How to Chat on Facebook in 5 Different Ways: The Simple Guide for Marketing Beginners and Pros

As a top Facebook Messenger solutions provider for marketers, it is practically our duty to teach the budding digital marketers out there the basics of how to chat on Facebook.

Send a message to your friend, colleague, or prospect with the most popular and active chat apps. 

Make it private, a DM, or group chat, it has never been easier to instantly connect with people, which will make life easier for marketers and business owners.

This article is your easy-to-follow guide on how to use the most popular chat apps.

• How to chat on Facebook from Facebook.com: Facebook Chat
• Chat on Facebook from Messenger.com
• How to chat on Facebook from Facebook Messenger desktop app
• Chat on Facebook mobile app: Messenger
• How to chat on Facebook from Instagram to Messenger and vice-versa: Cross-platform Facebook Chat

After you understand some of the essential Facebook Chat and Messenger features and how to best utilize them, you will enter a whole new world of possibilities.

At the end we will wrap it up by exploring how to tie it all together with the game-changing Free Forever Edition of Customers.ai OmniChat®. 

Sign up for your Free Forever Special Edition of Customers.ai today! 

Just look at it, the glorious balance of simplicity and power. 

Create ONE chatbot, send ONE message across SMS text, as well as Messenger for Facebook and Instagram, all from ONE convenient dashboard. Uh-mazing! 🤯

So, grab your magic marketing lamp 🧞 (Customers.ai), and get ready for all of your chat blasting, lead gen, customer support, and ROI-exploding wishes to come true. 

But first, some preliminary Facebook chat FAQs. 

What Is The Chat App On Facebook?

Facebook chat is a way to connect instantly by text message on Facebook for desktop or Facebook Messenger for mobile. 

Facebook chat also offers video and voice call capabilities.

Communicate in real-time with family, friends, fans, customers, and businesses. 

How Do You Chat On Facebook For The First Time?

Whether you have just created your personal Facebook profile or you already have a Facebook Business Page, the most powerful tool to learn for your business’s marketing strategy is Facebook Chat. 

Luckily, it’s really easy to use. 

Let’s assume you are using a desktop computer, to begin with, and we will cover mobile afterwards. 

How To Chat On Facebook From Facebook.com: Facebook Chat

#1. Navigate to Facebook.com.

#2. Log in to your account. 

#3. Click on the “New Message” button in the chat box at the bottom right of your screen to enter the name of a person or Business Page you’d like to chat with. 

Or click the Messenger button at the top right for a list of previously started messages or to draft a new message. 

#4. Also, on the right hand side of your home screen or newsfeed under “Contacts” is a list of your contacts. The green dot signifies that they are online and currently available to chat. 

#5. Click on a contact and a chat window will appear. Type what you want to say and hit Enter to send your message.  

#6. When you are done with your chat, click the X to close the chat window or press Esc. 

How To Chat On Facebook From Messenger.com

Want to skip the newsfeed and Facebook.com altogether? Head over to Messenger.com for a virtual desktop version of the mobile Facebook Messenger app. 

It’s exactly the same as the Messenger app on your phone, except on your desktop’s browser. 

#1. Navigate to Messenger.com in your browser. 

#2. Click the blue “Continue as” button to log in via Facebook. 

#3. You will be brought to a screen that lists all of your previously started Messenger conversations, synced between your mobile Messenger app and Messenger.com. 

#4. Click on the contact you’d like to chat with or use the search box on the left hand side to find the person or Business Page you’d like to chat with. 

#5. Type what you’d like to say in the text box, and hit Enter to send. The same as you would with Facebook.com. 

How To Chat On Facebook From Facebook Messenger Desktop App

Facebook offers a standalone Messenger app for either PC or Mac users. You can find Messenger on the App Store or Google Play.

#1. Once you have installed the Messenger app, click the blue button “Sign in With Facebook”. 

#2. Follow the prompts to connect your Facebook profile with the Messenger app.

#3. On the main screen of the Messenger app your active contacts are on the left, marked with a green dot, and any past conversations. 

It’s just like the mobile version, but on your desktop! 

How To Chat On Facebook From Facebook Mobile App: Messenger

There are 2.7 billion monthly active users, and 98% of them using mobile for Facebook (according to Statista). 

With 1.3 billion Messenger users expected to grow to 2.4 billion in 2021, this is a great time to learn how to use Facebook Messenger. 

For marketers, besides the vast demographics and prospects, Messenger for business provides 70% better open rates than email and up to 80% open rates and 20% click-through rates.

So, learn how to use it!

You might be thinking, “is Facebook Chat and Messenger the same thing?” 

No. 

Well, sort-of. 

They are connected but can be completely separate. In the past, if you wanted to set up only a Messenger account without a Facebook profile, you could. 

That ability is grand-fathered in for those who had it, but has been removed since 2020. 

To put it simply, the social network Facebook owns the instant messaging software, the Messenger app.

There is so much functionality with Messenger, from video calls to stickers, gifs, and sharing files.

Here are some of the awesome things you can do beyond chatting on Messenger or Facebook Chat:

#1. If you don’t already have the Messenger app on your phone, go to the Apple Store or Google Play to download it. 

#2. Open the app. You may see a pop up with updates such as this one about the Cross-App Messaging functionality. 

#3. Continue to log in to the Facebook Messenger app by using your Facebook profile credentials. 

#4. Once logged in, tap on one of your contacts to start a chat or open a previously started chat window.

#5. Use the text entry box to type your message and tap the send button. 

How To Chat From Instagram To Messenger And Vice-Versa: Cross-Platform Facebook Chat

The grand finale of our simple guide for all of your “how do I get chat on Facebook” questions is the cross-platform chat.

