Tag: mobile ads

Snapchat Goes All In On Self-Serve Ad Platform And Tools

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Snapchat is going all in on self-serve ad platform and tools to make it easier for brands advertisers to create video ads and launch their campaigns with three new initiatives. To start with, the company announced the Ad Manager platform last month, and the self-serve ad platform officially became available for marketers big or small on Monday.

Snapchat also launched Snap Publisher, a browser-based creation and testing tool that makes it easier for advertisers to create vertical video ads and create Snap ads for different objectives. It is integrated with Ad Manager, so once advertisers are done optimizing their ads for Snapchat, they can simply buy through the self-serve platform with one click.

In addition, Snapchat launched a new Certified Partners program to highlight its ad tech partners, which currently include SocialCode, Adaptly, Unified, and Hyfn. Snapchat’s Ads API is open to a wide range of ad tech companies, but the ones in the Certified Partners program received some extra training as to building tools for optimizing Snap ads.

What Brands Need To Do
Amid a slowed-down user growth and the mounting pressure from Facebook’s relentless copying, Snapchat is trying to make a strong case for itself to brand advertisers as a viable mobile ad channel by expanding the accessibility and accountability of its ad products.

Beyond the three initiatives launched on Monday, Snap also acquired mobile location intelligence company Placed last week to improve the offline attribution of its app, allowing advertisers to see if their Snap ads resulted in store visits. As Snapchat continues to step up its ad game and make its app more advertiser-friendly, we expect to see more brands getting on board to try out Snapchat’s unique ad products.

 

 

Source: TechCrunch

Turner Extends Snapchat Partnership To Reach Millennials With Original Shows

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Turner is extending its partnership with Snap Inc. to reach Millennial mobile consumers with  original content specifically made for Snapchat and more collaborative ad efforts. The original shows will be based on programming from TBS, truTV, and other popular Turner-owned networks and will appear on Snapchat’s Discover channels. Previously, Turner also worked with Snapchat on Live Stories for sports organizations like the NCAA in March, which has been renewed as part of the expanded partnership.The extended partnership will also result in more collaborative ad sales for the two companies as they aim to create more sponsorship and ad opportunities on the Discover channels.

What Brands Should Do
This partnership extension indicates Turner’s plan of leveraging content to reach Snapchat’s growing audience and shows Snapchat’s deepening ties with media owners. For brand advertisers, initiatives like this are what makes Snapchat an increasingly promising ad-supported media channel to reach consumers, especially those who are shunning traditional media and spending time on mobile channels instead. As Snapchat’s ad business catches up to its rapid growth and starts to compete for more ad dollars with leading sellers of mobile ads such as Facebook and Google. now is the time for brands to consider getting on Snapchat to reach its young-skewing users.

 

Source: AdAge

Facebook Testing Multi-Click Shopping Ads In News Feed

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Just in time for the holiday shopping season, Facebook has reportedly started testing a new ad product in News Feed that let retailers feature multiple products in a multi-click format. Retailers including the Lowe’s and Michael Kors are already testing the new ads, which features a primary image or video supported by a row of product images underneath. A click on this type of ad opens an in-app page showcasing additional products whereas a second click redirects shoppers to the retailer’s website.

Facebook continues to diversify its News Feed ad products as the holiday season draws near. This new shopping ad comes just a few weeks after Facebook-owned Instagram debuted shoppable posts that allow brands to include product information and direct links in their photos. Last week, the social network introduced News Feed ads that can direct users to start a conversation with a Messenger chatbot.

What Retailers Should Do
With these direct-response ad products newly available on Facebook and Instagram, retailers will have more options to choose from as they leverage these more sophisticated interactive formats to drive sales or conversations.  With worldwide mobile internet usage officially surpassing time spent on desktop, retailers wishing to reach the holiday shoppers need to take advantage of the in-app shopping ads available to effectively engage with them on mobile.

 

Source: AdWeek

Facebook Adds More Ad Options To Instant Articles

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook has added some larger and more flexible ad units to Instant Articles as the company ramps up the monetization in the fast-loading, mobile-native format. Publishers can now bring more of their direct sold campaigns to Instant Articles, including custom, premium formats. And publishers using Facebook’s Audience Network can now engage their audience with video and carousel ads in Instant Articles. In addition, Facebook has also improved support for branded content in Instant Articles to allow publishers to plug in their native ad campaigns.

What Brands Need To Do
As Facebook continues to loosen its restrictions on ads in Instant Articles and offer publishers more options to monetize their content, brands gain more opportunities to reach mobile Facebook users by working with publishers to transplant their campaigns into Instant Articles. Brands looking to make their ads load faster and provide a mobile-optimized user experience can also look into Facebook’s Canvas ads, which are basically “Instant Articles for brands.”

 

Source: Facebook Media

Header image is a promotional image courtesy of Facebook Media

Facebook Starts Testing Ads In Groups

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook has started testing ads in Groups, the interest-based, user-generated communication channels that the company released as a standalone app in 2014. The ads in Groups look identically to standard News Feed ads and will be targeted by Group topic as well as the standard identity-based targeting.

What Brands Need To Do
As Facebook is looking to reach maximum News Feed ad load in mid-2017, the company has been turning to its other properties, including Instagram and WhatsApp, to further fuel its ad revenue growth. So it makes perfect sense that Facebook is now putting ads in Groups as well, opening up yet another marketing channel for brands to reach their audiences on Facebook. The topic-based nature of Groups also enables brands to target niche audiences with tailored content and brand messaging.

