Every four years the World Cup smashes TV viewing records across the globe and this year is no exception, what is becoming more and more prevalent in the 2014 edition is the digital impact. In the games goal line technology is included for the first time and online, demand for streaming in the US peaked at 1.7M viewers for the US qualification.
Brazil’s turn to host the event is officially the most talked about event on Facebook of all time, with more than one billion interactions to date. While Twitter has long been the go-to for live sporting event conversation, Facebook is closing that gap with a little help from key players, notably Brazil stars Neymar and David Luiz along with US hero Tim Howard. Snickers put the Facebook vs Twitter real time debate to the test, posting a very similar post to both platforms directly after Uruguayan striker Suarez was spotted allegedly biting his opponent in the box. Perhaps unexpectedly the Tweet outperformed the Facebook post, leading to the assertion that Facebook organic reach is officially dead! With the copy not being the exact same, this was not a direct A/B test, but interesting fodder on both sides of the debate none the less.
Snickers wasn't the only brand to capitalize on Suarez’s indiscretion. Where normally brands are wary of infringing on hashtags and sponsorship, this act opened up a near free for all with food brands such as McDonalds and TGI Friday’s “sinking their teeth” into the controversy.
It’s not just brands that are taking advantage of Twitter, the platform itself has used the Word Cup to test out a number of features for users to enjoy the tournament. Have you noticed the live scores to the right of your home dashboard, or the pre-populating country flags with the use of national hashtags? Twitter also curated lists to follow, based on national allegiance to keep all followers up to date with players, official team feeds, pundits and celebrities alike.
With the first round over, and knock out games from here on out, brands are getting excited and having trouble towing the line with national pride vs foreign customers. KLM was one of the first to fall foul of controversy, posting a pictures of a Departures sign with the copy Adios Amigos, after Holland’s last minute victory over Mexico. This has certainly been a World Cup of upsets and surprises with Spain, Italy, Portugal and England all out in the first round, leading even the most hardcore of sports betters to second guess their brackets. So while we can’t leave you with a prediction, we can direct you to Paul, the predicting Octopus, the real digital winner of the 2006 event!
Facebook has recently been releasing applications to contend with their competitors on the mobile front. One of the company’s most recent applications to be released is designed for mass photo and video-sharing as a means for users to keep their friends updated on their daily actives—this app is called Slingshot.
Slingshot allows its users to send, or “sling,” videos and/or pictures to other users throughout the service. Additionally, users are able to add a drawing or text description to their content before sending it out to friends. Slingshot is very similar to the competing and highly successful SnapChat, however, one of Slingshot’s major differences is that its users are not able to view the content they receive until they choose to “sling” something back at the user they received content from. The informational technology website techcrunch.com believes Facebook added this feature in order to “Increase the viral effects and spread of Slingshot. By tapping into users’ natural curiosity, they may be motivated to share with a friend in order to “unlock” the new shots they receive.”
Slingshot is reported to having been designed similarly to the very recent developed app, TapTalk. In fact, Techcrunch.com says that Facebook engineers love TapTalk so much, that they developed Slingshot with the hope of creating TapTalk’s user experience within their own application. The idea of users not being able to view content until they have sent something back comes from an app called Rando, which ultimately ended its unsuccessful run in March. Additionally, Slingshot is actually not Facebook’s first attempt at creating a mass photo and video-sharing app. Facebook’s first attempt to compete with Snapchat was an app called Poke, which quickly failed and was taken away from the App Store.
As of now, Slingshot is only available in select markets, the U.S. not being one. With its future yet to be determined, the uncertainty of Slingshot leaves us wondering…Will Facebook’s Slingshot will be able to prevail the ever powerful Snapchat? Or will Slingshot be (yet another) failed attempt to keep up with other powerfully performing mobile platforms?
Online reviews have a tremendous influence in guiding consumers’ decisions in choosing products and services. Consumers trust that the people leaving these reviews have actually experienced this restaurant, hotel, or product. According to Mashable’s study in 2012, 57% of restaurant goers said they rely on online reviews before choosing where to dine. In addition, 90% of Yelp users said a positive review influences their choices.
