How to Add Facebook Chat to a Lawlytics Site

Law firms are starting to get the hang of tech, but then just as they do it seems like everything changes again. Fortunately, integrations like Facebook Chat make it easy for you to stay on top of your communications and keeping your clients happy. And when you use a tool like Lawlytics, you’ll have no trouble reaching your full marketing potential even with all the constant changes to the digital marketing world. 

In the past, law firms and legal teams often assumed that non-secure communication tools used online weren’t in their wheelhouse or didn’t need to be. The problem, of course, becomes how to help people reach you when you don’t have the same options as everyone else. Yes, legal conversations and private matters need to be discussed securely. The caveat is that simple questions, inquiries, and requests for assistance aren’t really matters that need to happen in a dedicated space. 

You’ll often find that you get a lot more satisfaction from your audience when you integrate everyday tools like Facebook Chat into your website. Having a website in the first place boosts your web presence and reputability. When you add more features to serve your audience, it’s only going to get better. 

And, when you consider the statistics, it makes sense:

• From 2019 to 2021, the number of people who preferred to contact a company on social media jumped by 30%, and those people now comprise more than half of the consumer audience. 

• 46% of all customers prefer to connect with a brand via live chat (as opposed to other means of communication)

• 4 billion and counting: that’s how many people around the globe are using social media, and is over 53% of the total population of the world

• 54% of browsers use social media for product research

• 98.3% of Facebook users access it via mobile
  

People love social media because it gives them that personalized, connected relationship that they crave. It's also an easy, familiar format.

For now, let’s take a look at the Facebook Chat plugin and how you can integrate it into your Lawlytics website. In this how-to guide, we’ll cover everything from the highlights to the installation process so that you can be up and running with the Facebook Chat plugin in no time at all. 

The Facebook Chat plugin

The highlights:

• Facebook Chat is a dedicated integration that is specifically designed for website use

• Guest Mode means that every single user that contacts you can use the Facebook integration, even without an account

• Lawlytics makes it simple to paste the code into your page settings to complete the integration

• You can transition your conversations from your website to your Facebook inbox or the Messenger platform seamlessly

• You can set up autoreplies, set availability schedules, and even create FAQs
  

The Facebook Chat integration is an open-source tool that’s been set up with businesses in mind. It is available for several different websites and platforms, but it works pretty much the same across the board. Even if you’re not hosted on a site like WordPress or Squarespace where integrations come by the truckload, you’ll still find a lot of ways to improve your site, including this integration. 

This tool can be used on almost every desktop browser, with the exception of Internet Explorer. It can also be accessed and used on mobile browsers and users can communicate with you directly via Facebook or the Messenger app to keep the conversation going. 

All your business needs is a published Facebook Pages business page. Login to the account on the device you’ll be using to set up the chat tool, and within a matter of minutes, you’ll have a chat icon on your website, which will look something like this:

The Facebook Developer community also has a lot of help and resources available for people who are setting up this integration. Plus, it automatically loads recent conversations in your various tools and platforms so that you can streamline everything and keep the conversation moving for better resolution of customer support issues. That means everything will be right there so you never miss a beat and your audience never misses an opportunity to build a relationship with your brand. 

Installing the Facebook Chat feature is simple

Although some people hear words like “setup” and “install” and start to panic about the complexity of what’s ahead, that’s not to be worried about here. In fact, it’s simple to install the Facebook Chat integration on any website, including one hosted by Lawlytics, so that you can keep your communications streamlined and keep people connected. Just login to your Facebook account for the business page, as mentioned, and follow the steps below. 

1. Navigate to the Settings section of your Page and click “Messaging”
2. Navigate to the Add Messenger To Your Website area and then click “Get Started”
3. Choose “Setup Your Chat Plugin”
4. Click “Set Up”
5. Select a language and add your website domain
6. Copy the line of code that will be pasted on your website
7. Check the other settings, if you’d like 

Other settings include the “Start the Conversation” section, where you can customize the greeting, set your hours and away messages, and even create FAQs for your audience. Then, there’s the “Customize” section, where you can choose the color, size, alignment, and pop-out features of your Facebook Chat website tool. 

*NOTE: Although it’s offered as an option, Smith.ai and Facebook do NOT recommend moving the location of the chat icon from the bottom right corner of the screen. 

Once you’ve gone through all the options and settings and gotten everything squared away, you’ll be able to click “Finish” and “Done” to save the settings and then close the window. You will also be able to go back and edit things or deactivate the plugin from this area of your settings in the future. 

