Ah, the story of the “story.” It’s almost hard to remember where it begins. We, as users of social media today, probably forget to credit Snapchat for the origin of what we call our “story.” Snapchat invented the story, Instagram made it cool, but Facebook just made it business oriented. Classic Facebook, am I right? Popularized and noticed early in 2019, Facebook has rolled out CTA stickers for stories. Business pages can now offer users the options of Shop Now, Book Now, Call Now, & Get Directions directly from the stories feed.
The significance of this update is kind of obvious. This is certainly the most effective use of direct response tools that Facebook has offered yet. But, that’s just the thing. It was Facebook’s idea. Undeniably, the first thought I had when I learned about this update was: “If only it had been Instagram.” Which, of course, should be available in no time. But for the time being, who knows? Maybe Facebook stories are about to be the hot new thing.
So, what does this update do for those working in digital marketing? Well, our jobs just got a touch easier, if you’re using Facebook stories. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat are all getting “smarter, ”more useful, and convenient. In general, their UX is in a state of constant reconstruction. If extra steps can be eliminated, that means time and money saved. I wonder what else we’ll see in 2019 as a result of what user behavior can suggest?
These CTA stickers can also pay off for small businesses on social media. At least in the Facebook story space, start-ups and small businesses don’t have to suffer a noticeably poor presence. If a trend like this really sticks, small businesses can easily blend in with the big dogs, and stories for business could become somewhat “uniform” in nature.
Facebook’s introduction of CTA stickers may be one small step in the grand scheme of Digital Advertising, but it’s a step in the right direction. Platforms are rapidly learning how to optimize their user’s experiences and it could be extremely useful in the future. As for right now, Facebook stories need a boost in morale, and the rest of the platforms have some catching up to do.
