By Molly McCarty, Sr. Social Account Manager
As advertisers gear up for Q4 and the holiday rush, Facebook has pushed quite a few new features in recent months. We’ve gone ahead and compiled them all in one place so you can stay up to date on the newest features!
Facebook Slideshow: This is a great option for users who do not have the resources to create video for Facebook, but still want to take advantage of video engagement. Slideshow allows you to upload up to 5 images and then Facebook will scroll through them automatically (no need to click, like in carousel ads). This is also a nice option because it does not require a lot of bandwidth from the user.
Lead Ads: This is possibly the biggest product release in recent months. Lead ads are not only a new ad unit but also require a new objective within Facebook. There are a lot of advantages to lead ads. First, they auto-populate the user information so the user (assuming information is correct) does not have to enter in their name, email, etc. Lead ads also all take place within Facebook; the user never has to go to your site. This means that slower site load times won’t impact delivery. Lead ads are expected to lower the cost/lead substantially as they minimize the risk of the user bouncing. I think lead ads are great for people who have already visited your site (thus are familiar with your brand) but have not purchased or signed up. Lead ads are also great ad units for highly targeted audiences. Keep in mind, with how lead ads are currently set up, there is not much opportunity to relay information about what the user is signing up for, so you may so more unqualified leads than usual. That said, the overall cost/lead is going to be much less than what you normally pay.
Instagram Ads (Worldwide): Until September 30, Instagram ads were not available worldwide. Instagram ads are able to track all the same conversions you track on Facebook, but the campaign objective has to either be website clicks or mobile app install. All the targeting that is available on Facebook is also available for Instagram,
Facebook Lift Test (Campaign Goals): Back in January, Facebook launched the Conversion Lift tool. Recently, in September, Facebook launched lift tests to measure which ads are bringing in the best results for the advertisers campaign objective. With this new lift test, advertisers can determine which ad unit performs best for their objective, the value of mobile ads, and more. Lift tests must be set up with the help of an account representative.
Good luck with the new features! Drop a comment if you’d like to share your experience using them.
