Facebook Introduces Call to Action Ads and Custom Audiences Retargeting

Facebook Feed AdsFacebook has rolled out two new features for direct response marketers: calls to action in News Feed ads and Custom Audiences.

The former does pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. When creating Page ads, marketers will now be able to add a call-to-action button (with one of five prompts: Shop Now, Learn More, Sign Up, Book Now or Download) which will show in the bottom right corner of the ad.

Custom Audiences, meanwhile, offers targeted re-engagement ads based on online or in-app activity – meaning advertisers can reach users who looked at their site or app but never got as far as purchase.

Facebook started testing the feature last October. Retailers who have used Custom Audiences in that time have seen as high as an 8x return on ad spend, according to Facebook, while financial news service Seeking Alpha saw the average cost per install for its app drop by 28 per cent by targeting users who had previously visited its site.

Facebooks announcement promises that these are the first in a series of direct response-focused features due to roll out across the next several weeks.