Over the last few month’s we’ve seen call-to-action buttons popping up on select facebook pages. I noticed this prompt appear on a few pages in January, but when I logged on this morning the functionality was more broadly available for most of the pages that I was the administrator of. You can see the call to action button on your cover photo, to the left of the ‘like’ and ‘message’ buttons with a small prompt saying “Create Call-to-Action” as per the image below.

 

This functionality is reportedly designed to help drive more conversions from facebook to owned media platforms. If you don’t see the functionality just yet, rest assured it’s coming and being rolled out gradually.

There are seven different actions that Page administrators can now utilize – Book Now, Contact Us, Use app, Play game, Shop now, Sign Up and Watch video.

 

As an administrator of a brand page you’re able to select the most relevant option and then fill in specific information to drive traffic to your preferred destination.

Over time you’ll be able to track the results of these call to actions (and edit them by clicking to access) in the drop down menu.

 

It’s too early to determine if consumers will notice this subtle change and actually convert, but it’s worth ensuring that the functionality is active on your page and measure the results over the short term.

Some suggested uses for Call-to-Action Buttons:

  • Drive customers directly to the shopping cart on your website and encourage them to buy your products
  • Encourage views of your brand videos by linking to the feature video.
  • Sign people up for your enewsletter (like we’ve done with our Mailchimp plugin) and encourage people to learn more about your products through regular communications
  • Change your cover photo when you’re featuring a specific event and then change the button to be “Book now”
  • Encourage feedback directly from consumers with the “Contact Us” button
  • Drive traffic to custom built apps or promotions with the “Use App” field.

The most effective buttons will be ones that are integrated into the facebook cover photo design so don’t forget to use tools like Canva to play with your designs and make something visually appealing.

You’ll be able to play with over time and test what’s working.  Don’t forget to trial different buttons and track results as you launch new campaigns or initiatives throughout the year. It’s too early to tell how effective this will be, but international reports of brands who are leveraging have indicated a good conversion rate.

We’d love to hear of any great examples of brands that you’ve seen utilising this functionality.