Facebook advertising has become an essential part of any business’s digital marketing strategy. With over 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook provides unparalleled reach and engagement for brands looking to drive awareness, acquire new customers, and increase sales.
The platform offers advanced targeting capabilities, detailed analytics, and a wide array of ad formats including photos, videos, carousels, Stories ads, and more. And with consumers spending more and more time scrolling through their Facebook feeds, it has become a prime channel for brands to capture their attention.
In fact, businesses are shifting larger portions of their ad budgets to Facebook. According to Parse.ly’s research, Facebook accounted for over 20% of referral traffic to publisher sites in 2019, up from only 8% in 2016. And eMarketer predicts that Facebook will account for 23% of total global digital ad spend in 2020.
With the growing importance of Facebook advertising, it’s more critical than ever for marketers to stay on top of the latest trends, innovations, and best practices to maximize their ad performance on the platform. In this guide, we’ll explore the most significant developments uncovered in Facebook advertising in 2019 using exclusive data and insights from AdSpy, an ad intelligence tool.
Shifting Ad Spend to Facebook
Recent data shows that advertiser spend on Facebook ads continues to grow rapidly compared to other platforms. According to AdSpy’s Q2 2018 report, spend on Facebook ads in the US grew over 40% year-over-year, whereas Google ad spend grew around 15%.
This shift towards Facebook makes sense given their massive audience scale, advanced targeting options, and closed ecosystem. Facebook now has over 2 billion monthly active users globally across their family of apps. And their wealth of user data enables more effective micro-targeting of specific demographics and interest groups.
Furthermore, Facebook offers more seamless video advertising options, which is increasingly important as video consumption rises. Placing video ads on Facebook also enables sequential messaging as users see multiple ads from the same brand.
As more marketing budgets move to Facebook, they are also exploring innovative new ad formats like carousels, Stories ads, and bots. Facebook’s news feed relevance system aims to show users the most engaging content from friends, family, and brands. Overall, ongoing growth in time spent on Facebook properties provides more opportunities for brands to connect with their target audience.
Video Ads Driving Engagement
Video ads on Facebook continue to see strong performance and account for an increasing portion of ad spend on the platform.
According to AdSpy data, video ad engagement rates were 3x higher compared to image ads in Q4 2022. The view-through rate for video ads was 22% higher than carousel ads.
This aligns with insights from Facebook’s internal data showing that video ads have higher ad recall and brand awareness lifts compared to static image ads.
With video, brands can tell more immersive and emotional stories that resonate with audiences. Video ads also stand out more in the crowded news feed.
Interestingly, AdSpy found that 15-second video ads have 2x higher completion rates than 30-second ads. This indicates that shorter, snackable video performs better at holding viewer attention.
Marketers looking to drive conversions through video ads should focus on optimizing for mobile viewing and vertical formats. Over 70% of Facebook video views now occur on mobile devices.
Overall, video ads deliver significant engagement and branding potential for advertisers on Facebook today. Allocating a greater portion of ad spend to video seems poised to pay dividends.
Stories Ads Gain Momentum
The Stories ad format on Facebook and Instagram has seen rapid growth over the past year. According to AdSpy data, Stories ads now account for over 15% of Facebook ad spend among the top brands.
The visually engaging Stories format stands out in the crowded newsfeed, driving higher engagement rates. When optimizing for video views, Stories ads average 15-30% higher view rates compared to feed video ads. Along with the growth, marketers have refined their strategies and created campaigns specifically optimized for Stories.
Vertical video ads developed for mobile are ideal for Stories. Brands have also gotten creative with polls, questions, hashtag challenges and other interactive elements only available in Stories ads. As users engage more actively, this leads to stronger branding and awareness.
With the tremendous growth in time spent on Stories, the ad inventory continues to expand. Marketers are taking advantage by dedicating larger portions of their ad budget to this emerging format. Moving forward, experts predict Stories ads will achieve even higher view rates as targeting improves. The highly engaging Stories experience aligns perfectly with Facebook’s ad capabilities.
Focus on Mobile Optimization
Some important considerations for mobile optimization include:
– Designing ads for smaller screens – ads with minimal text and clear, bold visuals tend to perform better. Video ads should be in vertical format.
– Optimizing for thumb stops – place call-to-action buttons and key links in positions easy for thumbs to reach.
– Fast loading – with slower connections, mobile ads that load quickly get more engagement. Compress image file sizes and video lengths.
– Location targeting – geo-targeting ads to users in specific areas boosts ad relevance.
– Click-to-call ads – mobile users respond well to ads that can directly click to initiate a phone call.
As mobile continues to take over, advertisers who tailor their ads and landing pages for mobile stand to gain the most. It’s clear that successful Facebook ads campaigns in 2019 need a mobile-centric focus.
Audience Targeting Gets Smarter
Facebook advertising continues to get more sophisticated in how it allows marketers to target their ideal audiences. One major trend we’re seeing is the use of more advanced custom audience targeting options.
For example, Facebook now allows advertisers to create custom audiences based on offline data like customer emails or phone numbers. This makes it easy to reconnect with existing customers online.
