FACEBOOK ADS STUDIES BY SOCIALBAKERS DESKTOP VS. MOBILE ADVERTISING ON FACEBOOK SQUARE OFF
01 Key Insights Mobile advertising is growing at an unprecedented rate as people are abandoning the desktop version of Facebook in favor of accessing the network on smartphones. Facebook s recent Q2 2015 earnings announcement noted that mobile ads currently account for 75% of the organization s revenue. Mobile-forward thinking is paramount. In this guide, we discuss the tactics and details for improving desktop vs. mobile advertising through a useful case study. Mobile ads were launched on Facebook in 2012 and currently account for 76% of Facebook revenues1 Of the 1.49 billion monthly Facebook users, 44% of them (655 million) are mobile-only users2 Mobile active daily users number 844 million on average, an increase of 29% year-over-year Mobile monthly active users increased 23% year-over-year 1 2 Where Facebook s Revenue Growth Comes From According to Facebook Reports Second Quarter 2015 Results
02 Introduction Since going public three years ago, Facebook has developed a robust mobile advertising platform. Mobile ads have played a key role in Facebook s Q2 2015 results beating projections for both earnings and revenue, with mobile advertising accounting for 76% of Facebook s advertising revenue and 72% of total revenue. Facebook Quarterly Revenue Broken down by Segment (million U.S. dollars) 4 000 3 000 Mobile ads have grown explosively for Facebook, contributing to more than 90% of Facebook s revenue growth in each of the ten previous quarters, while desktop ads and payments have stayed flat. Facebook s mobile advertising services have been widely successful considering the fact that the platform sees 844 million mobile users on average daily. The development and speed with which mobile ads have become the largest source of revenue for the company is astounding. This is precisely why mobile-forward thinking is critical in today s rapidly changing environment on social media. Mobile commerce is thriving as consumers are increasingly on their smartphones. What are the advantages and disadvantages for businesses that wish to excel with social ads in the game of desktop vs. mobile? 2 000 1 000 0 2012 2013 Desktop Advertising 2014 Mobile Advertising 2015 Payments Image & Data Source: Business Insider; Where Facebook s Revenue Growth Comes From
03 Desktop and Mobile Strengths Desktop Advertising Mobile Advertising Ideal if you need the user s undivided attention Great for media companies that engage their audience within a quick glance Better for longer or rich content (videos, HTML5, Flash etc.) Ideal for links with microsites and landing pages In B2B ideal for lead-generation that requires filling out the forms on the landing page Helpful for a clear Call-To-Action (CTA) that can grab attention on any screen size
04 Driving Website Traffic and Conversions Desktop Mobile Use Custom Audiences and target the people that have already visited your website, e-mail subscribers, and your contacts through their customer journey: One common mistake brands make is neglecting to optimize campaign images for mobile displays, leading to cut-off and unwieldy graphics. Make sure your campaign visuals are mobile-friendly. Target leads, prospects, and clients with relevant messaging People have a longer attention span than on mobiles, so it s important to test a lot of images Use Lookalike3 audiences to target the message to similar recipients Target your Fans - they are cheaper and have a nearly 3x better Click Through Rate (CTR) 3 Lookalike audiences in Facebook gathers a similar target audience to help you target people who are similar to your current customers for Fan acquisition, site registration, off-facebook purchases, coupon claims and brand awareness. Facebook analyzes your Custom Audience list and creates a new segment that is optimized based on either similarity or reach. It s also essential to have a responsive website and landing page if you go mobile. Forms that need to be filled should be easily clickable on any screen size or ideally prefilled by offering users a social log-in via Facebook, Twitter or other profiles.
