New Facebook Tool To Show Advertisers What Devices Consumers Use Before Purchase

A new service due to be launched by Facebook will help advertisers track what devices customers use before they complete a purchase, Marketing Week reports. Businesses will now be able to find out on what devices consumers complete certain actions, such as disclosing information in order to receive newsletters, or completing a purchase.

Facebook made reference to these increased capabilities at its Q2 earnings call, where it was revealed that there has been a year-on-year increase in adspend of 67% – hinting that advertisers are viewing Facebook in a similar way to how they view TV advertising. In the same earnings call it was also revealed that 62% of Facebook’s ad revenue came from mobile ads – a significant increase from the 41% that was measured in the same period 12 months ago.

Although the social networking platform already allows advertisers to track conversions from various devices, Facebook is looking to provide businesses with even more data related to the practice. By placing trackers on the websites and mobile apps of businesses, they will be able to decide which channel they want to track. If a consumer does make a purchase, Facebook will be able to follow the customer journey backwards to where they originally saw the ad for the product or service in question.

Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer for Facebook, noted that the availability of this tool will provide advertisers with a “real advantage”, as it allows businesses to gather more information on cross-device shopping behaviours. One of the key reasons behind expanding the capabilities of this tracking tool is to prove that mobile advertising can offer higher conversion rates on other platforms and not just on mobile.