Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp

Direct communication with customers in the online environment is today a very popular and effective way to handle customer support. On modern e-shops, it is more than common that customers can start an online chat or at least leave their inquiry. This form of communication is usually efficient for both sides, both in terms of time usage and response quality.

Online chat is therefore a simple helper that enables direct and fast communication between a website visitor (customer) and, for example, a support agent on a booking page (or any website). Because the chat can be started immediately and there is no need to search for contact details, the barrier for customers to reach out and ask questions is significantly reduced. With more complex systems, mass usage of various chatbots can also be expected, capable of answering specific questions in a qualified manner.

If you run a Facebook page for your business or you want to communicate via your personal account, it is very easy to integrate a quick online chat launch based on the Facebook Messenger tool into your booking page. Similarly, you can also route quick chat directly to the WhatsApp application.

To integrate communication via Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp, it is necessary to set links that will be displayed on the booking page. In these cases, these are special links that can be configured together with other social media links. Within the settings, these are specifically the "Facebook Messenger" and "WhatsApp" items. After setting these links, a corresponding icon will appear in the footer of the booking page. When the customer clicks it, a direct chat opens according to the entered link.

Facebook Messenger

The link for direct chat with a Facebook page or user profile has the basic format https://m.me/name. The name used in the link can be the username of either the Page or a specific Facebook user. The value you can use here can always be found in the settings of the specific profile (page or user), where you need to look for Page name – Username or Username. The Page or profile name is commonly used elsewhere within the Meta platform, typically as part of the standard URL https://facebook.com/name. If you do not yet have such a name for your Page or profile, you must define and set it - see the Facebook documentation.

WhatsApp

Similar to Facebook Messenger, the principle here is also based on a specific link, this time in the form https://wa.me/phone-number. The main identifier in WhatsApp is the phone number, so in this case there is no need to set or search for a username - just use the phone number to which you want the chat to be directed. The phone number must be entered in full international format, without leading zeros from the area code and without any brackets or dashes. A correct example may look like this: https://wa.me/123777123456.