Yesterday (June 14th), Facebook announced plans to embed new metrics into its ads reporting system in a bid to help retailers understand if mobile ads get people to go into stores and if they are making purchases. 

One feature is an interactive store locator map that retailers can use as part of their location-targeted mobile ads to encourage users to actually visit a store. This will allow consumers to click on the map to get information about the shop’s address, opening times, phone number, website and estimated travel time to reach it.

The social network will then track the user's phone to determine if people viewing the ad are then visiting the retailer.

Marcus East, digital director at M&S, said: "We're looking forward to getting a deeper insight into how our customers' interactions on Facebook are inspiring them to engage with our brand offline."