Tag: Facebook

Facebook Now Showing Ads To Non-Users, Testing Shoppable Video Ads

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook continues to take strides toward challenging Google for the top spot in online advertising as the company started to serve ads to non-users on Thursday. Previously, Facebook’s ads on third party websites or mobile apps, powered by the Facebook Audience Network, would not be visible to users that are not logged into Facebook. According to the Wall Street Journal, the social network is using a mix of cookie tracking, its own buttons and plugins, and patterns within its massive user database to help advertisers target non-users with more relevant advertising.

In related news, The Information reports that Facebook is working on shoppable video ads, which will allow users to buy products highlighted in videos on Facebook. One tap on an item featured in a buyable video would reveal more information about the product and another tap would send users to the retailer’s website to complete the purchase. Facebook has not confirmed nor denied this new ad product.

What Brands Need To Do
Facebook has long enabled its Audience Network to reach users outside of Facebook properties, and this change should help advertisers reach even more people across various digital platforms. As Facebook continues to expand its advertising machine, it is important that brand marketers heed the new ad products that Facebook offers and leverage Facebook’s massive reach and targeting capability to connect with their targeted online audiences.

 

Source: TechCrunch & The Information

Facebook To Sunset Desktop-Based Ad Retargeting Platform

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook has decided it is time to shut down its desktop-based ad platform Facebook Exchange and move advertisers to its mobile-first advertising products. Facebook Exchange was launched in 2012 to enable brands to retarget Facebook users based on their website viewing habits, and it had a good run in the first few years. But now that the majority of Facebook users are accessing its service on mobile devices, Facebook Exchange no longer holds the prominence it once had. Facebook says it is aiming to fully migrate clients and ad tech partners to newer products by November 1st.

What Brands Need To Do
Facebook reported that users spent fifty minutes on average each day across Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger platforms, and about half of them only use Facebook on their smartphones. Given the immense command Facebook has over online advertising with its 1.65 billion monthly active users, brands would be smart to follow its lead and transition their social marketing efforts onto mobile-first products.

 

Source: AdWeek

Facebook Adds New Features To Live Video

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook continues to build out its live-streaming product as it debuts two new features. The social network launched a Continuous Live Video API, which enables persistent streams on Facebook for things like always-on nature feeds for bird-watchers. Previously, live broadcasts on Facebook were capped at 90 minutes. Moreover, Facebook also added a graphical timeline of user engagement in Live videos based on numbers of real-time Likes and comments, allowing users watching the replays to skip ahead to the interesting parts.

What Brands Need To Do
The new features should attract more users and content creators to Live Video, giving Facebook a considerable boost over other live-streaming platforms. Although Facebook’s Live Video does not currently carry ads, some early adopting brands such as GE have started using it to broadcast sponsored events or branded content. For brands wishing to connect with audiences in real time, Facebook’s massive reach and the relatively low production costs of live-streaming content make Facebook Live an appealing emerging platform to explore.

To read more on how brands can reach the fragmented audiences on streaming platforms, please check out the Appified TV section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: TechCrunch & The Verge

Facebook Continues Video Ad Expansion

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook continues to roll out new advertising products,  and they are staying focused on video. The social network is bringing pre-roll ads to video in News Feed as well as within Instant Articles. Quick serve restaurant Jack in the Box is one of the first advertisers to try out the pre-roll ads. Also, the social network is extending support for video ads to third-party sites, both on desktop and mobile, via its Audience Network.

Why Brands Should Care
According to eMarketer, digital video ad spending in the US is on the rise and will reach $9.84 billion this year. With these two initiatives, Facebook is expanding the reach of its video ad network while also offering brands more options to advertise in Instant Articles. As Facebook continues to improve its video ad products, brand advertisers should reevaluate their media mix and consider reallocating their ad spending.

 

Source: AdWeek & Marketing Land

360-Degree Photos Are Coming To Your Facebook News Feed

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook announced it will start rolling out support for 360-degree photos in the News Feed in the coming weeks and that they will turn panorama shots into a 360-degree interactive viewing experience. Users will be able to tilt their mobile devices or use a cursor to see the full view. If you happen to have a Gear VR headset around, you can also view 360-degree photos in a new section that Facebook added to the Oculus app.

What Brands Need To Do
Facebook started supporting 360-degree videos on its platform in September, and now it is charging ahead with photos as well. This move should introduce 360-degree photos to more of its 1.6 billion global users and help accelerate the mainstream adoption of the format. Therefore, brands should also proactively embrace this immersive format and work with content creators to develop this type of content to engage their social followers.

 

Source: Engadget

Activision Blizzard To Livestream eSports Matches On Facebook

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Video game maker Activision Blizzard will be delivering live eSports coverage to a global audience via Facebook. The video game company will launch a new eSports network and programming on Facebook with the MLG Anaheim Open, a two-day Call of Duty tournament that is scheduled to kick off on June 10, 2016. That tournament is run by Major League Gaming (MLG), one of the biggest eSports leagues, which Activision acquired in January.

