Facebook Introduces Call-To-Action Buttons For Business Pages

Many marketers have expressed concerns about declining organic reach on Facebook, and the social media giant is trying to counter these complaints by encouraging businesses to think of Facebook Pages as a destination rather than simply being a publishing platform.

To further this concept, Facebook has announced the new ability to add call-to-action buttons to the top of Pages, which can link to any destination, either on or off Facebook. The seven available call-to-action buttons are Book Now, Contact Us, Use App, Play Game, Shop Now, Sign Up and Watch Video. Marketers will be able to use these buttons to their advantage by creating engaging campaigns that entice users to take action in a way that they weren’t as likely to do before the addition of these new buttons. This new feature will be rolled out in the U.S. over the next few weeks, with a global release planned for early 2015.

“Pages are an important destination for people on Facebook, and we’re building new ways for people to interact with businesses through them,” explained Facebook in its blog announcement. “Today, we’re announcing a new call-to-action feature that will help Pages drive business objectives. Designed to bring a business’ most important objective to the forefront of its Facebook presence, call-to-action buttons link to any destination on or off Facebook that aligns with a business’ goals.”

Early reports indicate Facebook’s new call-to-action buttons can be a successful marketing tool. “Over the course of a three-week test, the Sign Up call-to-action button delivered a 2.5X higher conversion rate versus other comparable social placements aimed to drive new user acquisition,” explained Brian Kim, Director of Acquisition, Dollar Shave Club.