However, not all of those reviews are trustworthy. There is a significant amount of evidence around the web showing that organizations are posting fake reviews in order to increase revenue. According to the research from Appentive regarding analyzing app stores, 55% of apps containing fake reviews were on iTunes, while 45% were found on Google Play (Techcrunch).
Fake reviews are more common on the App Store because many developers choose to launch their apps there first. While iOS apps had more fake reviews than those on Android, the Android apps were actually the “worst” offenders. The study shows that when it came to the 100 apps with the absolute worst Reviewer Quality, 80% of them were on Android. Garten, a Stanford-based research firm, has found that by 2014, an expected 15% of all social media actions could be fake. This includes Facebook Likes and Twitter mentions as well. Today, there are a number of services catering to this increased demand. Fake app reviewers offer reviews in exchange for money. BuyAppStoreReviews, BestReviewApp and AppRebates are some companies that offer a fake review service. In some cases, several companies are actually paying reviewers to leave negative reviews and 1-star ratings on competitors’ pages in an effort to increase their own ranking. However, this is less common. In 2012, Stephen Leather admitted that he created sock puppet accounts on Twitter to promote his books.
The faking of reviews, both positive and negative, is a serious issue. At the core of the problem is the fact that there are huge benefits to behaving unethically, but not many consequences. As a consumer, there are few tips on spotting fake reviews:
The reviewer posts reviews with similar language – If one reviewer has commented on multiple listings with reviews that all sound similar to one another
When leaving a review, some sites require readers to post comments by using their social media account such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or LinkedIn. Users can check out the accounts to see if they seem real.
There are several websites developed to check fake reviews such as Review Skeptic (developed by Cornell University). These sites will identify fake reviews by analyzing the language
I'll be the first to admit that there's not much I need my iPhone 5s to do that it can't already do (except maybe add some hours in a day), but I can also acknowledge that Amazon's Fire Phone has some pretty tempting features. The most hyped of these is Firefly, which identifies whatever you're pointing the phone at, whether it’s a movie or TV show, a book, a song, or, yes of course, millions of products you can buy from Amazon with the press of a button. It can also pick up information from a business card or poster and add it to your contacts, call a number (shocking! a phone making a call?!?), or shoot you directly to a website. That feature alone makes the Fire phone stand out for the average user. Throw in free, unlimited photo storage; 3D dynamic perspective, which uses the Fire phone's four front-mounted cameras to sense how you're viewing a photo or app and changes perspective accordingly; and powerful but simple tilt/swivel/peek capabilities, and you've got a lot more than just an Amazon buying machine—although, let’s face facts, if that happens to be what you're looking for, then you're definitely in luck with the Amazon Fire Phone.
Not to Have the Amazon Fire Phone
By Travis Harding
The Amazon Fire smartphone comes with much fanfare and press, but is it really an Apple and Samsung competitor? Not really, essentially it’s flashy phone for Amazon lovers that’s meant to open your wallet, highlighted by its ability to snap a photo of a product and then be able to directly buy that product from Amazon THAT INSTANT. Sure, an image recognition system and 3D display is cool, but it cost just as much as a new iPhone or Nexus next-gen device, plus it’s bulkier than its competitors and boasts far less apps, do I really need a phone whose best feature is to more easily buy stuff from Amazon? Isn’t there already an app for that on my iPhone?
When it comes to making a statement, a simple tug at the heartstrings may not be getting the job done anymore.
“Job 1 of advertising is to get consumers to focus their eyeballs on that 30-second spot or that stunt,” Peter Sealey, marketing consultant and former head of market at Coca-Cola and Columbia Pictures said. “The initial grab for attention is so damn important.”
I couldn't have said it better myself.
In a world that has become incredibly numb to the shocking and obscene or emotional and nostalgic, advertisers are struggling to capture and keep the attention of consumers long enough to have a message resonate. Now, with the supplementary layer of second-screen activation playing a bigger role than ever before, if social brand chatter doesn’t spike after a spot runs – you’re just not doing it right.
While some brands have focused more aggressively on cultivating the tear-jerker approach for that missing “WOW” factor – think Budweiser’s “Puppy Love” or even Chrysler’s “Halftime in America,” others have taken on a new approach. Scarevertising is not a new tactic but until recently, had been reserved for PSAs and promotional movie stunts.
