Enable and Send Live Sale Notifications via Messenger

Messenger is an instant messaging Facebook feature that connects users to their friends, family, and favorite businesses.

Previously, shops could only send a shopper a message within 24 hours of the shopper interacting or commenting on a live sale. Shops would then need to wait for the shopper to interact with another live sale in order to send another message.

Now, shops can send opted-in shoppers a message once every 22 hours regardless of whether or not the shopper interacted with a recent live sale.

How Sending Notifications via Messenger Benefits Your Shop

Boost live sale views with timely notifications and a link to view the sale.
Offer giveaways and/or special promotions using manual notification blasts.
Send daily messages to build relationships, increase shopper engagement, and improve viewership.

Before You Get Started

Before you get started sending notifications via Messenger, we want to highlight a few key elements of this feature:

While you can send as many live sale or manual notifications as you like, a shopper will only receive one message within a 22-hour window. For this reason, we recommend being strategic about when you send a notification via Messenger and for which sales you send a notification.
Shoppers control the opt-in and opt-out process for notifications via Messenger. Learn more about how shoppers can opt-in for Messenger notifications here.
Facebook only opts a shopper into Messenger notifications for six (6) months. A shopper will need to re-subscribe to notifications to keep receiving them.

Enable Opt-In for Messenger Notifications

Shoppers need to opt-in to receive Messenger notifications from your shop. You can create multiple opt-in opportunities by enabling the below settings in CommentSold.

Select Social Setup in the side menu of your CommentSold dashboard.
Select Facebook Messenger from the options listed at the top of the page.
Locate Opt-In Keyword for Messenger Live Notifications and toggle the setting to Enabled.
- Keyword. You can customize the keyword a shopper can comment with on a live sale post or linked product post to opt into Messenger notifications. We recommend you use a single word to minimize shopper error. Keywords are not case-sensitive.
Locate Opt-In URL for Messenger Live Notifications and select the Copy icon. This URL will take Facebook shoppers to Messenger where they can opt-in to notifications.
- Where can I paste the URL? You can include this link in Facebook posts, email campaigns, and/or SMS campaigns.
Locate Send an Opt-In Message to Shoppers Who Interact with Facebook Live Posts and toggle the setting to Enabled.
- What does this do? If a shopper comments on a live sale post with a non-SOLD comment, they'll receive an opt into notification message via Messenger after the sale ends.

Send Notifications via Messenger

You can send a notification via Messenger in two ways: as your shop is going live and manually as a notification blast.

The third step of going live with CommentSold requires you to specify where you wish to go live and allows you to send notifications to your shoppers. For example, if you are going live on your Facebook page and/or webstore, you can send a notification via Messenger to all shoppers who have opted in to receive these messages.

Complete Steps 1 and 2 of Going Live with CommentSold.
Locate the Real-Time Comments section on the right side of your overview, and select Choose Where to Go Live.
Choose whether to Go Live Normally.
Select Shop Name [Page] and/or Live on the Web. Messenger notifications can only send if you've selected one or both of these options.
- If going live on your Facebook page and webstore, the notification will contain a link to the Facebook live sale post.
- If you are only going live on your webstore, the notification will contain a link to your webstore.
Scroll down to the Messenger Text field. Enter your desired notification message here.

You can view how any opted-in subscribers will receive the live sale notification in the summary at the bottom of the pop-up. Remember that this number isn't all subscribers. It will only reflect those subscribers who haven't received a Messenger notification from your shop in the last 22 hours.

You can manually send a Messenger notification blast at any time. This is a great option if you want to send a promotional message, such as FLASH SALE! 20% off in our shop with code 20OFF. Good for the next two hours, so get shopping!

Manual notifications will only send to those subscribers who haven't received a notification from your shop in the last 22 hours.

Select Live in the side menu of your CommentSold dashboard.
Select Schedule from the options listed at the top of the page, then select Facebook Messenger.
Enter your desired notification message in the Messenger Text field.
From the Send Notification drop-down, select when you'd like to send the notification.
Select Send Custom Messenger Blast to send your notification immediately or at the selected time.

You can view how any opted-in subscribers will receive the notification in the summary beneath the Send Notification drop-down. Remember that this number isn't all subscribers. It will only reflect those subscribers who haven't received a Messenger notification from your shop in the last 22 hours.

Live Notifications (Messenger) Expected Behaviors

Automatically includes a link in messenger directly to the live sale
Automated opt in messages cannot be edited
Customers can comment “live” to trigger the opt in message
Sends notifications when the stream targets include a FB page or the webstore
Sends automated re-opt message after 6 months
Allows you to message shoppers once every 22 hours for 30 days
Once their 30 day period is up, customers are automatically sent a re-opt message
Customers cannot opt-in from the FB app - only on desktop
You cannot opt-in on the customer’s behalf
Sending these notifications may prevent Messenger auto-replies to some customers due to FB’s restrictions on the volume of automated messages allowed.

Troubleshooting Errors

Expand this section to know about the common errors and how to troubleshoot them.

Issue: Notifications Didn’t Send

Causes:

Stream targets for the live did not include Facebook or the webstore. Notifications will not be sent if the stream targets for the live sale do not include Facebook, the webstore, or both.
Customers that did not receive the message have opted out of live notifications.
The customer has already received a Messenger notification from your shop in the last 22 hours. This is not limited to live notifications, it includes auto-replies via messenger to comments on posts and other messages sent from you through messenger.

Resolution: There isn’t a way to resend these notifications, but there are ways to ensure delivery in the future.

Your Shop Log tab shows live notification details including the total number of customers that bounced back because of opt outs (listed as errors).

You can view how many opted-in subscribers will receive the live sale notification in the summary at the bottom of the pop-up. This number isn't all subscribers. It will only reflect those subscribers who haven't received a Messenger notification of any kind from your shop in the last 22 hours.

Got Questions? We've Got Answers!

Is this approved by Facebook or is it risky for us to use? We worked closely with Facebook for this feature and built it to fit within their boundaries. Sending live sale and manual notification blasts will not place your shop in jeopardy for sending additional messages or posting as expected.
How often can I send live notifications? While you can send multiple notifications a day, shoppers can only receive a single notification once every 22 hours. For this reason, we recommend you only send notifications for important live sales to ensure your notification has the largest reach.
Does my post or live sale need to be linked for CommentSold to read live comments? Yes, you'll need to link a product, post, or live sale in CommentSold for the system to read shopper's opt-in comments. Learn more about linking products and posts here.
How can I opt a shopper out of notifications? Only the shopper can opt themselves in or out of receiving Messenger notifications as this is done within Messenger. Learn about the shopper opt-in and opt-out process here.

Learn More

How a Shopper Can Opt-In to Messenger Notifications. Learn the multiple ways a shopper can opt into Messenger notifications.
Connect Your Facebook Account. Learn how to connect your Facebook account, page, group, and Messenger to take advantage of social selling and Messenger notifications.
Going Live with CommentSold. Learn how to go live across multiple sales channels from CommentSold's centralized live sale overview.