Facebook now lets you call a business right from its News Feed ad

Facebook is making available some nifty features aimed at local campaigns for small businesses.

A Call Now button on ads lets people immediately contact a business if they see something interesting. This joins the previously available “Like This Page” and “Get Directions” buttons.

Also notable: you can now make an ad right from your Page. You just need to select a call to action (Like This Page, Call Now or Get Directions), set the area you want to reach, and pick a budget. You’ll see the new ad creator under a Promote Your Local Business button.

Businesses can see some statistics on the ads right from their notifications panels, including how many people they reached, and how many clicked through on a call to action.

➤ Facebook Local Awareness [Facebook for Business via VentureBeat]

Update: This post previously suggested the “Get Directions” call to action is new. It was released inOctober, so the text has been updated to reflect that.