With brands like Woolite leading the way in 2011, the return on investment was no longer limited to traditional television reach. This campaign lent itself to social extensions; additional “behind the scenes” content was seeded out via YouTube and shared across all of Woolite’s owned channels. Blogs and online publications promoted the spot organically due to its production value, elite staffing (Rob Zombie directed) and one-of-a-kind approach.
In May of 2014, FirstBank premiered “Free Isn't Always a Good Thing,” a new and shudder-worthy take on scarevertising. Used as a spot to promote free checking accounts, the client vertical is one which you would not immediately associate without talking heads in ties. The disturbing 30-second spot was created to target A16-39 and ran on all broadcast networks; additionally, the spot and character have an established presence on premium sites, set to “creep out” unsuspecting site visitors and strengthen the overall campaign outside of TV.
In order to pull off this level of execution, the brand must be comfortable completely letting go of preconceived standards; a drastic change in creative direction requires a certain level of commitment and trust in the agencies they’ve engaged. Once that decision is made to move forward with a new campaign, there truly is no going back.
“If you don't do it well, you probably shouldn't do it at all.”
The heat is building and we're ready to unleash the next edition of The Social. From updates on social video to SnapChat's newest developments - we’ve covered it all.
See up to the minute social news in our ‘In The News’ section HERE.
Read previous month’s issues HERE.
If you would like your question answered in the Social Soup for the Media Soul section next month, click or HERE to send us your questions!
Advancements in reporting metrics are here for natively uploaded videos on both Facebook and Twitter. While the Twitter Video card is still in beta, we got the chance to test the new product card along with the updated metrics. Twitter is still working out the details of product, but as of now they will report on the following metrics:
- Video Starts
- Video Views to completion (25%, 50%, 75%, 100%)
Facebook has had direct video upload much longer and finally released the news that they will have video specific metrics for both page insights and ad reporting. By directly uploading your video to Facebook, you’ll be able to report on the following:
Video Views (3 seconds or more)
Unique Video Views
Average Duration of Video View
Audience Retention Graph
Video View Metrics (Views to 25%, 50%, 75%, 95% and 100%)
Average cost per view
In addition to these metrics, Facebook has renamed the “Video Plays” metric to “Click to play video’ to more accurately reflect the action. Facebook and Twitter are continually optimizing advertising product reporting metrics so we expect to see this transparency trend continue as the world of social evolves.
Instagram is, technically, a wide-open network. But the draw has always been its filter of luxury and exclusivity, showcasing inspirational lifestyles with highly-saturated vacation photos and fancy food pictures.
That exclusivity carries over into its approach to brands and advertisements, too. Instagram first introduced select advertisers in early November, debuting Photo Ads with Michael Kors. Now comes news of the photo-sharing social network rolling out their first video advertisements. Just as before, Instagram is choosing to pioneer the program with big fashion brands—the ultimate in luxury appeal.
Fashion brands have proved ideal partners for Instagram’s image-based platform, especially when they share the “look” and lifestyle regularly displayed across the network. It came as no surprise when Levi’s and Burberry were named as two of the first advertisers to be selected to test the new video product; on Instagram, we’re learning, only premium brands get premium treatment. (Fashion news site Fashionista even called Instagram “notoriously choosy concerning launch partners for any feature.”)
Social giants Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are all entering the competition for video ad dollars. Facebook started testing their first video ads with select advertisers in December 2103 and is now rolling out auto play video spots in their Newsfeed. Twitter has also recently release their Video Card product, which is still in beta for selected advertisers.
On Instagram, each sponsored image is preapproved and brands are thoroughly vetted. Video ads will be treated with equal care to ensure the ad “captures a lifestyle, not just a product.” Instagram’s leadership emphasizes that they don’t want the ads to become disruptive, but instead to remain true to the nature of the platform. They’ve capped the videos at 15 seconds – the same as normal user-generated video content (and the same as Facebook video ads).
Just because another advertising opportunity opens up in the social space doesn't mean that every brand should flock to it, of course. Still, a new study shows that brand ads on Instagram delivered 58 times more engagement per follower than Facebook – and 120 times more engagement per follower than Twitter, putting the brands who managed to snag a video ads spot in a very coveted position from a social marketing perspective.
