Facebook has lately hinted at a more open approach to its ad platforms, and agencies are buoyant about the prospect of managing their Facebook buys alongside display, search, and other channels. But it’s early days.
The Facebook Exchange is evidence of this open attitude, as is the porting of Facebook ad buys onto Zynga’s owned and operated websites.
But when it comes to native Facebook ads, many marketers still tend to view those campaigns as a walled garden. We reached out to some top agency sources to weigh in on the question:
“Given the closed nature of Facebook advertising, how do you make it work with other channels?”
Click below or scroll to read their responses.
- Shane Atchison, CEO, Possible Worldwide
- Jack Bamberger, President of Digital, North America, MEC
- Christian Juhl, President of West Region, Razorfish
- Yolanda Lam, SVP, Digital Group Client Director, MediaVest
Shane Atchison, CEO, Possible Worldwide
We’ve found that an investment in Facebook advertising is best spent when it’s been intelligently integrated within a brand’s broader digital marketing approach and not simply used as a low cost reach tactic. Before the first ad goes live, marketers need to have a clear vision, plus associated performance metrics, for how the ads should be supporting the brand’s overall strategic goals.
The other thing to keep in mind is that Facebook is more of a venue for people-watching rather than a traditional, consumption-focused marketplace. So while you should be able to get in front of the right people, it may not be when these folks are necessarily in any sort of purchase cycle.
In theory, the new Facebook Exchange platform will address this issue, by allowing marketers to bring consumer data from outside of Facebook – for instance, if a person was checking deals on a travel site – into the Facebook setting, thus allowing brands to more effectively zero in on the best prospects. The new Facebook Exchange platform is a perfect example of how CRMs have transitioned from a traditional relationship management system, with one-way communication and being very impersonal with a lack of true engagement, to a social CRM, where there is a conversation taking place between companies and customers, experiences are being shared and interaction is happening.
To date, it has been difficult to compare Facebook advertising to other channels in terms of direct response performance, but the introduction of Facebook Ad Exchange will begin to change the landscape. For the first time, advertisers can compare the performance of the social network with other ad exchange inventory and properly assess Facebook’s value.
AdExchanger Daily
Get our editors’ roundup delivered to your inbox every weekday.
Daily Roundup
Although the absence of IAB standard creative on Facebook prevents marketers from conducting a true apples-to-apples test, the ability to employ the same business rules and data strategies applied to other RTB inventory will provide a much stronger comparison than previously possible.
While there are data limitations, we work with our partners to tag and track every possible element within Facebook (e.g. applications) and integrate social data into attribution analyses to better assess the impact of social activities.
Limited impression tracking remains a challenge. But as Facebook continues to evolve, it may be necessary for the social network to increase flexibility in this area, in order to fuel the continued business growth so vital to the company’s future success.
Christian Juhl, President of West Region, Razorfish
Facebook is trying to change the formula of digital advertising. We have long worked with them to understand what types of data is available to integrate campaigns across multiple channels. We are currently one a few partners working on Facebook Exchange. Our partnership is providing further value to our advertisers as we seek to increase the value of fans and brand interaction.
What continues to be important is integrating content, brand, technology and strategy with a Facebook, or any, media buy. While the data we can overlay into the Facebook environment isn’t as discreet as some other partners, with good strategy, content, and customer insight we are able to create well integrated experiences across all touch points.
Yolanda Lam, SVP, Digital Group Client Director, MediaVest
Facebook is a platform that enables our brands to communicate differently than other traditional means like display, TV, or search. The focus on Facebook is social and connections and we set different key performance indicators for different channel experiences. At the center of this is data & analytics. While Facebook historically shares limited data outside of their own ecosystem, what they do share has improved over time. The fact that they do not accept IAB standards is a message to the marketplace that this is not a platform to broadcast passive brand messages but rather, a living, breathing community that requires different planning principles that is well beyond paid media activation.
-By Zach Rodgers
More AdExchanger “Industry Reactions”…
- Can It Be Done? Local, Direct, Automated Ads
- The Impact Of No More Third-Party Cookie Targeting In Firefox
- House Ads – What Are They Good For?
- What is "Premium"?
- When Is A Startup No Longer A Startup?
- Why Is Procurement Necessary?
- Agency CEOs: 2013 Planning Is About Mobile Integration
- Can You Build a Brand in Programmatic Media?
- How Do Native Advertising and Real-Time Bidding Meet?
- Why Target The Tablet?
- The Publisher Impact Of Facebook Exchange And Ad Network
- Agencies Upbeat on Tying Facebook to Cross-Channel Ads
- Are Advertisers Living the Dream of Unified Marketing and IT?
- What Next For Yahoo?
- What Counts as 'Scale' in Hyperlocal? Mobile Ad Players Weigh In
- Facebook Buys Instagram – What’s In It For Ads?
- Are Ad Servers Specifically For Publishers Or Advertisers Still Necessary?
- How Will The iPad 3 Impact Audience Buying Available Through The iPad?
- Will The Merger Of DDS And MediaBank Into Mediaocean Benefit Media Buying?
- Will SSPs and Ad Networks Sell Publisher Inventory Through DoubleClick Ad Exchange?
- The Industry 'Take' On SAS Acquiring aiMatch
- Industry Impressions Of Facebook Display Advertising
- What Are The Hurdles In Cross-Digital, Audience Buying?
- When Is A Mobile, Private Exchange Relevant To A Marketer's Needs?
- Your Ad Server, My Ad Server: Trends With Discrepancies Today
- The Opportunities Ahead For New Yahoo! CEO Scott Thompson – Industry Reaction
- Predictions 2012
- Industry Reaction: Adobe Acquires Efficient Frontier
- Yahoo! Requiring RMX Seats For DSP Advertisers
- Yahoo!, Aol And Microsoft Pool Their Premium, Non-Guaranteed Display Inventory
- Whats The Biggest Challenge With Platform Buying In Digital Today?
- Industry Reaction: Yahoo! Acquires interclick For $270 Million
- How Important Is -First Look- At Inventory?
- Where Does The Tablet Fit In The Marketer Media Plan?
- MediaBank-DDS Merger Industry Reaction: Questions Remain About MediaOcean
- Is An Online GRP Needed For Online Video Advertising?
- What Should Yahoo Do Next?
- What Solutions Are Still Needed For The Premium, Digital Publisher of Today?
- How Do Search Marketers Overcome The Creative Challenge In Graphical, Display Advertising?
- What Is The Difference Between A Social Display Impression And A Regular Display Impression?
- Is Audience Buying Possible In Mobile Advertising?
- What Are The Key Metrics For Brand Awareness Campaigns In An Automated Buying Environment?
- What Is The Biggest Challenge With The Demand-Side Platform Model?