 

Source: TechCrunch

 

Facebook Updates Slideshow Ads With Text and Music Options

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook has updated its Slideshow ads, the multi-image ad unit designed for regions with internet connections too slow for video ads. Now advertisers using this ad product can include more images in their slideshows, as well as add text and background music to them. At the moment, Facebook provides some themed music tracks for advertisers to choose from but says that marketers will be able to upload their own music soon. In addition, brands now have the option to specifically target their Slideshow ads against users on 2G networks.

What Brands Need To Do
According to Facebook, brands that use Slideshow ads have seen some positive results. For example, sock company Stance reported their cost per acquisition decreased by 48% and clickthrough rates more than doubled with a Slideshow ad. This update brings more customization features to Slideshow ads, which brands seeking to reach mobile consumers in certain developing global markets should take advantage of.

Source: AdWeek

 

Snapchat Extends Ads In Stories To More Brands

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Snapchat is opening up its Snap Ads that appear in between user-generated Stories to more brands. To ensure a good user experience, Snapchat is reportedly capping this ad unit to three views per day for each user, regardless of how many snaps they actually consume. Snapchat introduced this video ad product in June with the launch of its ad-tech program Snap Partners, limiting the launch partners to ten select brands at the time. Now, brands such as Dunkin’ Donuts, Maybelline, Starbucks, and JCPenney have started running Snap Ads.

What Brands Need To Do
Snapchat has been winning over brand marketers with its unique ad products like branded selfie lenses and sponsored Geofilters along with improved ad measurement. As its user base continues to grow and it opens more advertising opportunities, more and more brands are jumping on Snapchat. Ford, for instance, has created more than 30 sports-themed Snap Ads to push for its 2017 Escape SUV during the Olympics. If your brand has yet to develop a Snapchat strategy, now is the time to include the popular messaging app in your social marketing mix.

 

Source: AdWeek

How Mercedes-Benz Is Working With Social Influencers To Battle Ad Avoidance

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
In a bid to reach a younger demographic, Mercedes-Benz has been working with a number of social influencers to promote its brand. With the launch of a content initiative named “MB Photo Pass” earlier this year, the luxury car maker has been working closely with content creators and around 25 influencers to craft branded and sponsored content across various social channels including Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Pinterest, and YouTube. Besides the usual narrative featuring fancy vehicles and extreme sports, Mercedes also branched out and created its first 360-degree video that featured an emotional storyline.

What Brands Need To Do
As consumer attention becomes increasingly fragmented and the subpar mobile ad experience drives many users to use ad-blockers, it is becoming more and more difficult for brands to reach their desired audience via traditional media channels. Therefore, brands should take a cue from Mercedes’s influencer efforts and be willing to explore new forms of advertising such as sponsored or branded content, as well as new media formats such as VR and 360-degree video, to circumvent consumers’ growing ad aversion and pique their interest.

For more information on how brands should leverage interesting branded content to earn consumer attention, check out the Ad Avoidance section of our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: Digiday

 

Tumblr Ramps Up Ads By Putting Ads On More Blogs

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Tumblr is taking a significant step to increase its ad inventory by rolling out a new ad program that puts more ads across its network of blogs. Starting Thursday, sponsored posts and sponsored video ads will start appearing on Tumblr’s slide-out section on the web, on the main page of blogs using the default Optica theme, as well as on its mobile apps and mobile web. Users can earn money off those on-blog ads if they sign up for Tumblr’s Creatrs program. This program is applied to Tumblr’s network of over 306 million blogs from 65 million users by default, but users who wish not to see ads on their blogs can opt out of the program in settings.

What Brands Need To Do
Since this opt-out program displays ads on Tumblr blogs, it effectively enables Tumblr to monetize its vast amount of blogs that reach all visitors, whereas previously Tumblr’s ad products only reach logged-in users. In 2013, Tumblr was purchased for $1.1 billion by Yahoo, which, in turn, will be acquired by Verizon by early next year. As Verizon plans to integrate Yahoo’s online ad business into AOL, we expect to see Tumblr further step up its ad efforts in the near future. For now, brands advertising on Tumblr will gain a significantly wider reach for their ads.

 

Source: TechCrunch

Facebook Tests New Video-Centric Features On Android App As Mobile Ad Sales Soar

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook is building out its video products on mobile as it chases more ad dollars. The social giant has started testing a slew of video-centric features on its Android apps, including a dedicated video tab and subscription-based video channels. Facebook first started testing similar features on its desktop sites in March.

The move is most likely motivated by Facebook’s desire for more mobile ads. Earlier this week, Facebook shared that its overall ad sales hit $6.2 billion during the second quarter, increasing its overall ad revenue by 59% compared to last year. The growth is largely attributed to the strong performance of its mobile ads as 84% of its ad sales came from mobile.  

What Brands Need To Do
As Facebook continues its quest to challenge YouTube’s position as the destination for online video, it presents video advertisers with more opportunities to engage with its over 1.7 billion monthly active users with video ads. As more and more people start consuming video content on mobile devices, it is imperative that brands follow the viewers and consider adopting a mobile-heavy media mix to reflect the shift in audience behavior.

 

Sources: MediaPost & AdWeek