Instagram: not everyone can join the ads club – but at least we can all enjoy the eye candy.
“We’re moving from a world where we plan campaigns for the future, to one where we adapt campaigns to the moment.” – Joel Lunenfeld, Twitter’s VP of Global Brand Strategy
Joel Lunenfeld makes a valid point. When brands think on their feet and react quickly, amazing things can happen. Remember the infamous Oreo tweet that was talked about around the world? The “Dunking in the dark” tweet that blew up the tweetisphere during the 2013 Super Bowl generated over 15,000 retweets and over 500MM earned impressions. (Source: 360i) Today, brands are increasingly trying to mimic what Oreo created by monitoring cultural events and looking for opportunities to create content “on the fly”.
Below are a few tips on how your brand can get set up for success:
1) Be relevant to your audience
In order for the content to resonate and deliver value to a user it must be relatable to the user. Brands need to make sure to research events ahead of time to see if that will appeal to your target audience. For example, during the Grammys, Arby’s noticed an opportunity to join the conversation and tweeted a clever tweet to Pharrell:
The tweet delivered over 80,000 retweets and 48,000 favorites. Also, Arby’s received even more exposure when Pharrell responded back playfully:
2) Preparation is Key
Creating strong content is one challenge but another equally as important challenge is to push it out quickly or it won’t be as impactful. In order to do this, you will need to establish a plan and process and delineate roles and responsibilities broken out by the following:
Monitor real-time moments
Content creators
Access to key people that need to sign off on approval
Having a full powered team is essential to be successful. Although, you can’t create content ahead of time, one of challenges you can overcome is prepping and putting together the right team to do the job.
3) Follow the Right People
Make sure to follow the handles and accounts of event sponsors, personalities, and performers during the event. These users will be posting content throughout the event from backstage to behind the scenes which give your brand the opportunity to reply or create content.
4) Listen to what the Community is Saying
In addition to monitoring real-time moments from the event, make sure to listen to what the community is saying. This can inspire content and opens up a dialogue between you and your audience.
The most crucial part is doing your research and having a game plan. Similar to a sporting event, you can’t be 100% sure of the outcome but you can prepare for what type of things may happen and try to strategize before they happen.
If you are a current SnapChat user, you may have received a special message from the company in early May. You watched the video and may been a bit perplexed...why are people SnapChatting each other…and keeping it? Now you can video chat and text message?
As SnapChat wrote on their blog, “Until today, we felt that Snapchat was missing an important part of conversation: presence. There’s nothing like knowing you have the full attention of your friend while you’re chatting.” Staying in tune with their normal proposition, messages by default will be deleted but if you want to keep anything, you can save or screenshot it by just tapping the screen.
Clearly, SnapChat felt like it had an opportunity to get involved with messaging, which seems to be a hot topic as of late, especially with Facebook’s $19B purchase of WhatsApp (and SnapChat declining to be purchased by the former for $3B). Other social channels have messaging functions with millions of Facebook users already utilizing Chat and Instagram adding a Direct Messaging function.
Although brands have not been able to capitalize yet, many see value in messaging. Users are constantly messaging their friends...the question is: how can brands get involved? Right now, without any advertising opportunities, brands can try to message individuals through the app with an exclusive offer or deal, especially now that they can save an offer with just the tap of a button. Additionally, they could message influencers through the app, giving them exclusive behind-the-scene looks from the brand. Would anyone really be surprised if Taco Bell, an early adopter of SnapChat, started messaging users to go out and try their latest Doritos Loco Taco?
It’s a fact of life that people love to talk about their favorite TV shows, especially when a cataclysmic event shatters an episode, which usually happens each week on Game of Thrones. When fans flock to social media to share their predictions, thoughts and reactions, many view Twitter as the undisputed platform of choice. With quick updates, trending hashtags for any type of TV viewer, and the ease of staying engaged, Twitter is a useful destination for any type of TV show discussion. However, a new study points out that Tumblr in fact may be the preferred platform for TV fanatics who are eager to not only share, but create content around the shows they love. According to AdAge, Tumblr commissioned Pulsar to perform the study, finding that the volume of social conversations on TV shows is far more substantial than on Twitter.
