Tapping into the largest online social network can be advantageous for advertisers attempting to grow their brand and develop a strong digital footprint. Advertising on mobile devices only enables advertisers to reach users more efficiently. I will outline the benefits derived from placing advertisements on the mobile newsfeed and Facebook’s Audience Network only.
Facebook announced in July 2016 that had 1.71 billion monthly active users, of which 1.57 billion were mobile users. This was the first time in the social network’s history that one billion users accessed the service on mobile devices on a daily basis. According to Facebook’s Q2 2016 report, of these users, approximately 57 percent of them access the network from mobile devices only.
Because the majority of Facebook users access the network via mobile devices, targeting mobile users can give advertisers cost advantages over their competitors who are placing advertisements on desktop. Unlike Search Engine Marketing (SEM) platforms that charge on a pay-per-click (CPC) model, Facebook largely operates on cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) based pricing model. By placing ads on mobile devices only, advertisers can get more “bang for their buck” by reaching more active users. This, in turn, can improve delivery and efficiency by driving stronger CPC and CPM. Facebook also announced in Q1 2016 that mobile ads accounted for 79 percent of all revenue on the platform.
Placing ads on Facebook’s Audience Network can also be a great way to drive quality top-of-funnel traffic to your site at a low cost. The Audience Network allows advertisers to place ads beyond a user’s newsfeed and right-hand column and extend their audience reach to mobile applications, mobile websites, and instant articles. Ads placed on the Audience Network appear in banner and native format.
There are several limitations to placing advertisements on the Audience Network. The first being that advertisers cannot choose where exactly their ads are run on the Audience Network (although advertisers can choose to exclude ads on sites affiliated with dating, gambling, politics, or religion), and that the Audience Network doesn’t typically drive bottom-of-funnel traffic and conversion. A strategy that has been very effective for me in the past is to drive user acquisition via Audience Network placements to drive strong CPC and CPM, and then to retarget site visitors via mobile devices with newsfeed placements to drive sales.
