At the F8 developers' conference in San Francisco, Facebook announced its next venture of serving ads to third-party mobile apps through its new advertising network. The project also known as Audience Network allows existing advertisers on Facebook to have their ads placed at the top of the mobile screen or in other apps outside this particular social media platform. This is highly beneficial for marketers especially who knows the importance of mobile marketing.
The Execution Process
When the 1.5 million active users opt to have their advertisements extended to other participating mobile apps, Facebook places those company ads in other developer's or publisher's apps once it determines that the ad would be relevant to the users there. However, the ads can only be placed after leveraging Facebook's huge collection of user data including
- People demographic information
- Their likes and interests on Facebook.
The advertisers can use both standard banner ads as well as custom units. This connection between the users and the advertisers are made by ad identifiers on user's mobile devices. Facebook has tons of user information like history, work, or education and also has the ability to see which apps people use and where they are. It is a usual practice for users to stay logged into Facebook, therefore Audience Network can easily identify who the viewers are and accordingly show them an ad that best match their profile.
The Biggest Advantage
It is easier for the mobile developers to choose the right ad formats that work best for their app. In this way, they're helping those millions of Facebook advertisers' improvise target ads for specific apps. This opportunity allows frequent exposures of the advertisers' in front of innumerable people in different demography. Not only this, the Audience Network has a dramatic effect on the paid marketing segment. Indeed it is a big plan to help monetize on mobile. It is a simple way to extend Facebook advertising purchases across mobile apps.
The Audience Network lets advertisers contact anyone with a Facebook account, even when they're not on Facebook.
The Best Way to Utilize
Put the right message for audiences to see on mobile
Mobile touches are more effective than desktop messages. While the former focuses more on audiences' engagement, the latter is restricted to conversion. For instance, to retain maximum engagement, the videos should not be more than 15-20 second. Moreover, you can retarget as it will allow you to check who has watched your video and how long they've watched it.
Make use of Facebook's cross -device reporting
When a user sees an ad on mobile device but decides to complete the purchase on their desktop, tracking them becomes difficult. However, cross device reporting helps you to track which device users saw a message on and which one they finally converted on. The intention behind using cross-device reporting is to check whether your ads had an impression or click. This feature also has the capability to check the traffic that initiated from the mobile but converted on desktop. Moreover, assisting developers with advertising encourages them to integrate more of Facebook's developer tools including sharing options, social login, or Parse's backend services. These in a way help Facebook to accumulate data about users, Parse subscription fees, and gather content for its News Feed. This is the best way to be called a 'cross-platform' platform.
Use mobile ads as a helping hand
Although there are an increasing number of mobile users worldwide, many users still prefer the old school style of making purchases from the desktops. So why not using Facebook mobile ads as an assistant to help in desktop conversion? Mobile ads are the starting point and an indirect source of conversion to sales especially when buyers are finally converting on desktops.
Show impressive ads
Your app can have access to millions of advertiser's base. Therefore, display high-quality ads in a format that is right for your app. You must show ads from diverse set of local and global brands that wants to reach their customers through your app. In short, you must know the right tactics of mobile advertisement.
Mobile ads adding more to Facebook's revenue
By showing relevant and effective ads to people, Facebook Audience Network indeed can deliver a better return on investment for advertisers and much bigger payouts to app developers. Currently, mobile ads account for 66% of Facebook's advertising revenue and 61% of total revenue. The majority of the Facebook's revenue is coming from mobile ads and payments, while the non-mobile revenue continues to remain constant.
The Goal
The aim is to improve the relevancy of ads people see, provide greater reach for the Facebook advertisers and ultimately help developers monetize their apps.