Facebook: ‘Advertisers yet to get creative and science chemistry right’
Festival of Marketing: Advertisers need to put as much effort into creating high quality ads on Facebook as they are into understanding the science of engaging their fans if they are to make the social network’s ads work harder, according to regional director for the UK and Ireland Steve Hatch.
Speaking in the ‘Social media’s role in your marketing strategy’ session today (13 November) at The Festival of Marketing, Hatch told delegates the secret to “good [creative] work” on the platform was the same as it was with other traditional advertising channels such as TV.
“There’s a tsunami of content out there to cut through for a thimble of attention,” he said. “It’s the biggest challenge for marketers using Facebook and also in the wider media landscape.
“In the past, there would be loads of ‘thank god it’s Friday’ [executions] on the network but now we’re beginning to see a lot more compelling and carefully crafted content.”
But advertisers could do more. There is no excuse for text-heavy posts and generic ad creative when the tools are readily accessible to produce high-quality, timely creative that is capable of cutting through the clutter, he added. In exchange, the social network is rewarding the more creative efforts with greater exposure in users’ News Feeds.
Facebook’s call to action aims to convince advertisers to serve more video to their fans as well as get them used to the idea of producing smarter photography for when it finally launches full-scale ads on Instagram. It calls for a more “nuanced” and “sophisticated” approach, according to the social network, one that has to be well-planned in order to expect business results.
“Brands are beginning to see elements of success [from Facebook ads] on their business objectives,” says Hatch.
The business has introduced several ad formats and analytics tools over the last 18 months in the hope of proving the commercial benefits of social media marketing that marketers so far have been reluctant to believe. Most recent is the relaunch of its Atlas ad server which identifies an impression on any device and then targets specific individuals as the technology tracks logged in Facebook users as they move around the web.
Comments