The study focused on four popular shows, during the fall/winter 2013 season: Pretty Little Liars, Sherlock, Sleepy Hollow, and Supernatural. Separately, the study also examined mentions for Malcolm in the Middle. The study revealed that 70% of social mentions on these shows happen on Tumblr over an astounding 11 day period, while Twitter only captured 30% of the mentions. Although Twitter captured a majority of the conversation when the show actually aired, the volume of mentions quickly diminished to 3% of the highest amount after just 12 hours following airing.
Why in fact is there such a disparity? TV shows capture a user’s imagination, and Tumblr is the platform where creative minds can take the stories and characters they love, and feature them in unique ways. Simple conversation about a show can easily evolve into passionate content creation. Tumblr thrives on visual content, especially GIFs and memes that can easily gain traction with fans of both well-known shows, and shows with a more niche audience. This type of unique content has more staying power than a simple tweet, which is usually fleeting and more real-time oriented. For a dedicated fan, Tumblr is the destination that provides long-term benefits and a place to pursue their artistic vision, while reliving the key moments from a favorite episode. Casual fans can easily enjoy this creative content because it captures their shared experience. For many dedicated TV fans, it’s easy to think back on an amazing episode days after it aired, and contemplate what’s coming next or behind the scenes. However, posting days later on Twitter may not be top of mind for many users, and it lacks relevancy on the platform. More and more users have decided to explore Tumblr for a near limitless stream of TV content.
It remains beneficial for entertainment brands to focus on Twitter to drive audience awareness and tune-in, but Tumblr should not be overlooked. With so many opportunities to engage with dedicated fans who are also content creators, Tumblr is an ideal destination for innovative, TV-centric content that can inspire fans to create their own content. For this reason, we strongly encourage brands to consider the value of Tumblr for upcoming initiatives.
King Joffery may have been dethroned this season (spoiler alert!), but Facebook still remains king of the social media kingdom. Some brands have taken the liberty upon themselves to leave Facebook, due to the recent algorithm changes and fluctuations in organic reach. Others have continued to keep their Facebook presence alive and thrive with content and campaigns. The latter, in my opinion, are the ones taking advantage of the immense opportunity that Facebook provides for brands.
Here are the three reasons why Facebook continues to be a relevant platform:
A Drastic Amount Users: With over 1 billion users on the platform, one can argue that “everyone” in on Facebook. Realistically, 67% of Internet users in the U.S. are on Facebook. In European markets, penetration is even higher (82% in the U.K.) Facebook is also the most popular social media app on smartphones and accounts for 66% of total social media sharing on iPhones
Reach Among Young Adults is Unmatched: There have been rumors around the social media water cooler that teens are leaving the platform. However, a recent Harvard Institute of Politics survey revealed a stark majority of participants were members of Facebook, but less than half of had accounts with other social media sites such as Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram.
Advanced Advertising Platform: Lets face it, nothing compares to Facebook when it comes to targeting capabilities. While Twitter is playing catch up (and quickly, especially with the release of TV ad targeting), the amount of different targeting sets an advertiser can leverage on Facebook is unparalleled in the space.
We know the social landscape is changing, but for the foreseeable future, Facebook remains the place your brand needs to be.
April's The Social: Trends of SXSW, Facebook Video, "The Kiss", And More
Birds are chirping, flowers and blooming and April's edition of The Social is here for your reading pleasure!
This month, we discuss the hottest of the hot in social. From strangers sharing their first smooch to the most popular trends at SXSW - we've covered it all.
The Secret Behind Secret - 45 Days of Success
Twitter Testing Promoted Accounts on Desktop Timelines
Facebook Video Re-Launched
Between Two Ferns with Barack Obama
NEW: Viral Video of the Month - The Kiss
Satire or Startup? Hoax Apps
SXSW Trends: Put It On Then Take It Off
See up to the minute social news in our ‘In The News’ section HERE.
Read previous month’s issues HERE.
If you would like your question answered in the Social Soup for the Media Soul section next month, click or HERE to send us your questions!
