Wait – I Have to Tell Facebook Where I Want My Ads to be Shown?
I Thought This Was A One-And-Done Deal…
If you’re asking yourself a.) what placements are available on Ads Manager or b.) what the Facebook Audience Network even is, don’t panic – you’ve come to the right place (well, almost).
Before you can understand what this placement is and how to use it to your advantage (while maintaining brand safety), review the other options for ad placement here.
What is the Facebook Audience Network?
Pro Tip: Refer to This Placement as ‘FAN’ for Extra Clout
FAN is Facebook’s hidden gem that allows advertisers to leap off-platform and extend their reach beyond Facebook. While everyone and their mother – quite literally – is on Facebook, savvy advertisers recognize that consumers spend a significant portion of their time on other platforms and apps.
EXAMPLE: Karen may have just spent three hours connecting the dots on who Chad’s new girlfriend may be by looking through countless Facebook profiles, but she also prides herself on being able to participate in any conversation on politics. This leads her to her next stop – USA Today. While engaging with this publisher’s site or content on Facebook, she could come across four different ad units, all stemming from your Facebook Ads Manager campaign:
- A Native Ad
- These tend to perform well because they don’t interrupt the user experience.
- An Interstitial Video Ad
- A full-screen video ad within a mobile app.
- A Banner Ad
- Smaller ads at the top or bottom of the screen.
- Or an In-stream Video Ad
- Video ads that run before, during a break, or after video content in a video player on a website.
Later that night, Karen found herself up way past her bedtime playing Candy Crush, when a Rewarded Video Ad came up – a type of video placement for gaming apps. Get a reward in exchange for watching the video!
As a Savvy Advertiser Why Would I Want to Use it?
Expanding marketing efforts to include Facebook, Instagram, and the Audience Network can be an efficient way to hit your consumers, like Karen, on the right platform at the right time.
Pro Tip: Refer to this as placement-optimization to impress your clients/coworkers
Don’t just take my word for it – Facebook has published 48 case studies on Audience Network Success Stories covering a multitude of industries, objectives, and regions.
According to Facebook:
- One billion people see a FAN ad per month
- 32% of the top 50 free Google Play apps monetize with FAN
- Conversion rates are up to 8x higher on placement-optimized campaigns (open to Facebook, Instagram, and the Audience Network placements) rather than solely Facebook’
Brand Safety and the Facebook Audience Network
A concern voiced by many of our advertisers is the fear of where ads will appear once they leap off Facebook and Instagram. While the FAN is a great way to expand reach and engage with a brand’s audience in new ways, it also can seem like the Pandora’s Box of Placements.
Here at AdParlor, we know that brand safety and relevancy is not only a concern but a must in today’s politically-charged world.
Fortunately, there are proactive steps that can be taken to ensure you’re reaching the right audiences and ads are surrounded by approved content:
- Exclude different categories of content
- Create a block list using sources you know you don’t want
- Download a list of publisher URLs where ads could appear and proactively create a block list
Note: This list is updated every 30 days, so you’re sure to always be current on potential publishers
If interacting with your current consumers at a more opportune time or reaching new audiences that were previously out of grasp sounds appealing to you, the FAN may be for you. Chat with us today to learn more about how you can safely utilize this placement.