Update #1: January 7, 2015 – We’re starting to see “Shop Now” buttons on more Facebook shops! It looks like Facebook is beginning to roll out this feature.
Update #2: February 11, 2015 – We’re still getting reports that Facebook hasn’t rolled this feature out to 100% of Facebook pages. If you’re not seeing your call-to-action button yet, you’re not alone.
Facebook announced some exciting news for page admins today, by debuting a new call-to-action feature that will help Pages achieve specific actions from their fans.
Here’s what Facebook revealed in their announcement:
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Book Now
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Contact Us
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Use App
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Play Game
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Shop Now
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Sign Up
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Watch Video
The call-to-action feature will roll out in the US over the next few weeks and worldwide next year.”
This is huge news for business that have Facebook shops built, because now they can add the “Shop Now” call-to-action button to their page and direct fans who click it to any page in their Facebook store.
You might remember from news earlier this year that Facebook rolled out a call-to-action feature for their ad platform that allowed businesses to add “Buy Now” buttons to their ads, so this is a logical next step.
Here’s what the call-to-action buttons look like in ad form:
The call-to-action buttons for Facebook Pages are a little different. Dollar Shave Club already has a version on their Facebook page that says “Sign Up” – here’s what it looks like.
You’ll notice that the “Sign Up” button has a little pencil icon next to it, and it appears that each call-to-action button will have it’s own icon. Here’s a image that shows what the “Shop Now” button will look like.
Facebook has revealed another key element of this release that needs to be noted in ALL CAPS (because it really is that important)
THE BUTTON WILL APPEAR ON MOBILE DEVICES.
At ShopTab, we’ve been waiting for this for quite a while. We had originally found a “hack” that allowed us to include links to a Facebook store on mobile, but this means our customers will be able to add the button without placing the link in the “short description” section of their About page.
Here’s how the mobile version will appear.
Notice that the description in the photo above notes that the destination is for “iOS” devices, which means you’ll likely be able to send users to different locations depending on what device they are using – pretty cool.
And how has the “Sign Up” button been doing for Dollar Shave Club, you ask? Well, here’s what they had to say about it:
“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.” — Brian Kim, Director of Acquisition, Dollar Shave Club
If you want a “Shop Now” button on your Facebook page, but don’t have a shop to send people to, don’t worry. You can set up a Facebook Store with us over at ShopTab for less than 10 bucks a month. Keep checking our Facebook page, so you know when this feature becomes available to you, and use this step-by-step guide for full instructions on how to set up your call-to-action button with a ShopTab link.
Happy selling!