Welcome to another week of Click Through Reads! This week is all about the new new. New Facebook reporting, new LinkedIn targeting, new Facebook ad placements.
New is something I wish there was more of when it came to entertainment options in my quarantine life. Have you seen the popular shows on Netflix lately? Tiger King I can get behind, but I sat through over a minute of a song about dung beetles while watching “Absurd Planet” before I realized sleep was a better option than TV. I appreciate their part in our ecosystem, but even the dung beetles thought that was...well, you know. Let’s get into the news!
Top News
Facebook Ads Reporting: Facebook is rolling out a new feature in ad accounts. Performance alerts will help raise attention to campaigns, ad sets, or ads that have had big shifts from the average for the following metrics: amount spent, cost per result, results, impressions, and reach. You can turn these alerts off, but they could be beneficial to seeing big swings in the account you may have otherwise missed.
Facebook Ad Placements: Facebook is expanding its test of in-stream ads in Facebook Live to more verticals. Until now, FB has been testing this only with gaming developers live streams. Now it’s rolling out into more verticals (entertainments, news, sports). When watching Live content from a creator included in the test, viewers can see ads in the following formats:
A pre-roll ad that runs before the live stream
An image ad that appears below the live stream
A mid-roll ad that plays in the main video player during the live stream while the broadcast continues playing in a shrunken window
LinkedIn Ads Targeting: LinkedIn ads rolled out new targeting options that use data from Forbes, Fortune, and LinkedIn to allow you to target companies by growth rate or company category. Lists such as “Forbes World’s Most Innovative Companies” and “Fortune Global 500 (Worldwide)” are now available for targeting, and LinkedIn will continue to innovate new targeting options for advertisers.
Brand Marketing During the Pandemic: Some businesses have reduced spend on or entirely diminished brand campaigns as a knee-jerk reaction to COVID-19. However, now might be the best time for brand campaigns. While competition is lower, there’s more ad space available with lower CPMs. You still want to stay top of mind, especially since people are spending more time online. Plus, if you aren’t defending your brand terms, that’s an opportunity for your competitors to come in and poach traffic from you more easily.
Make sure messaging is relevant to these times. Tread carefully with how you’re talking to consumers and be sensitive to the current pandemic.
Video Advertising: With so many people stuck at home, many are turning to video content for a variety of topics. There’s a good chance your audience is on there as well. Those who are already advertising on YouTube have seen a drop in their CPVs and CPMs, meaning other advertisers are pulling back on their video ads and there’s more inventory available.
If you’ve ever considered video advertising, now is a great time to test it out.
