Facebook’s Dynamic Ads – a format the social network introduced last year – is available as of Tuesday on both Instagram and the Facebook Audience Network. (More on the Facebook blog.)
Basically, Dynamic Ads lets advertisers promote products to their highest-value prospects as they navigate Facebook (and now Instagram) properties.
Facebook claims that more than 2.5 billion unique product posts have been uploaded to its platform to date. Dynamic Ads partner Criteo has 5,000 clients using the format and claims it’s seeing 10-15% sales increases by activating the format.
Hooking Dynamic Ads into Instagram lets advertisers access the 60% of Instagram consumers who use the platform for discovery. Facebook claims 75% of Instagram users say they’ve “taken an action” after being inspired by a post.
Advertisers also can retarget Facebook users on Instagram and deliver personalized content to people across both platforms, according to a Facebook spokesperson.
“Instagram has been focused on being a premium ad product, very glossy and very gated to advertisers and Facebook,” said Rebecca Lieb, former Altimeter Group analyst and principal at advisory firm Conglomotron, adding that Facebook’s dynamic retargeting capability changes Instagram’s position to advertisers.
But she adds a caveat: “I think they’ll need to be very cautious about the customer experience [on Instagram], which originated from aspirational photography. As we all know, retargeting can be extraordinarily precise, but it can be [a] very blunt-force instrument. I think Facebook will need to monitor how customers are responding to the experience.”
Bits And Pieces
Facebook is also expanding Dynamic Ads on Facebook to specific verticals – starting with travel brands –. via a new product called Dynamic Ads for Travel.
Dynamic Ads for Travel will initially be available on Facebook, before rolling out to Instagram and the Audience Network in the months to come.
The product originated when brands like Marriott and Trivago began using a customized vertical solution which was necessary because the industry deals with on-the-go consumers who need information in real-time.
Facebook has also updated Custom Audiences by adding new rules and metrics that help identify high-value consumers (i.e., a person who visits a retailer website once a week versus one who is more likely to make a purchase in the next 30 days).
Measuring based on what Facebook calls “advanced behavior criteria” lets advertisers get metrics that are more precise than, say, web page visits. Thus, marketers can better understand how much interest and demand for their products truly exist.
With the update, marketers can for instance measure based on the total amount a person has spent, or zero in on specific windows of time where a consumer demonstrated intent to convert.
