Why Facebook Ads Spell Do or Die in Ad Spend

Nothing compares to watching an athlete hit his prime for
the first time. They combine all the
years of training, talent, technique and hard work into one impressive
performance. It is there on the big stage, greatness is either claimed or mistakes
are made and it’s lost forever. With the highly anticipated release of Facebook
ads, all eyes are on Zuckerberg to solve this puzzle and push Facebook into its
prime.

As the population is now counting a little north of one billion,
Facebook video ads are finally rolling us into an age where social media is
maturing. The upside of ads in the
digital space is that they provide more targeting options and feedback on users’
behavior than ads viewed on TV.

With the introduction of Facebook video ads there lies an
opportunity for advertisers and businesses to:

1.Target specific customer segments
around the world on a highly targeted and engaging platform

2. Get the feedback on their experience
in REAL TIME

3. Improve the ad based on the data they
get back OR have the chance to play different versions of the ad (A/B testing)

4. Serve up the ads when certain events/actions
trigger them

Rocky road ahead

The question of whether or not the ads will be annoying is quick to come up, as
well as the question of how they will be delivered. Will they autoplay? Why
would users want to click on them? How can we cut down the loading time for
mobile? This is the puzzle that Zuckerberg and his developers will have to
solve. Facebook has to roll the dice and
look at the feedback data after the ads roll out.

In the beginning, just like with any change, Facebook users
will get annoyed. But will they be annoyed enough to leave Facebook? I doubt
it. Additionally, the ads won’t be for any business, since the price tag to
reach the whole audience is 2 million a day (less if segmented). However if
Zuckerberg is successful, it will be interesting to see if Facebook will eventually
roll out an affordable solution for small businesses. The first couple of
campaigns will need to be selected carefully, as they will either create or
destroy the confidence of potential business.

Final Verdict

Facebook video ads may be the game changer we’ve been waiting for (we are definitely
not your everyday Facebook users) in social media world. Zuckerberg is right to be cautious about unrolling
the ads, since user experience in viewing and wanting to view the ad will play
a big difference. If this works out, we’ll
see the start of discussions about moving more ad budget to digital in general
and social media specifically. So, make it count Mark.