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Facebook Introduces Showcase and New Messaging Features

In the last few weeks there have been a couple of interesting updates and news items regarding Facebook and Digital Advertising in general. So we thought we’d keep you up to date and inform you about some of these items. Read on for all the details!

Facebook Introduces ‘Showcase’ for Premium Video Advertisers

Earlier this week, Facebook announced that it would be launching new advertising options for its premium video content in a bid to attract social advertisers and marketers to purchase ad spots in a way that is not too dissimilar to how television advertising works. This will be made possible through the introduction of the new premium video ad program: Facebook Showcase.

With Facebook constantly adding new TV shows, programs and documentaries to Facebook Watch, a video-on-demand service operated by the social media giant, it represents a golden opportunity for advertisers to effectively reach millions of viewers within the highest-quality videos on Facebook. For now, Showcase is only available for campaigns targeting US audiences, although a more international expansion is expected at some point in the future.

Advertisers can target audience through the following products:

In-Stream Reserve: This ad solution allows advertisers to target people watching videos that have been posted by some of the most engaging, creative and top quality content creators. These ad placements can be purchased in advance at a fixed price and then delivered to the relevant audiences. According to estimates, almost 100 million people in the US alone watch In-Stream Reserve eligible content on platforms such as Facebook Watch, Newsfeed and Pages every month.

In-Stream Reserve Categories: This option includes all the features available in In-Stream Reserve, but also offers advertisers the opportunity to reach users with content that is contextually relevant to what they are watching. These categories range from Sports & Fashion to Entertainment & Food and more!

Sponsorships: Finally, Facebook also introduced sponsorships, which allow advertisers to be the exclusive sponsor of a particular program.

What’s great about Showcase is that it can help advertisers connect with users through high-definition, premium content and other unique video experiences. It can also aid advertisers in their quest to reach younger audiences that, in recent years, have become more and more difficult to reach on TV. In fact, according to research conducted by Facebook, in the last three months, 43% of users in the US who spent time watching In-Stream Reserve content on Facebook were between 18-34 years old, whilst this age group represents only 28% of TV viewers.

Facebook Adds New Messaging and Group Features for Business

A couple of weeks ago, Facebook introduced two brand new ways for people and businesses to connect on the social media platform through messaging and group participation.

Welcoming Instagram Direct to Facebook Page Inbox

In recent years, one of the easiest and most common ways for consumers to get in touch with a business has been through mobile messaging. And the numbers prove it! Results obtained from Facebook led research has indicated that over 150 million Instagram users have a conversation with a business every month, whilst more than 10 billion messages are sent between Facebook users and businesses each month through Messenger.

Now, with a view of helping businesses manage these conversations, Facebook has moved to make receiving and responding to customer messages across all Facebook platforms and products easier and from one single location.

Businesses in the US and Brazil will be the first to test this as they will be able to receive and respond to Instagram Direct messages from their Facebook Page Inbox on both desktop and mobile through the Pages Manager app. This unified messaging system will ensure that businesses avoid missing out on any incoming messages from customers.

Participating in groups with Pages

In the coming weeks, Facebook Page accounts will be able to start participating on Group Pages, something Page admins had not been able to do before this latest update. This change is aimed at increasing engagement on Pages. It was actually back in July 2017 that Facebook started letting Page owners create Groups that were connected to their Pages.

Giving Pages direct access to interact and engage on Group pages is a part of Facebook’s initiative which is meant to give more brands and advertisers the true ‘Group experience’.

Some Interesting Digital Advertising Performances (Q4 2018)

Finally, we thought we’d share some interesting figures and results that were obtained by Marin Software, as they conducted thorough and rigorous research on the digital advertising performances of Q4 of last year. Here’s a short summary:

• Dynamic Product Ads represented 35% of total Facebook spend
• Travel and Retail sectors had lowest global Cost per Click (CPC) rates in Q4
• Mobile represented 41% of all spend share in Q4
• Google Shopping Ads account for 36% of all search spending
• Instagram Stories has become extremely popular amongst social advertisers, provide lower cost alternative to Instagram Feed ads

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