On Sunday, the biggest social network in the world launched a horde of new advertising products. Most of the new products introduced by Facebook Inc. are directed at luring television advertisers to the social network that has over 1.5 billion active users. Apart from Facebook, the new ad products will also be offered on Instagram, which is also owned by the company. These advertising options have been created for taking advantage of the strength of the social network on mobile devices. Facebook’s app is categorized as the most popular smartphone app worldwide and more than three quarters of the annual ad revenue of $10 billion is generated by the app.
The social networking giant is attempting to convince advertisers, particularly those who prefer video advertisement, that it is a better option to spend their money in advertisement on mobile platforms rather than on television as people, especially millennials, spend the better part of their time on phones rather than TV. The new products were launched ahead of the 12th Advertising Week in New York City, which begins on Monday and ends on Friday and is attended by the world’s largest companies and advertisers. On Sunday, it was also announced by Facebook that the total number of active advertisers on its platform had increased from 2 million in February to 2.5 million.
There has been a rapid increase in digital video advertising and it is expected to increase to $15 billion, a 13% increase, till 2019. In contrast, there is 2% increase expected in television and spending during the same time period, which would bring it to $78 billion. Analysts said that the social network is paying attention to what the ad community is saying and providing them what they need. Obviously, the social network also wants a piece of the video advertisement pie. Television allows advertisers to purchase ads depending on the number of people they will be able to reach.
Facebook has tried to make the transition of advertisers easier from television to digital spending by adopting this approach. Moreover, advertisers can also use Facebook for targeting a specific audience, something that television still cannot do. For instance, Facebook can be used for targeting women between the ages of 18 and 35 who have done their shopping on a particular website. ‘Brand awareness’ ads are one of the new products that have been introduced by the social network. The aim of this product is to reach a larger audience for promoting the name and brand of a company such as Coca Cola.
Polls can also be created by advertisers on mobile phones for determining if users saw an ad. Previously, this feature was only accessible to advertisers on desktop. In addition, advertisers will also be able to use a new format that will enable them to show several ads at once, which users can scroll through easily. The vice president of Facebook’s global marketing solution, Carolyn Everson said that their goal was to become the most important advertising platform for all businesses.
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