Facebook launches video ads product; taps TV advertising revenues

Facebook, the social media giant, took a giant leap in its advertising mediums with the launch of its video ads product. The launch is seen as an attempt by the social media to gain a strong foothold in the television video marketing segment. After its $19 billion WhatsApp acquisition, the social networking behemoth‘s latest move can be interpreted as an opportunity to tap into the video ads marketing revenues.

The marketing spots, which are of 15 second duration, are being offered to a select clientele of US vendors. It is expected to be incorporated in the news feed by late April or early May. Facebook is capitalizing its huge user base to generate revenue by showing high quality and high target ads. The television ad market is often considered to be of high net worth and very lucrative. Research conducted globally has shown that marketers spend at least 60 per cent of their budget on TV ads.

This latest move also highlights the shifting trend in Facebook’s ad methodology. Previously, they used to roll out changes in a fast mode with little or no time for user feedback.  In this case, the company took time to make this product, to avoid the risk of getting very negative feedback. In addition, Facebook has streamlined its ad operations to make it easier for advertisers to manage,measure and optimize their ad campaigns.

Brian Boland, Facebook’s vice president of ads product marketing, said, “In the past we’ve done more stuff to just ship things quickly and see what happens in the market. Now, instead of just throwing something out there, we’re making sure that we’re getting it right first.” The length of an average TV commercial is about 15 seconds and Facebook video ad product is also of the same length.

The ads are being priced at a hefty $1 million to $2 million a day, though there is no official confirmation. Tim Rathschmidt, Facebook spokesperson has stated that Facebook users won’t see one of the ads in their news feeds more than three times a day. The response to the rollout is expected to be phenomenal as Facebook has readymade global audience of millions for advertisers. It is perfectly suited for movie launches and sports events.

The launch is to be beneficial for both advertisers and Facebook. It will bring is huge revenues for Facebook and give advertisers a target reach of approximately 90 percent.

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