Rebelling

Facebook is here with yet another customized feature for its users and this time around it’s specifically for businesses and marketers.

The new feature, Call-To-Action(CTA) buttons, is a major update for Business pages on Facebook. After having restricted it to beta testing phase for quite a long time, Facebook has now slowly started rolling out this feature to page owners.

Let’s explore and find out what these buttons are, its uses and where in your Facebook page will they be located. Are these really a boon to businesses and online marketers? How do they serve to drive your business objectives?

These are buttons that you can use to redirect your traffic to your desired location, be it on Facebook or outside it. Facebook will only ask you where to redirect the traffic, the destination is your choice. It could be a website, a mobile app, a blog or any other site you wish. Feed in a valid URL and you are set.

These buttons are placed on the top of your Facebook page, to the left of the ‘Like’ button. As of now there are 7 Call-To-Action buttons and page admins are allowed to choose one of these at a time :

• Book Now

• Contact Us

• Use App

• Play Game

• Shop Now

• Sign Up

• Watch Video

What's the smartest CTA for your marketing objectives? It could vary from one business to the other. Facebook has definitely made these buttons keeping in mind the varied needs and preferences of businesses. The Book Now option could be the call to action of service and transport industry where bookings have to be made, while Contact Us and Sign Up are a sure shot way to grow your essential email list and actively engage the visitors. On the other hand, Online retailers and e-commerce sites will soon fix their CTA button to Shop Now. About the Watch a Video button, Well... What better way to tell your company story than letting the audience watch an engaging video about your business, its services and objectives! You can definitely use different calls-to-action at different times to add variety to your business page.

As a cherry on the cake, Facebook provides stats in the sidebar about the number of people who have clicked your CTA button. Now, Isn’t that convenient?

Facebook has been testing the new call-to-action button with Dollar Shave Club, an online retailer, and it seems it was successful in helping its customer acquisition efforts, according to Brian Kim, Director of Acquisition.

Already rolled out in the US and the UK, it won’t be long before Facebook launches it in India as well. So, have you planned your Call-To-Action move yet?