Marketers can also create lookalike audiences that find new users who share similar qualities to their existing customers. This helps expand reach efficiently.
Facebook’s detailed targeting options allow drilling down by demographics, interests, behaviors and more. You can target not just broad categories, but increasingly specific interest groups and “micro-audiences.”
Location targeting has also advanced lately. Now marketers can target users based on where they actually go in the real world, not just where they live.
Advertisers are taking advantage of these robust options to hone in on their perfect audience and avoid wasted spend on irrelevant users. As targeting continues to get more powerful, it provides a major advantage to advertising on Facebook compared to other platforms.
Automation and AI Optimization
Facebook advertising continues to become more automated and optimized by artificial intelligence (AI). Facebook’s AI is constantly learning and improving its ability to deliver the right ads to the right people at the right time.
One key area where AI is making an impact is in bid optimization and budget allocation. Facebook’s AI looks at millions of data points in real-time to determine the optimal bid price for each ad auction and how best to allocate budget across ads, ad sets, and campaigns. This automated bid management allows ads to achieve better results within allotted budgets.
AI also optimizes the selection of creative assets. By analyzing historical data and response rates for different images, videos, and text, Facebook’s AI determines which creatives are resonating best with different audiences. It can then automatically emphasize top performing creative assets to improve results.
Facebook is also leveraging AI to make its targeting more precise. advanced machine learning algorithms can identify common attributes among people likely to take a desired action, like making a purchase or completing a lead form. Facebook then builds custom audiences matching those attributes to help ads reach more of the right people.
Automation powered by artificial intelligence is enabling advertisers to manage larger accounts and campaigns with greater efficiency and performance. As Facebook continues to innovate in this area, marketers can expect AI to handle even more of the optimization process.
The Rise of Shoppable Posts
One of the most exciting trends in Facebook advertising is the rise of shoppable posts that turn social content into sales. Brands are increasingly leveraging shoppable posts that allow users to view products and complete purchases without leaving the Facebook app.
According to AdSpy data, the use of shoppable posts in Facebook campaigns increased by over 40% in 2020 compared to the previous year. This aligns with an overall shift towards social commerce, as users want seamless shopping experiences directly within the platforms they engage with daily.
Shoppable posts help brands drive conversions by reducing friction in the buyer’s journey. When users view a product post, they can simply tap to access more details, select options like size and color, and checkout with saved payment information. This provides an instant gratification that consumers have come to expect.
Early adopters of shoppable posts like Sephora, M.M.LaFleur, and Lulus have seen increased reach, engagement, and sales. Users spend more time interacting with the posts and brands see higher conversion rates compared to sending traffic out to external sites.
As shoppable capabilities expand, more businesses are expected to take advantage of this ad format. Moving forward, we predict shoppable posts will be integral for direct-to-consumer brands, apparel companies, and retailers aiming to acquire and retarget customers in the Facebook ecosystem.
New Ad Options and Placements
Facebook is continually expanding the ad inventory and placements available to advertisers. One major area of expansion has been Messenger ads. These ads allow marketers to reach users directly in Messenger with sponsored messages.
Advertisers can create sponsored messages to send through Messenger to initiate conversations with potential customers. These conversational ads are interactive, engaging users by prompting them to respond or take an action.
Messenger ads work for driving conversions online and offline. For example, a clothing brand can send a sponsored message about a sale to get users to shop on their website. Or a restaurant can send a message with a coupon to get users to visit their location.
In addition to Messenger, Facebook has introduced ads in new placements like Facebook Stories. They’ve also expanded existing placements, now allowing video ads in News Feed. As Facebook’s ad offerings continue to grow, marketers have more options and surfaces to connect with their target audiences.
Looking Ahead
Facebook advertising is continuously evolving with new ad formats, targeting options, and AI optimization tools. Here are some predictions for where Facebook ads could be headed in the near future:
More Interactive Ad Experiences
Expect to see ads that incorporate more immersive experiences through augmented reality, 360 video, and interactive elements. These can help drive greater engagement as users interact with ad content in new ways. Brands will need creative strategies to take advantage of these emerging ad experiences.
Expansion of Shoppable Features
Shoppable posts have proven successful on Instagram and Facebook is expanding shoppable ad options across its platforms. We may see shoppable live videos, 3D models for virtual try-ons, and more seamless paths from ads to checkout. This can help advertisers boost conversions directly within the app.
Advanced Audience Insights
Look for Facebook to leverage more machine learning and data modeling to automatically discover broader, more refined target audiences. As their data pools expand, advertisers will gain more ways to reach customers based on predictive behaviors and qualities beyond basic demographics.
Competition with TikTok
TikTok’s popularity with younger demographics will push Facebook to add more video ad options optimized for short-form, viral content. They may also tap into influencer marketing to attract Gen Z audiences. Brands should test TikTok and evaluate shifting budgets between the platforms.
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Focus on Cross-Platform Experiences
Facebook will likely emphasize ad strategies that integrate with Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Oculus for more unified cross-platform experiences. Creating consistent campaigns tailored for each platform while linking back to a central focus will be key.
Rizwan Ali