Every month, about 1.3 billion people use Facebook Messenger to communicate via Facebook. These users exchange an astounding 8 billion messages per day. And those messages aren’t just going out to family and friends.
Businesses are using Facebook Messenger now more than ever. There are 20 billion messages exchanged between companies and consumers every month. But the deluge of messages from Facebook Messenger can be overwhelming for some business owners.
Using Facebook Messenger as a communications and marketing tool doesn’t work for every business, and it might not work for you. If you decide to stop using Facebook Messenger, you need to know how to deactivate the Messenger app. But before diving into how to deactivate your Messenger, learn more about why this may be the right choice for your business.
Why should you deactivate Messenger?
Facebook Messenger can quickly get out of hand. With the click of a button, every customer can connect with you to resolve customer service issues, vent about a bad experience or ask any number of questions. You can choose to automate a number of responses—or pay for addons that let you do even more using bots. But lean businesses with few, if any, marketing employees often don’t have the time to keep up with even the remaining influx of communications.
When that happens, you may find you aren’t replying promptly—or at all. And that’s just not good. Studies show one in five customers expects immediate responses to issues raised on social media, including Facebook Messenger. And it’s not just a few customers that expect instant service. Facebook introduced a policy in March 2020 stating that if your business doesn’t respond to a customer’s message within 24 hours, you can no longer respond to messages at all.
So without dedicated personnel sitting at the computer, monitoring every incoming message, you may be disappointing customers and hurting your brand. Quick responses are ideal in all circumstances but not realistic for many businesses.
How do I deactivate Messenger?
If you can’t keep up with your Facebook messages, you need to learn how to deactivate Facebook Messenger. Deactivating Messenger won’t fix everything, but disabling the app will give you the breathing room you need to focus on your most effective marketing efforts. Here’s a step-by-step guide to deactivating Messenger:
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- Login to your Facebook business account.
- Navigate to your Page.
- Click “Settings” at the top of your Page.
- Navigate to “General” then click “Messages.”
- Click to check or uncheck the box labeled “Allow people to contact my Page privately by showing the Message.”
- Click “Save Changes.”
You can change this preference as many times as you like, so if you don’t want to deactivate Messenger permanently, follow the same process to deactivate Messenger temporarily. Turning off Messenger for a brief period is a good idea when the person who usually handles your Facebook account is away or unavailable. You don’t want to get burned by Facebook’s 24-hour rule!
Why am I having trouble deactivating Facebook Messenger?
If you’ve tried to deactivate Facebook Messenger and are still receiving unwanted messages, there are a few steps you can take. First, make sure you followed the process exactly as described above. Not completing the steps as written will prevent you from properly deactivating Messenger.
If you’ve checked your steps, then make sure you’re logged in as an admin. You can’t change the Messenger preferences on a Business Page without signing in as the Page’s administrator.
Still can’t get the changes to stick? Make sure your Page is set up as a Facebook Business Page. Some Facebook Pages are inadvertently created as individual accounts rather than Business Pages. If that’s your case, consult Facebook to learn how to transition your Page to a Business Page, then follow the steps to deactivate Messenger.
Why shouldn’t you deactivate Facebook Messenger?
Using Facebook Messenger for marketing increases opening rates by 70% more than email. Facebook Messenger also generates 10 to 80 times more engagement than traditional email marketing. The average clickthrough rate on Messenger marketing is 20%. The clickthrough rate for emails is a meager 1%.
Messenger actually performs even better than Facebook itself! Messenger marketing leads to 10 to 80 times more engagement than organic Facebook posts and can reduce your cost per lead by 30 times.
But for some businesses, knowing how to deactivate Facebook Messenger is necessary to keep up with more valuable marketing efforts. If you think not using Messenger will help your business, deactivate Messenger, and focus on what’s working for you.
