Facebook has come a long way since its debut in 2004, especially when it comes to the Facebook Advertising platform. Facebook has almost singlehandedly turned paid social media marketing into a cornerstone of modern digital marketing tactics.
In the next year, we can all expect Facebook to evolve in deeper ways. This evolution includes new features and shifts in the way businesses will be able to use Facebook ads to reach prospects.
Let’s explore the most important Facebook advertising trends for 2018. With them, you can improve your marketing funnel and hopefully find more leads than ever in the coming year.
The Importance of Facebook Video Ads
Mobile audiences eat up video more hungrily than ever. Altogether, Facebook users watch over 100 million hours of video a day. As a result of their demand and because of improvements in video players, we have seen an explosion in both paid and organic video content. On average, videos on Facebook get 135% more organic reach than photos.
Your business can potentially improve both its organic reach and engagement on paid posts by creating more promotional assets as videos. Making the switch does not have to be expensive or painful either.
With just a few Facebook video ads, you can improve engagement and prospecting. Using video will also help people remember your messaging. Studies show that people remember video almost seven-times better than they do text.
More Diverse Ad Types
In addition to video ads, Facebook has been quietly diversifying their ad inventory. Marketers and small business owners can use these ad formats to accomplish specific business goals. Understanding and taking advantage of these Ad Types will be a large key to success.
- Carousel ads can use multiple images, multiple offers, or multiple USPs in one go, providing a richer experience and a more compelling CTA.
- Slideshow ads use lightweight video to load faster and intrude less on the browsing experience. They can be a great transition for small businesses looking to create more video.
- Collection ads allow users to browse through multiple products or informational pages in-app. This grows awareness while generating less friction compared to an outbound link.
- Canvas mobile Facebook ad formats transform your ad from a single video or image into a full screen, scrolling experience. Use them to showcase high-quality assets or nurture prospects further along in the buy cycle.
- Dynamic ads can use a single ad template to promote several products or create customized pitches for different segments. These ads maximize relevance and returns while helping you perform A/B tests more quickly.
- Link ads include a prominent, customizable CTA button to direct prospects to a landing page or offer. They encourage action, thereby increasing conversions.
- Lead ads incorporate a lead capture form directly in the app! We’ll explain the significance of this ad type and similar formats below.
Facebook Likes To Keep People On The Facebook Platform
Ad formats like lead ads and collection ads keep audiences in-app as they interact with your brand.
For instance, lead ads pull up a lead capture form in-app and auto-populates it with information from the user’s Facebook profile. This feature dramatically reduces friction in your marketing funnel, encouraging more prospects to convert, thanks to the simpler process. You also reduce the number of needed assets by getting rid of certain landing pages.
Because of these abilities, Hubspot asserts that Lead ads can “skyrocket conversion rates and make mobile ads more effective for B2B marketers.” Understanding Facebook’s goals for their user experience will enable you to get the most out of your Facebook advertising budget.
Paid Advertising Increases (As Organic Reach Nosedives)
Facebook made waves when they announced that they were experimenting with a newsfeed that contained zero organic branded posts. All of this content would be moved to a separate “Explore” feed. If Facebook implements this change globally, then all branded Facebook Pages will see their organic reach tank.
