New Facebook features allow the tracking of in-store visits and more [@SmartInsights Alert]

3 new features make Facebook ads a tempting prospect for bricks and mortar retailers

• Importance: [rating=3] (For bricks and mortar retailers)
• Recommended Source: Facebook blog

9 out of 10 retail sales still take place in-store, despite everything you hear about shopping moving online. Mobile is a great facilitator of in-store purchasing, with people using their phones to research purchases and locate stores.

Now Facebook are launching new features to help retail businesses take advantage of the growth of mobile, to both target ads more effectively and help track the effectiveness of their campaigns. Here's a breakdown of the new features just announced:

Native Shop locator

Facebook already has an ad format that lets stores with multiple locations serve ads that dynamically display the location of the nearest store to that person. But now to remove friction on the buyer journey Facebook is launching a shop locator, that lets people find the route to the nearest shop within the ad itself, so they don't have to open new windows or applications. A great way to drive more in-store visits.

Measure shop visits from Facebook adverts

It's easy to work out an online advert's ROI when you are an ecommerce store. You can track visits from Facebook that you're paying 40p per click for, then work out the conversion rate and the average profit on each conversion. Soon enough you'll know if you ad campaign was successful. But when you're a bricks and mortar store it much harder.

You advertise your store online, but how do you know the increase in visits to your store is due to those ads, it could be another factor. Facebook now has the answer. It's local awareness ad product now comes with the option to track shop visits (based off mobile users location data).

Advertisers can use shop visits reporting to:

• See how many people come to their shop after seeing a Facebook campaign.

• Optimise advert creative, delivery and targeting based on shop visits.

• Analyse results across shops and regions to plan and optimise future campaigns.

Connect in-store sales to ad content

Retargeting ads are a great way to boost sales, as they let you target the exact kind of people that are likely to buy from you. It's much easier to get repeat business than attract a new customer.

Online stores like Amazon run them all the time, but until now it's not something bricks and mortar retailers have been able to get in on.

Facebook now let you match your point of sale reporting data from instore sales with your ad metrics. This allows you to better assess the effectiveness of your ads and also optimise future campaigns based off what customers were purchasing.

Advertisers can use the offline conversions API to:

• See real-time results as transactions occur in store and over the phone.

• Gain demographic insights about people who purchase.

• Optimise future campaigns.

Conclusion

It's clear that Facebook is interested in making itself the advertising provider of choice for retailers, and it has been successful in offering a degree of targeting that no other platform can offer. For retailers looking at where to spend their ad budgets, things just got a whole lot more interesting. Facebook's latest offering gives the prospect of better analytics and great targeting. Great for retailers with a mobile savvy customer base. Which, lets face it, these days is just about everyone.