Facebook Updates Atlas Ad Network To Help Brands Track Offline Sales

What Happened
Facebook has added point-of-sale insights and other updates to its Atlas ad network to improve its ad measurement and help brands track if their digital ads are driving offline sales. One new feature called “Offline Actions” allows marketers to upload their own point-of-sale data and view it alongside their Atlas ad campaigns, while “Path to Conversion” aims to determine whether ads on desktop or mobile devices drove a digital sale. Atlas, the social network’s ad network that extends beyond Facebook’s own site and apps, will also begin offering video ads by the end of this month.

What Brands Need To Do
Similar to the offline attribution tracking tool that Foursquare introduced last month, the updated Atlas should give brand advertisers a better understanding of how their digital ads are doing, allowing them to adjust their campaigns according to how each channel is performing in terms of driving store visits and conversion rates.  

For more information on how retailers can better utilize customer data to connect with shoppers throughout every step of the purchase journey, check out the Boundless Retail section in our Outlook 2016.

 


Source: AdWeek

 

Why Facebook Is Relaunching The Atlas Ad Platform

Kicking off Advertising Week here in New York, Facebook announced their plan to relaunch the Atlas ad platform next week. Updated with powerful new features like cross-device targeting and offline sales tracking, the Atlas platform is poised to give Google a run for its money on digital and mobile advertising.

Facebook also plans to pitch marketers on the concept of using Atlas to tie consumers’ offline behaviors to their online behavior—after all, more data equals more value. And while omnichannel shopping continues to take hold, it is about time that ad measuring tried to catch up.

Facebook Acquires Atlas

Facebook has announced that they are purchasing Microsoft’s Atlas Solutions division for a rumored price of less than $100mm. This brings to a close several months of speculation after details of purchase discussions leaked late last year. Facebook is demonstrating that they’re willing to spend the money and resources that are required to expand their ad stack. While they may never achieve their stated ambition of displacing Windows/iOS as the main method of interacting with a computer, there may come a time when Facebook is the primary interface for a brand to manage a digital advertising campaign.