerts.

Read and Respond to Comments

Receive alerts when your company receives a text message on your mobile device. You may also temporarily or permanently silence alerts in Messenger’s settings.

Organize Your Inbox and Manage Customer Info

When you open a message, you will see the customer’s name, picture, location, and further information. You may add labels to the customer’s profile and data such as email and phone number from this Page. You may also write private remarks about the consumer for you and others who administer your Page.

These capabilities may assist you in organizing your customer information, allowing you to flag communications as unread or to remind you to follow up later. You may also transfer messages to your Spam or Done folders, making it simpler to communicate with them in the future.

How to Create a Label

From your News Feed, choose Pages from the menu on the left.
Visit your Page.
Click the link labeled Inbox at the top of the Page.
On the right, click Manage Labels next to labels.
Enter the label’s name, then click the Add Label button.

Applying a Label to a Conversation

From your News Feed, choose Pages from the menu on the left.
Visit your Page.
At the top of the Page, click the Inbox link.
Click on a Discussion Thread on the left.
Below Labels on the right, click Add Label... And begin
Entering the desired label, then choose it from the resulting drop-down menu.

Assigning Conversations

These instructions are applicable to the Meta Business Suite desktop interface. You must have a role on the Page that allows you to complete these steps. Such roles include admin, editor, or moderator.

Select the Facebook Page and Instagram account from Meta Business Suite home.
Click the drop-down menu in the top left of your sidebar to pick a different Facebook Page and Instagram account. Then, choose
The Facebook Page and Instagram account for which you wish to assign discussions.
Click on Inbox from the sidebar on the left.
Select whether you want to assign roles
For Messenger or Instagram direct messages. You can also click all messages to review all your messages together.
Select a message from the left.
Choose Assign Conversation from the menu at the top of the
Message window. This can be located beneath the name of the sender of the message.
Select the person you’d like to assign the conversation to.
To unassign a conversation, click the Assign Conversation drop-down menu and then select Remove Assignment.
Go to your Inbox, then click the filter button on the top left of the message window to see all messages designated to you or someone else. Click Assigned to see a list of persons and the messages that have been assigned to them.

Filter Conversations

Use a filter to arrange your inbox further. You may sort by unread messages and comments, those that need follow-up, and the individual to whom they are allocated.

To filter your Page's inbox by a label, click the magnifying glass in the top left, enter a label name, and then select the label.
From the list that appears.
To manage all of your Page's labels, click Manage Labels next to Labels on the right.
From here, you can click a label’s color to change it or click the trashcan to delete it. Deleting a label won’t delete messages with that label.

AUTOMATION

These great tools will save you time by automating your answers.

Messenger Greetings

When someone initiates a discussion with your Page, you may set

a personalized welcome to appear. This greeting shows before any

messages are delivered and may include information you like people

to know before they send you a message.

How To Create Your Custom Greeting In Messenger

From your News Feed, choose Pages from the menu on the left.
Visit your Page.
Select settings from the Page's menu bar.
Select Messaging in the column on the left.
Next, to Display a Messenger greeting, click on Change, edit the greeting, then click Save.

Inbox Suggestions

Meta Business Suite’s inbox recommendations may help you save time, respond more effectively, and remain organized while doing business. We will propose a response depending on the circumstances of a discussion you are having with a prospective customer. This action is available immediately inside Inbox. Among the suggestions are the following.

Create An Appointment.

You may schedule a new appointment for a client.

Confirm a New Order.

Mark a transaction as a new order.

How to Contact Customers With Inbox in Commerce Manager

to Confirm Their Order

Choose your store from the Commerce Manager.
Click Orders.
Locate the order. Select Contact Customer from the drop-down
menu of the order.
Input a message and then click Send

Confirm a Payment.

You can mark transactions that occur within conversations as

ordered or paid to track your sales and organize your Inbox. By

marking a conversation as ordered or paid, you can keep track of

whom you’ve received payments from and track all payments you

receive on Facebook in Page Insights.

How to Confirm a Payment

From your News Feed, choose Pages from the menu on the left.
Visit your Page.
At the top of the Page, click the Inbox link.
To begin a discussion with a buyer, just click on it.
Click the Add Activity button on the right.
Choose Order Placed or Payment Received.
To add purchase or payment information, click Send Details in the discussion.
Fill out the order or payment information, then click Send Details or Confirm.