Secrets, secrets are so fun. Secrets, secrets… are the latest genre of apps flooding the market! Secret, one of the latest anonymous message sharing apps, has generated a ton of buzz in its short time in the market. The 45-day-old (now 62) service joined the likes of Whisper, Mark Cuban’s Cyber Dust, Glimpse and Omlet.me among the most talked about anonymous-based apps at SXSW.
This wave follows a rising tide of social media paranoia triggered by acceptance that nothing is truly private. Seemingly, any shared message, picture or content is likely resting comfortably in a remote server, just waiting to be plucked by inquiring authorities.
People are demanding privacy, so app developers are supplying it, and some of the Silicon Valley heavy hitters are entering the arena. Secret co-founders, David Byttow (Square Cash, Google Wave and Google+) and Chrys Bader-Wechseler (YouTube and Google+), are using their experience to create the latest iteration in social networking. Secret was released privately within Silicon Valley in Dec. 13 where it generated praise and, in turn, funding.
To sign up for Secret, you only provide your phone number and email (But that’s some serious info?!). A user can post text over an image where it is shared anonymously among your phone contacts that are also on Secret. So, you likely KNOW the person sending the message but don’t know WHO it is. If a post is particularly popular, it is passed to friends of friends (of friends) and so on.
In its infancy, Secret has raised $8.6 million from angel investors without awarding seats on their board. The longer established Whisper has raised $56 million to date. For comparison, early reviews show Whisper skewing heavily to 18-24-year-olds with more meme-like, attention-getting type content whereas Secret has a cleaner design geared toward actual personal messages/confessions/complaints. Secret’s portrayal makes sense considering until recently, only those in the Silicon Valley tech circles were on Secret.
Secret released a few engagement numbers to show off its addictive nature: “75 percent of people with more than five friends come back every day, and 90 percent of users who engage in a conversation come back within the week, often several times per day.”
Internet renegades, Edward Snowden and Julian Assange both spoke at SXSW via live broadcast about the issues surrounding internet privacy and government transparency. Snowden characterized the current state of affairs as “mass surveillance is setting fire to the future of the Internet," and Assange described it as “the military occupation of the Internet space." Is this new generation of apps truly capable of averting surveillance?
It will be fascinating to see the path human nature takes on these new platforms. Will Secret prove a haven for creative expression devoid of invasive oversight via anonymity? Or will it turn into a digital bathroom stall and suffer the same fate as the late Juicy Campus? In Secret’s Silicon Valley trial run, there were reports of a married VC outing himself as gay and employees complaining about their bosses. It appears people will naturally head for personal information on these forums, especially Whisper where it seems to be further in the gutter. No accountability and detection could open Pandora’s Box.
It’s yet to be determined how brands will maneuver in this new social space. Facebook has finally hit its stride with effective targeted ads, offering every piece of personal information available on a profile to brands. In other words, everything Secret, Whisper and its like-minded apps prevent.
Already though, Secret has their first spotting of brand interaction. It has been confirmed that Gap has a profile and sent out a message anonymously (see below). Gap is known for adopting new social networks, being the first brand to join Instagram and Vine. This new frontier will be a major challenge in developing a message and tone capable of strengthening a brand.
The pendulum of social media trends creates polarizing debates over fundamental issues like identification vs. anonymity. Some value the safety created by a social space where all are held accountable while other prioritize the freedom from surveillance above all else. Let the debate rage on.
Twitter Testing Promoted Accounts on Desktop Timelines
BY JOSH PETERS
Twitter is currently testing, with an eye on launching, promoted accounts directly into the desktop timelines. This feature is already available on mobile (since there are no sidebars) and the suggested users sections have been around for a while, but this is the first time promoted posts will be in-stream.
So far Twitter has tested three different promoted account types with varying features. One is basically the bio of the account laid out to look more like a tweet with a large Follow button. Another is an actual tweet with the same large Follow button in the lower right hand corner. The last is just the name of the account and a large Follow button and to see more info you have to click on it.
No word yet which of these will end up being the final product that gets rolled out, but if these options were porridge the first one would be Baby Bear's; just right. The one that's the tweet is too hot, it looks like something it's not and could cause confusion. The one with just the name is too cold and has no info or CTA just a name, picture and large Follow button till clicked on (warmed up).