Developer Options

Although Facebook makes it fairly easy to get going with the Chat integration, there’s also a Developer section for a full custom installation and other advanced settings and features that aren’t included in the basic steps. If you’re skilled in web development or you have someone who is, you can check out the Facebook for Developers section to get a full explanation of how this works. 

To cover the basics, we’ll go over the important points here. However, most of the features of this custom programming are beyond the needs of our audience so we’re only going to spend a few minutes discussing this topic. Let’s start with safelisting. 

Safelisting: Inputting your website URL in the Facebook settings so that the Chat integration doesn’t attempt to block your website. This can be done on the Settings page through Advanced Messaging, or there are programmatic steps that you can take. 

The HTML code is the next topic. You can also grab this from the Facebook Pages settings when you’re setting up the tool, but on the developer page, it’s listed for everyone’s use, too. The div that will be added to your HTML looks like:

<div class=”fb-customerchat”

Page_id=”<PAGE_ID>”>

</div>

Bear in mind that there are advanced attributes and settings that offer the choice to change the alignment or location of the Facebook Chat feature on your website—don't do it.

Think about it. When you go to a website as a consumer, where do YOU look for that live chat feature? People expect it to be in the bottom right corner of the screen, or thereabouts. If it’s not, they may not find it or they may just not bother. 

Not only that but imagine what it could get in the way of with any other placement. Make sure that your chat icon is visible and easy to spot, but not so much that it covers up valuable content on the site. Although people love social media, they hate when websites have side features or plugins that block regular content.

Features and supported message types 

The plugin for Facebook Chat supports many message types and has a host of features that will give everyone a more connected, rich experience. You can use Facebook Chat and find features and supported messages like:

• Text messages

• Audio and video messages

• Images and GIFs

• URL button

• Call button

• Postback button

• Email, text, and phone quick reply features
  

This is just a sampling of the features that you’ll find, but they’re highlighting all the best ways that you can put this chat integration to work for your brand. You’ll be able to see all your messages in one place, can link everything across platforms, and even track your messaging habits with the Insights button from Facebook’s own page settings. 

Guest Mode opens up more doors

Towards the end of 2020, Facebook finally answered the demand of brands that wanted to be able to communicate with everyone. Now, there’s a “guest” option so that whenever someone wants to contact your business without a Facebook account, they can do it. They’ll be able to send and receive messages and access the conversation for up to 24 hours, while your business can keep the conversation on file as long as you’d like. 

More recently, Guest Mode has seen an upgrade that makes it easy for users to transition from the “guest” account to their own Facebook account by logging in during the conversation. This can be done manually from the drop-down menu, or it could be prompted if someone tries to send an attachment. that’s currently only an option for account holders. Another thing that you can’t do as a guest is contact a business that’s “away” because they’ll have no way to contact you when they return. 

One reason that people love this mode is that they can get started without providing a lot of information and then log in later if it ends up being necessary. 

The familiarity of Messenger and more 

Several people are still asking why they should be using the Facebook Chat plugin and allowing customers to contact them on the Messenger platform. Aside from the fact that this is just the way things are going, you’ll also want to consider what’s bringing people here in the first place. 

The Facebook Chat integration that is supported by Messenger offers:

• Familiarity for people through its simple, straightforward messaging platform

• Total connectivity for brands in a single place

• Streamlined communications across all platforms and devices

• Rich media tools to share all kinds of content 

• A more personal, user-friendly connection

• Time savings and fewer steps navigating the communication channels 

• A totally free option for putting a live chat feature on your website
  

Not only is Facebook Chat a tool that several people already know and use, but It allows you to create a free connection to your audience and give them a way to reach out without having to invest a dime on your part. And all that extra work when people start engaging with your chat plugin? You’re not on your own there, either. 

Let Smith.ai handle the messages while you handle business

You have enough on your agenda without another customer service tool that needs managed, but you can’t just skip out on giving your customers the 24/7, real-time response they demand. The solution? Choose a partnership with Smith.ai and let our dedicated live chat agents field your live chats, and other communications.

When you choose Smith.ai, you are choosing a more comprehensive live chat solution that will handle live chat, but also SMS texts and more. Our software and 24/7 agents offer a complete live answering solution in English and Spanish, answering every conversation that comes in and plugging into your website or e-commerce platform for easy streamlining. 

Our dedicated virtual receptionists can handle it all, from simple answers to lead screening, scheduling, new client intake, payments, and much more. Ask how we can be the face of your brand to change your customer service for the better. We’ll even help you craft the perfect strategy to handle your business communication needs, and all without breaking the budget.

Ask how we can handle your website chat when you schedule a consultation today. You’ll also find us at (650) 727-6484 or hello@smith.ai.