Many marketers or online retailers have probably asked themselves whether their Facebook ad campaign actually does drive sales?

With the launch of Facebook’s new conversion tracking tool marketers will be able to assess how well each click through performs, and whether it converts to sales, newsletter signups, or other desired actions.

This new tool, which is currently in ‘extended beta’ mode, is set to launch officially at the end of the month and will be available via the self-service Facebook ad platform. Marketers will be able to generate a unique bit of code to add to any page on their website where they want to measure conversions. For example, a newsletter sign up thank you page, or an order confirmation page.

Up until the launch of this tool marketers have only been able to track the numbers of clicks, with little data about whether or not each ad click through was converting. This new tracking tool will allow marketers to asses how their Facebook ad campaign performs in comparison to their other forms of trackable online advertising or paid search. It will also allow marketers to evaluate the effectiveness of their campaign creative and messaging.

In addition, marketers will also have access to an Optimized CPM bidding option during the ad creation process, which when utilized, will automatically display the ad to the demographic of users who are most likely to convert. This new tool has reportedly been a top customer request for some time now and the timing of its launch could present increased sales opportunity for savvy e-retailers looking to make the most of this seasons predicted online Christmas shopping rush.