This is a move that makes perfect sense for Twitter and with it being on mobile for quite a while now it's a wonder this wasn't done sooner. Though in another twist to this story it comes alongside the desktop redesign that makes it more like the mobile experience.
Beyond the obvious this is interesting because it displays the shifting mindset of Mobile first. Instead of bringing desktop functionality to it's mobile product it's doing the exact opposite. Instead of making it's mobile product look and behave more like it's desktop it's going the other route.
It's a neat new feature, but an even better analogy of the industry as a whole.
Facebook video is a premium video product that auto-plays without sound upon being served within users’ newsfeed. The release of this product, which has been rumored since last August , launched with Summit Entertainment for the film release of Divergent back in December. In response to running this one campaign, Facebook decided to pull the product from the market for further testing and is just now gearing up for a two-phased (re)launch. First with a small group of advertisers from mid-April to mid-May, with the expectation of a full release come May.
While auto-play video on Facebook has become commonplace with videos posted directly through the platform or shared from Instagram, this video unit is unique as it’s served as a carousel of three videos. The first video is a :15 and auto-plays without sound until users select to turn on the sound. The next two videos can run up to 20 minutes (or 1 GB) each, are click-to-play and accessed by swiping/clicking to the side.
There are a few key features to Facebook video that truly distinguish it from the roster of other Facebook ad products. First, the ad is bought on a Nielsen OCR guaranteed audience. The specific target will be determined with Facebook on a campaign-by-campaign basis, though follows standard comScore breaks ranging from A13+. Only one advertiser per day will be able to run Facebook video to this audience. Second, there is a lengthy creative review process which involves being approved by Facebook and a panel-based third party company, Ace Metrix, and can take up to 30 days prior to launch to approve videos for the campaign. Last, the flight is for one day only. There is the potential to capture data on users engaging with the campaign videos (Facebook is still confirming specific attributes upon which these custom audiences can be built), for use in retargeting or look-alike efforts in future Facebook campaigns applied to the advertiser’s section of any ad product and flight duration.
How does it differ from the 2013 version?
Consumer-facing, the product will appear similarly, though there are a few updates on the backend for advertisers. The version which launched in Q4 2013 was bought on unique reach within large audience segments. Currently the ad is being sold on a guaranteed number of GRP’s, defined as reach (of audience being purchased) * frequency (as vetted by Nielsen) / total US population (of audience being purchased).
Another major overhaul from the first round is where Facebook will commit to serving the video, as only about half of devices and browsers can properly render the auto-play functionality. The ad will still run across desktop, mobile and tablet, though reach expectations will be lower than when previously sold. This is in exchange for ensuring the user experience is correct for anyone who is exposed to the ad. Frequency has also been adjusted from 1.7 to 2.1; a minimum of 3 :15’s is required to launch the campaign, so users will see the first :15 ad creative only once.
What’s the roll out plan?
There will be a short window from mid-April through mid-May where so called ‘select advertisers’ have the opportunity to run first. This group of advertisers is likely those that signed IO’s in Q4 last year and inevitably had to cancel based on the product launch date being pushed until now. Facebook is currently fielding interest in the product and expects to open up to all advertisers after mid-May.
What advertisers are right for Facebook video?
Overall this product delivers on reach within a short timeframe and is more directly applicable to advertisers looking for a high impact such as for film releases, TV premieres and product launches.
For other advertisers, this ‘one and done’ media commitment is less of a clear fit – especially in light of the high minimum cost commitment. That said there is an opportunity to capture and build a custom audience target of users who have engaged with the video ad for the purpose of retargeting or building look-alikes for use in future Facebook campaigns (Facebook is in the process of defining the specific attributes which custom audiences can be built off of). These custom audience targets can then be applied across any ad product and spent at an advertiser determined budget level and flight. The jury is still out on whether custom audiences will perform better than other Facebook targeting available, though could enable advertisers to narrow in on users who have at one point expressed interest (by way of watching videos or possibly even sharing) in the brand for the purpose of re-messaging or finding additional new audiences that look like these consumers for greater, and could be thought of as qualified, reach with the brand’s video content.