Why Brands Should Care
eSports is outgrowing its status as a niche industry for gamers and turning into global entertainment. According to new research by market intelligence firm Newzoo, more than one billion people will know about eSports by the end of this year. While eSports is no stranger to live streaming, it is still an interesting move that Activision chose Facebook over other gameplay streaming platforms such as Twitch and YouTube Gaming for its live eSports coverage. Facebook has been making a strong push for its live-stream features, going as far as paying media companies to use it. Activision says it picked Facebook mainly for its unmatched reach among global Internet users. As Activision tries to engage part of Facebook’s massive audience, it can also increase the audience for brands sponsoring eSports tournaments or teams.

 

Source: Variety

Facebook To Add Analytics To Chatbot Platform

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Since Facebook announced its chatbot platform for Messenger at its F8 conference last month, chatbots have garnered a lot of attention from brands and marketers alike. According to Messenger’s head of product Stan Chudnovsky, Facebook has started developing “a full-fledged analytics system” for its platform to help brands better understand how their chatbots are doing by breaking down, for example, which calls to action or messaging schedules are most engaging. In addition, he revealed that there are currently “tens of thousands” developers building chatbots on its platform and cited Activision’s Call of Duty bot, which exchanged 6 million messages in its first week, as a standout.

What Brands Need To Do
As we pointed out in our Fast Forward analysis on Facebook’s F8 Event, brands should consider developing useful bots to reach customers on the popular messaging apps they’re already using. The upcoming analytics tool will offer a way for brands to monitor the performance of their chatbots and improve their services accordingly.

For more information on how brands can effectively reach consumers on messaging apps and other conversational platforms, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: TechCrunch

Facebook Is Making A Brand-Friendly Live Morning Show

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook is venturing into producing live programming as it teams up with London-based marketing agency DigitasLBi to create Rise and Shine, a daily morning show that will be live-streamed to users via the News Feed. The show will include common morning show segments such as local weather reports or recipe recommendations, but it will also offer many branding opportunities. Each episode will be sponsored by a brand and appear on that brand’s Facebook Page, and DigitasLBi promises to work with sponsors to customize content. Besides the News Feed, users can also follow the show by subscribing to a chatbot on Messenger.

What Brands Need To Do
Facebook’s live videos do not currently carry ads, but some brands, such as GE, are already using it to broadcast sponsored events and branded content. This live morning show offers brands an opportunity to reach the massive audience on Facebook. As livestreaming continues to take off, brands should consider similar sponsorships or broadcasting their own events to reach a live audience.

 

Source: AdWeek

How Birchbox Is Using Facebook Live To Convert Customers

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Birchbox is joining the live-stream craze as the subscription-based, online beauty retailer recently started doing live shows on Facebook on a regular basis. The goal, according to Rachel Jo Silver, the former director of social marketing for Birchbox, is to build relationships with customers in real-time and convert interested social followers into customers. Birchbox has seen success in using livestreaming to acquire new subscribers and promote products. One of its best-performing livestreams lasted for 40 minutes and racked up nearly 50,000 live viewers with an average view time of 10 minutes. In addition, Birchbox is taking advantage of Facebook Live’s feature of saving livestreams as videos after they end to generate content for its various social media outlets.

What Brands Need To Do
Livestreaming is starting to explode across digital channels with Facebook making a strong push for its Live video feature in the past few months, which creates new opportunities for brands seeking to engage with online audiences in real time. Birchbox’s early success with Facebook Live is illustrative of how brands can use livestreaming to directly engage with online consumers. As this trend continues, we expect to see more brands start exploring live-streaming platforms to elevate brand image and attract new customers.

 

Source: Marketing Dive

Facebook Posts Strong Q1 Results Thanks To Mobile Ad Boom

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
On Wednesday, Facebook posted its 2016 Q1 earnings report, showing strong growth in ad revenue with a 57% year-over-year increase to $5.2 billion, comfortably beating Wall Street estimates. The increase is mostly attributed to mobile ads, which accounted for about 82% of its overall quarterly ad revenue. The social network also announced that it added over 60 million new users in the past quarter, bringing its total monthly active users up to 1.65 billion.

Why Brands Should Care
As brands shift their ad spending from traditional media to digital and especially mobile platforms, Facebook is quickly solidifying its leading position in mobile advertising thanks to the continued popularity of its mobile apps. During the first quarter, the company made a strong push into live-streaming, further establishing itself as a mobile video destination ready for more video ads and branded video. For brands looking to connect with a mobile audience, Facebook, along with the several other mobile apps it owns, remains a great option given the vast amount of user data it owns and the variety of mobile ad products it offers.

 

Source: The Marketing Land