🌍 Overview
You asked, we listened: you are now able to take bookings via your business' Facebook and Instagram business pages. Team Appointedd have built an integration with the Facebook Business Management Suite (FBMS) - FBE allows you to manage your social media business pages all in one place.
The integration allows you to connect your Appointedd account with your Facebook Business Page. Once connected, you're able to take bookings from the following places:
Facebook business page
Instagram business page
The booking flow will be initiated from each of the above places via a Book now button which will launch a booking widget within the appropriate app. This means that your customers will not be redirected to an external page but they'll be able to make a booking with you within their social media apps.
⚙️ How to setup and manage the integration
In order to utilise the integration between Appointedd and the Facebook Business Management Suite (FBMS), you'll need to connect the two.
Please note, you can connect one Appointedd account to one Facebook Business account. If you have multiple accounts, we recommend that you connect to your flagship account. If you need to use your enterprise widget, please get in touch with us via the support chat for assistance.
1. Connect
You can establish the connection from within Appointedd by following these steps:
Log into your Appointedd account
Go to the Connect tab and select Connect to Facebook Business
Here, click on Connect to Facebook Business
This will take you to Facebook's authorization flow - if you're not already logged in, or you're logged in with a different account, you can log into the relevant Facebook Business account here
You'll be guided through the connection steps by the wizard
If you have multiple Appointedd accounts, you'll need to select the one you'd like to connect your Facebook Business account to
At he end of of the flow, click Confirm and connect
To get back to Appointedd, click Launch app at the confirmation page
2. Manage
The connection will have been established now. You should see a Book now call-to-action (CTA) on the relevant pages. You can manage the CTAs within your Facebook Business account:
Open the side panel and go to All tools
Select Business apps
You should see Appointedd under Connected apps - click on the icon
Then in the pop up, click Manage
On this page you'll see the below, the toggles allow you to turn the Book now CTA on or off for your connected social pages
3. Test
You can test and manage your page CTAs by opening the side panel in your Facebook Business account and going to Profiles:
🖌️ Customize your booking widget
Once the connection has been established, you'll be able to manage your dedicated, Facebook Business widget from the the integration page in Appointedd.
Please note, you will not be able to manage this widget under the Booking tools tab.
To adjust this booking tool:
Go to Connect
Select Connect to Facebook Business
Then click on Edit widget
Here you'll be able to adjust to usual settings. Depending on your business and service offering, you might want to filter by service, resource, etc. You can also adjust the appearance of the tool, and enable multiple bookings in a single transaction if you'd like.
Make sure you click Save widget to save all your settings. Read more on how you can customize your widget here.
Please note, you won't need to select embedded or popover mode, this will be pre-set for the dedicated Facebook Business widget.
Please also note, if you need to use your enterprise widget, please get in touch with us via the support chat for assistance.
❌ How to disconnect
If you need to disconnect, simply go to the Connect tab in Appointed, and select Connect to Facebook Business. On the integration page, click Disconnect and follow the disconnection flow.
Please note, if you disconnect Appointedd from your Facebook Business Suite, all Book now CTAs will be removed. Any settings within your Facebook Business account regarding Appointedd, and any customisation to your Facebook Business Appointedd widget will not be saved.
⭐️ Top tips
Using Pixels
If you're keen to track how many (potential) customers engage with your Facebook and Instagram specific booking widget, you can set up a Pixel to track this. The Pixel will also allow you to track how many people actually book with you, therefore you have the option to keep an eye on conversion rates (how many look at your booking tools v how many actually book with you).
You can select a Pixel to use for tracking when you connect your Appointedd account to your FBMS. You've two options:
Set up a dedicated Pixel before you connect. Then once that's done, you can go through the connection flow as described here and select the appropriate Pixel.
Create a new Pixel during the connection flow. Once you selected which Appointedd account to connect FBMS to, you can select a Pixel to dedicate to this connection. Click on the Pixel option and then select Create. Follow the flow and don't forget to confirm the connection between Appointedd and your Facebook Business account.
Promoting your services on Facebook and Instagram
There's a few different ways to promote your shiny new Book now button - some of our best tips:
When creating a post on Facebook or Instagram, make sure to include a link to your social page(s) so that people know where to book with you.
Running 'like & share' competitions with your followers helps your post and business reach even further.
You can also use paid Facebook Ads to further promote your post to a targeted audience and track its progress. We recommend ensuring your ad has a Book Now button directing customers to your Facebook or dedicated booking page.
For Insta, you can utilise Instagram Advertising to create promoted posts, or ad creation in the Facebook Ads Manager.
Have more questions?
Check out Frequently Asked Questions on the FBE x Appointedd integration 👇
If you have any feedback we would love to hear it 👂