This is a really cool and relatively new feature for Messenger.

If you haven’t updated your Instagram app already, you’ll be prompted to do so… and there is no going back! 

The integration of Facebook and Instagram continues to grow deeper as we now have the ability to message from one app to the other. 

This changes Instagram DMs and the Messenger experience with more options and robust functionality. Not to mention we’ve been blessed with the ability to chat blast Instagram with Customers.ai OmniChat®! 

To send a message to someone on Facebook from Instagram, first open your Instagram app and then: 

#1. Tap on the Messenger icon at the top right of your Instagram screen. 

#2. On the next screen you will see past chats that you can pick back up where you left off or start a new chat. Tap on a person to open their chat window or tap the New Message icon at the top right.  

#3. You will then be brought to a screen that suggests contacts based on your past messaging. Tap next to the person’s name or type in their name under “To”, then tap “Chat”.

#4. The next screen is the old Instagram DM screen or Messenger chat with the person you’ve selected. Type your message and tap “Send” to begin your chat. Explore the other features, such as video, adding emojis, and more! 

Transform Your Marketing Strategy With Customers.ai OmniChat® For Chat On Facebook, Instagram, SMS, And Websites

Learning how to chat on Facebook isn’t just for keeping up with friends and family. Imagine direct messaging your advertising to the 500 million daily active Instagram users and 1.82 billion daily active Facebook users. 

With Customers.ai OmniChat®, you can wield this unruly marketing beast for yourself and reap the insane ROI. No, this isn’t the dark arts, and we do not endorse voodoo or sacrifices in the name of lead gen. 

Goodbye pathetic email newsletter that only occasionally made it past the spam filter and even then, only to annoy your prospects. 

There are two insanely effective ways to run Click-to-Messenger ads, which have become the gold standard in our marketing department, and for good reasons. 

#1. Click-to-Messenger Ads for Almost Magical ROIs and 100% Conversion Rate

Click-to-Messenger Ads are the Facebook Ad objective that utilizes a CTA button to “Send Message” and start a chat dialogue with your business page. 

In regards to generating leads and converting sales, this is where the magic of Customers.ai really shines. The next best thing to do would be to script a conversational dialogue or use one of our provided Messenger drip campaigns. 

When we say Click-to-Messenger Ads have a 100% conversion rate, what we mean by that is if your goal is to capture lead contact info, then every single click converts as it automatically saves their info for your remarketing or other purposes. 

Utilize our high-performing examples of Facebook Messenger Ads and master the Click-to-Messenger ad objective for lead gen rocket fuel. 

#2. Messenger Sponsored Message Ads for Refined Retargeting

As opposed to advertising in the newsfeed and elsewhere to get leads via the “Send Message” CTA, which should always be targeted, but is a broad net compared to the direct-to-Messenger Sponsored Message Ads. 

These ads essentially send a mass message or blast to all of your Messenger contacts (or a specific segment or list). 

This is a fantastic tool for lead nurturing with promotions and other follow-ups to keep front-of-mind with prospects. 

Check out some examples of Messenger Sponsored Messages on our blog or experience the real-life chat portion for yourself here (from our own highly successful campaign!). 

Chatbots are of course fantastic for immediate customer support as well, and connecting with your customers has never been easier or more welcomed than with a chatbot.

Put the Two Together for the Wildly Effective Conversational Remarketing Method

Combine Click-to-Messenger Ads and Messenger Sponsored Messages with Customers.ai, and you’ve got the foundation to the wildly effective new retargeting strategy, the conversational remarketing method. 

You don’t have to lose out on human interaction either, with Customers.ai’s built-in live chat operator chat takeover feature, you’ll set keyword triggers to know when it’s time to step in for your bot, whether to close a sale or escalate a support request. 

How to Easily Build a Multi-Channel Chatbot

Let’s take a quick look at how to easily build a multi-channel chatbot that chat blasts across Instagram, Facebook, and SMS in just a few simple steps using Customers.ai OmniChat®. 

#1. Sign up or log in to Customers.ai. 

#2. Click on “Campaigns” and then “Create Chat Blaster”.

#3. Then choose your platforms. Your Facebook account must already be linked to your Instagram account.

#4. Select which type of content you plan to send. 

#5. Choose an audience or create a new audience. 

#6. Select a dialogue or begin building a new one by clicking “Add widget” to drag-and-drop different chat elements. 

Or select a template.

#7. Fire off the chat blast or schedule it for later. 

#8. You did it! Now “Preview” or “Save” your new chat blast. 

Frequently Asked Questions about to chat on Facebook

1. How do I start a chat on Facebook?

To start a chat on Facebook, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Facebook account.
2. Click on the “Messenger” icon in the top right corner of the page.
3. In the Messenger window, click on the “New Message” button.
4. Type the name of the person you want to chat with in the search bar.
5. Select the person from the search results.
6. Type your message in the text box at the bottom of the chat window and hit Enter to send.

2. Can I chat with multiple people at once on Facebook?

Yes, you can chat with multiple people at once on Facebook. Follow these steps:

1. Start a chat with one person using the steps mentioned above.
2. In the chat window, click on the “Add People” icon (represented by a person with a plus sign).
3. Search for and select the additional people you want to include in the chat.
4. Type your message and hit Enter to send. The message will be visible to all participants in the chat.

3. Can I send photos or videos in a Facebook chat?

Yes, you can send photos or videos in a Facebook chat. Here’s how:

1. Open the chat window with the person or group you want to send the media to.
2. Click on the “Photo/Video” icon (represented by a camera) located below the chat box.
3. Select the photo or video you want to send from your device.
4. Add a caption if desired and click “Send” to share the media in the chat.