05 Raising Brand Awareness Desktop Mobile Identify the best-performing organic posts (by high reach and engagement) in real-time, and promote them quickly to maximize your reach Publish videos natively (they have better reach and engagement than videos leading outside the platform e.g. posting a YouTube video to Facebook) Promote posts that are strategically important such as those featuring your latest campaign or product Videos render better on mobile devices than on desktops If video content is being used, have a clear CTA at the end to direct users to the desired place Ensure that the video does not require a lot of data Use location-based targeting whenever relevant
06 Desktop vs. Mobile Since mobile is very often the first source of contact with Facebook for a lot of users during the day, mobile ads can help to support a campaign designed for desktop ads Cross Device Conversions over Time 67 % 66 % 67 % Raise awareness with light messaging on mobile Continue desktop ads for final conversion 32 % According to an analysis of Facebook ad performance in the United States, of the people who showed interest in Facebook mobile Ads, more than 32% converted on desktop within 28 days4 4 22 % 11 % Facebook for Business 1 Day prior 7 Days prior Mobile Click Image & Data Source: Facebook for Business 28 Days prior Mobile View
07 Post and Promote Videos Natively Native videos get more reach than any other type of post - that s why it pays off to promote them. While they are relatively more promoted than photos 27% of all videos are promoted, compared to 17% of photos there are so many more photos than videos that the new format is still far more effective at reaching audiences.5 Average Organic Reach Video 8.7 % Because Facebook videos auto-play silently, it s essential to make them visually appealing right from the start Status 5.8 % Try including dialog right at the beginning of a video. If people want to hear what s being said, they ll click for sound and video churn rates show that viewers who make it past the first 5% of a video will likely stay engaged to watch until the end Link 5.3 % Photo 3.7 % Make your native videos as shareable as possible - the objective is to make your content worth sharing (when someone shares your post it reflects the highest form of brand endorsement) thus helping to increase brand awareness 5 http://www.socialbakers.com/blog/2367-native-facebook-videos-get-more-reach-than-anyother-type-of-post 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% Date Range: October 1, 2011 to February 1, 2015 Data: The sample consisted of 4 445 Brand pages and the more than 670 000 posts 10 %
08 Driving Online Sales Desktop Mobile Remarket the visitors of the website or visitors that did not complete a purchase Creating a mobile app can be beneficial; get customer feedback to see whether they d prefer the app Desktop is more suitable, as it ensures users are more likely to catch the ad in their feeds since it occupies more space Use mobile advertising IDs - Android, Apple, Facebook App Target your fanbase, provide special deals and not only discounts Connect it with your your offline activities by targeting the users that are nearby your shop Pay attention to the frequency of retargeting to minimize the times a person is likely to see the same ad Responsive design is essential
09 Stimulate Local In-Store Sales Desktop Target your fans, website audience and newsletter audience, cross-testing effectiveness across multiple ad sets. Mobile Target ads to people close to your location and offer them something extra for additional value Use the Offer ad format to provide one-time-one-time-only deals that will be shown to those near your stores Improve performance with carousel ads Carousel link ads drive 30-50 % lower cost-per-conversion and 20-30 % lower cost-per-click than single-image link ads. Image: Facebook for Business
10 Get New Installs for Your App Desktop Is your app available on Facebook? Use desktop ads to drive valuable traffic Make the ad relevant to the interests of those being targeted e.g. a fitness app for fitness buffs Use bright and catchy images to grab attention Mobile Use mobile targeting and leverage Audience Network7 targeting, which posts your ad in other 3rd party apps, to reach the broadest audience beyond Facebook. Ads in the Audience Network use the same imagery you use for your Facebook Ads, so there s no need for new creative. Segment your audience and test many different ads Cross-test the video auto-play and click-to-play formats Videos are great - learn how to succeed here Use carousel format Incentivize users to install the app by promoting a special offer e.g. if 1 order is made through the app, the user will receive a 50% discount 7 Facebook for Business
11 Gain More Likes for Your Pages Desktop People have a longer attention span than on mobiles, so it s important to test a lot of images Mobile Use extremely clear images - faces work great! Keep texts short and catchy Performs well for younger age groups
12 Capture Newsletter Subscribers Desktop Use a newsletter tab for your page (don t worry - this can be done almost pain-free with tools like TabFoundry) Target Lookalike audiences of your Fans and your newsletter subscribers Mobile Difficult to achieve, and so requires the landing page to be responsive and ideally prefilled Good new is, that Facebook is now testing new lead gen forms that should simplify the process for mobile8 8 Facebook for Business Do not send users away from Facebook to complete the newsletter subscription by redirecting them to another website - use a Facebook native-app on your Page to capture emails for subscriptions Be sure to target your Fans Image: Facebook is testing lead ads to make the mobile signup process easier by automatically inserting contact information from their Facebook Profile - in the form of an email address, name and surname; Source: Facebook for Business
Contact Us Contact sales@socialbakers.com to learn more about Socialbakers solutions that can help you become one of the best in your industry on social media!