Facebook’s new ad format outperforms standard ads
A new study has shown that Facebook’s new ad format outperforms the social networking site’s standard adverts by over 200%. By Darren Hamer, Managing Director UK, EyeTrackShop
Following a disastrous IPO where the share price collapsed soon after the social networking giant went public, one of the great challenges that Facebook must now address if it’s to please its otherwise disappointed shareholders, is how to effectively monetise on its links to its one billion (and growing) users.
Given the enormous number of users that the company serves, online advertising seems an obvious route, yet there are a range of challenges that today’s advertising needs to overcome – from user attention, effective measurement, context and device fragmentation.
One approach saw the launch, in October last year, of Facebook’s new Page Post Ad format – which shows each ad directly in a user’s news-feed, side-by-side with posts from friends. The new format proved enormously successful.
Using webcams, EyeTrackShop tracked gaze patterns on Facebook pages featuring the new ads. In five online visual performance studies, independent of each other, our participants took the surveys from their own homes without knowing the subject of the test.
Results from the five visual performance studies show that the Facebook Page Post Ad attracts 92% of a user’s gaze; a visibility 200% higher compared to the Facebook Standard Ad, which only 46% of users see.
Our other visual performance studies have shown that up half of all online ad impressions are never looked at. Whether or not an advert has been seen could – and arguably should – be set to become the new metric for digital advertising. For the first time brands can ensure online advertising is sold on the basis of its true capability.
When our study compared pricing to the visual performance, the Facebook Page Post Ad had a significantly lower Cost per Visual (CPV – the cost per thousand views, that can be compared to cost per thousand impressions or CPM) than an average online display advert.
That means that Facebook can prove that the cost of a Facebook Page Post Ad is only 30% of the average online display ad, making Facebook an untapped potential for brand advertisers. By providing advertisers with this sort of hard data about which adverts have been seen and where, our platform provides a planning tool for accurate digital planning and buying decisions.
It could fundamentally change both pricing and sales structure in the digital advertising market, and means that no brand will ever have to pay for unseen ad space again.