When you designate a communication as ordered or paid, both you

and the person who sent the message will be able to see the bought

item, its price, and confirmation that payment has been received.

Save a Frequent Reply.

When you designate a communication as ordered or paid, both you

and the person who sent the message will be able to see the bought

item, its price, and confirmation that payment has been received.

How to Create Saved Replies

Click Custom Keywords.
Create a name for your automated response.
Choose whether the automatic answer should be sent through Messenger, Instagram, or both.
Add up to 5 keywords or phrases. Remember, when someone uses any of these keywords or phrases in a message to your business, they’ll get an automatic response.
Choose the time at which you wish the automated message to be sent. Remember that this is the period of time after a message is sent that the automatic response will be sent.
Customize your automated message with text, photos, videos, buttons, and personalization.
Preview how the message will look on the right.
Click Save.

How to Use Pre-Suggested Replies

Click one of the preset automated responses.

Set up the automatic response by following the instructions on the next screens.

Preview how the automated response will look on the right.

Click Save.

Set Away Schedule and Message

Send an automated message every time a new message arrives. You may customize your message to say welcome, offer further information about your Page, or specify when you expect a response. Please note that to change your Page’s messaging status to away automatically

outside of business hours, you must first compose an away message.

Setting Your Status as Away

From your News Feed, click Pages in the left menu.
Go to your Page.
Click the Inbox at the top of your Page.
Click Automated Responses in the left column.
Click Away Message under Greet Customers, then click Edit.
In the box below the message, enter your away message. You can click Add Personalization to include the person's name or details about your business (example: website URL, phone number).
Click Save in the top right.

How To Schedule Away Times

From your News Feed, click Pages in the left menu.
Go to your Page.
Click the Inbox at the top of your Page.
Click automated responses in the left column.
Click away the message below greet customers, then click edit.
Click Next to Time Zone to select your time zone, then click +Add Time.
Choose the days of the week, then enter the time period for which your Page's status should be set as Away on those days.
Click Save in the top right.

You may add additional away times to your Page or remove them by clicking the bin symbol. Note that such messages are not included in the response rate or response time of your Page.

Ads That Click to Messenger

Use advertising that links to Messenger to reach a huge number of people and then connect with them through live chat or a Messenger bot. Lead generation, response to inquiries, transaction facilitation, and support are all benefits of this method.

Objectives of Ads That Click to Messenger

Ads that click to Messenger work with three objectives: Messages, Traffic, and Conversions. During ad creation, you will construct both the ad and the welcome experience that Messenger users will view after clicking on your ad. If you wish to create an Ad that links to Messenger using an existing post from your company page, you may do so straight from your page.

The Messages Objective delivers ads to people more likely to respond to your business in Messenger (recommended). The Traffic Objective is intended to direct users to a Messenger chat. The Conversions Objective should be used if you’re tracking events with a Facebook Pixel.

Creating an Ad With the Messages Objective

Go to Ads Manager and click Create.
Choose the Messages Objective and click Continue.
Name your campaign, choose your budget and click Next.
Under Ad Type, select Click to Message.
Under the Messaging Apps section, select Messenger.
Choose your audience, placements, and cost controls, then click Continue.
Select your ad format and complete your ad setup.
Under Message Template, choose to either Create New or Use the Existing template.
When creating a new template, you can choose to either Start Conversations or Generate Leads.
People will be able to pick prompts to tap within a Messenger Discussion by using Start Conversations.
Using a question-and-answer flow, generating leads allows you to gather information via Messenger from individuals who are interested in your business.
Click + Create to create your flow. Click Save and finish when you’re done.
Finish editing your ad, then click Confirm.

Create an Ad With the Traffic Objective

Go to Ads Manager and click Create.
Choose the Traffic Objective.
Choose your Campaign Budget and click Continue.
In the Traffic Section, click Messenger.
Choose your audience, placements, and spending controls, and click Continue.
Finish editing your ad, then click Confirm.

Create an Ad With the Conversions Objective

Go to Ads Manager and click Create.
Choose the Conversions Objective.
Choose your campaign budget and click Continue.
In the Conversions Section, click Messenger.
Under Optimizations for Ad Delivery, choose your Conversion Event. You can hover over each event to learn more about them.
Choose your audience, placements, and spending controls, and click Continue.
Finish editing your ad, then click Confirm.

Once authorized, your advertisement will begin to show in the areas you specified. When someone clicks on the advertisement, Messenger will open, and your welcome message will show.