19 Aug Facebook’s Expensive New Video Ads Debut as Engagement Slows | Social You Should Know
Facebook is looking to add video ads to News Feed just as brand engagement seems to be slowing, and mobile social is beginning to come of age in this week’s Social You Should Know.
Before we get to that, I’m hosting a free webcast on August 29th called “How Dodge Drives Organic Social Media Marketing Success” with our client Mark Malmstead. Mark will explain how this iconic auto brand is having success with their social strategy. Register now, even if you can’t attend. We’ll send all registrants a video of the event afterwards.
Facebook’s New TV Style Ads
Got $2.5m burning a hole in your pocket? You have the potential to be among the first to annoy Facebook users with the new “in-stream” video ads reportedly near launch. Targeting for the ads is more broadcast style than the narrow targeting Facebook is usually known for, with advertisers only able to target by age and gender. Despite ample research showing that organic engagement drives measurably better results than paid engagement, Facebook continues to try to convince us all that advertising and marketing are the same thing. $2.5m buys one day of these ads or a full year of a very aggressive holistic social strategy, including targeted paid support. You can hear my unabashed opinion on these ads in this week’s in-depth video conversation:
Fan Engagement Dips in H1 2013
It’s good news that Facebook is tinkering with its News Feed algorithm, because according to a study by our friends at Expion, fan engagement declined for 50 retailers studied. They noted that the brands had “a decline in fan engagement and volume despite an increase in the number of brand posts published.” They also noted that this overall decline was made up with have the retailers growing and half the retailers declining. So the art of community management is key. Want to promote your posts to make up for the challenges? Other new research shows that you get 2.6x better results if you promote within the first 24 hours a post is live.
Mobile Social is Making Progress
A year or so ago, mobile social seemed limited to Foursquare specials. Today, brands are being much more creative, from Amex selling gift cards through Twitter, to The North Face adding new Pin It buttons to its mobile apps. This compilation on Mobile Marketer of 10 branded promotions is worth reading.
