Up until now, Facebook has allowed brands to use call-to-action buttons on their posts and pages, but the actions were limited. Facebook’s latest announcement puts power behind the buttons placed on pages.
Integrate with Third Party Services
This has been a long time comin’. Up until now, if you wanted to drive sales with your call-to-action button, you probably connected it to an external link going to your website. As a result, users were taken out of the Facebook environment and were likely to abandon.
But now Facebook is partnering with several services to allow businesses to offer a seamless experience for buying a meal, purchasing tickets or booking an appointment.
Here’s a look at the current list of services for appointment booking or requesting contact:
- HomeAdvisor
- Microsoft Bookings
- MyTime
- Booker by Booker Software
- BookingBug
- Front Desk
- Porch
- Setster
- SimplyBook.me
- TalkLocal
(As I type this, only the first three are currently available.)
You’ll first need to own an account with one of these services to be able to allow users to book appointments with you on Facebook.
There are also currently two services for making food orders through Facebook:
Within their announcement, Facebook also mentioned being able to buy tickets through Eventbrite, Ticketmaster and Fandango.
How to Add Integrated Services CTA
The rollout of these buttons begins in the US, so you may not have this yet. To check to see if you do, click “Add a Button” under your page cover photo.
You’ll then see five different button options…
You can expand each item to get detailed options…
Anything listed directly under the button is a native option. But if you click “See Options” you’ll get the third party integration options…
When you find a service you like, select it and click “Add Service.”
You’ll then need to log into that account to proceed.
Here’s a video from Facebook:
Book Appointments with Messenger
Even if you aren’t using one of the services above, you can use the new CTA buttons to drive appointments and conversations through Messenger.
Here’s what will be available:
- Get Quote
- Request Time
“Get Quote” has limited availability while “Request Time” is currently available for companies that added a Services section in the US.
Your Turn
As with all new Facebook features, this is a rollout. You may have some features now, or you may have none of them. It may take days, weeks or months for you to get them. But you will get them!
In the meantime, what do you think of this update? Let me know in the comments below!