Reach more local customers with a new Facebook feature

Do you know how effective your online ads are? What if you could use Facebook ads to attract customers to your brick-and-mortar store? Well now you can. Facebook ads can now use people’s phone location services to track when people walk into your store after seeing an ad.

These new Local Awareness ads will now include a map to show users where the closest store is, so they can take advantage of your deals and discounts as soon as possible. You won’t be able to see who individually visited your store, but you will be able to see how many people visited your store after having seen the ad.

The early results of this new feature already look promising. E.Leclerc, a French retailer, reached 1.5 million people within a 6-mile radius with their first ad, according to Adweek. Other brands like Petco, Burger King UK and Cadillac have also begun to use these services, connecting online with offline.

But Facebook isn’t the first to introduce this kind of tracking technology. In 2014, Google unveiled its own store-visits tracker to help show which ads drive foot traffic. Google also added local ads to Google Maps to help users find nearby retailers. In Facebook Local Awareness ads, you can add information such as address, hours, phone numbers and estimated travel time, helping you spread the word to potential customers within the Facebook app.

Facebook is taking it a step further by adding a way to track which ads lead to actual sales, in store or over the phone, so make sure to have your toll-free number listed. Facebook’s Offline Conversion API allows you to compare their customer database to Ads Reporting, and they show you insights into your customer demographics. Though more consumers are making purchases online and with mobile, transactions are still happening in store. Local Awareness ads help you bridge this gap and learn where your customers are coming from.

Are you trying to reach more local customers? Facebook ads might be the place to start. For more information, see what Facebook has to say. And if you’re looking for other ways to attract customers and establish your business, leverage the power of a vanity toll-free number.