Create Facebook Ads that Initiate a Phone Call

There are times when advertisers don’t want to send users to a landing page. They desire an ad that, when clicked, starts a phone call with a sales rep. The phone call is the ultimate goal, and any other action is simply delaying that conversion.

There are now two ways to do this:

• Using ReachReach measures the number of Accounts Center accounts (formerly users) that saw your ads at least once. You can have one account reached with multiple impressions. More objectiveThe objective reflects the goal you want to achieve with your advertising and is established at the campaign level. More and a Call Now CTA
• Using Traffic objectiveThe campaign objective is the ultimate goal for your Facebook ad. Your selection will impact options, including optimization and delivery. More and Phone Call ad destination

Let’s walk through how to set these up and the differences between the two…

Call Now CTA

For this option, you must use the Reach objective at the campaignThe campaign is the foundation of your Facebook ad. This is where you'll set an advertising objective, which defines what you want your ad to achieve. More level.

When creating your ad, select the Call Now call-to-actionA call-to-action is a button or link on your ad that suggests the action you want your audience to take. Examples: "Learn More" or "Sign Up." More button option.

Then enter the phone number that will be dialed when the CTA button is clicked.

Note that you will also provide a URL. When the image thumbnail is clicked, the user will be redirected to your website. When the CTA button is clicked, a phone call will be executed.

Above is a preview, which displays a stock phone number.

Phone Call Ad Destination

With this option, you’ll need to use the Traffic objective.

When creating your ad, select the “Phone Call” destination.

Enter the phone number, including country code.

Unlike the Call Now CTA option above, a URL is not required (or provided at all). As a result, any click on the ad or CTA will initiate a phone call (the “Call Now” CTA is automatically added here and can’t be changed).

What’s the Difference?

There are two primary differences with these options…

1. Objective and OptimizationHow you optimize impacts who sees your Facebook ad. Facebook will show your ad to people most likely to perform your desired action. More

The “Call Now” CTA requires the Reach objective, which means that you can only optimize for Reach or ImpressionsImpressions are the number of times your ads were displayed to your target audience. Impressions aren't counted if it is detected they came from bots. More. In other words, Facebook isn’t going to optimize for an action, which will limit the impact you can make — unless you target an audienceThis is the group of people who can potentially see your ads. You help influence this by adjusting age, gender, location, detailed targeting (interests and behaviors), custom audiences, and more. More that is already hugely relevant.

The “Phone Call” ad destination option requires the Traffic objective, which means that you can optimize for Link ClicksThe link click metric measures all clicks on links that drive users to properties on and off of Facebook. More and Landing Page ViewsLanding Page View is a Facebook ads metric that represents when people land on your destination URL after clicking a link in your ad. More, in addition to Impressions and Daily Unique ReachDaily Unique Reach Facebook ads optimization allows you to limit the number of times you reach your audience to no more than once per day. More. As a result, Facebook can optimize for an action that may help lead to better results.

While the “Phone Call” option is superior for optimization purposes, it would be nice to optimize for the actual phone call.

2. The Click Action

There is some confusion with the “Call Now” CTA option. If you click the thumbnail image, it drives to a web page. If you click the CTA, it initiates a phone call. You may or may not want this.

The “Phone Call” ad destination has one central action: If you click the image or CTA button, it will initiate a phone call. You don’t even provide a URL when creating the ad.

In most cases, the “Phone Call” ad destination is the superior option. There are two primary exceptions:

1. If you want to share a link that provides more information about the call
2. If you desire to use Reach optimizationReach optimization allows you to show your Facebook ads to the maximum number of people while using a frequency cap. More

Otherwise, the “Phone Call” ad destination is far more likely to lead to positive results, and its action focus is likely to lead to more phone calls.

Your Turn

Have you experimented with either of these options? What do you think?

Let me know in the comments below!