What do you consider the most important component to your blog, articles, and social media posts? I'm sure there will be some varied answers to this depending on who you are, but there should be at least one common denominator - the call to action.
Bashing Facebook for constant changes (many of which surely deserve bashing) has become a favorite pastime of netizens, but the smart crowd among marketers have figured out that it's a useless waste of time, apart from needing to vent. They concentrate more on how to take advantage of what is rather than whine about what they think should be. When Facebook gets something right, however, I think they need to be praised for it. This is just such an occasion.
Do This Now
Last month the world's largest social network started rolling out "call to action" buttons for business pages, and everyone in the US should now have access to them. After reading this, you should have one active on your page within the next 24 hours if you haven't done so already.
There are seven different calls to action you can choose from, depending on what it is you want viewers to do:
1. Book Now - consultants, speakers, etc
2. Contact Us - best for physical, brick and mortar businesses to drive traffic
3. Use App - no explanation necessary (is there?)
4. Play Game - ditto
5. Shop Now - if you sell products or services online
6. Sign Up - grow that email list (an absolute must)
7. Watch Video - a great way to showcase an intro or explainer video (another must, or at least it should be)
The CTA button will sit in a fixed position on your page, at the bottom right of your cover photo and to the left of the "like" button. For right now it doesn't appear on mobile versions of the page, which is a bummer, but I have no doubt that this will be implemented very soon considering the huge push into mobile.
Why It's Great
The usefulness of this addition to Facebook pages is fairly obvious, but there's an important point to highlight in my opinion. With the requirement now firmly in place that you have to buy Facebook ads if you want anyone to see your "advertise-y" posts, the button might alleviate that wallet cruncher, if only slightly.
One thing to keep in mind is that your everyday Facebook-er doesn't keep up with all of these changes like marketers do. That means that they are much less likely to notice it. Use your cover image to highlight the button with text and maybe an arrow pointing to it (ie, "Hey! Click this button RIGHT HERE! ⬇). You should be changing your cover image at least once per month anyway to keep it fresh and new.
To sum up, thanks to Facebook for giving us marketers and businesses a free tool that is worthwhile. And to all of you, don't let a freebie go unused, especially when it's a good one like this.
Socialty is a full-service social media marketing and social recruiting agency in Chicago. We create content, websites, blog posts, email marketing and strategic marketing plans for small and medium size businesses. Our social recruiting team helps you attract talented candidates via social media outlets. Socialty connects you to your audience and potential employees. We'll keep you social while you carry on with your business. Keep Social and Carry On!