Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Facebook Messenger ads are coming

Facebook Messenger is about to become a lot more promotional.

On Tuesday, the company announced that it would expand its beta tests of Messenger ads to marketers worldwide, following “promising tests in Australia and Thailand.”

The feature, which will accompany the chatbots and Snapchat-like stories that already infiltrate Messenger, should please brand managers. It represents another opportunity to reach consumers and boost sales.

Facebook’s blog post read in part:

This means businesses of every size get a new tool for creating meaningful connections with customers and prospects. More than 1.2 billion people use Messenger every month, which gives marketers an opportunity to expand the reach of their campaigns and drive more results.

In its blog post, Facebook explained how the ads work:

People will see Messenger ads in the home tab of their Messenger mobile app. When they tap on an ad, they will be sent to the destination chosen during ads creation. This can be your website or a Messenger conversation.

Messenger ads will be available in Ads Manager and Power Editor. If you're using automatic placements, Messenger is included for all supported campaign objectives. Like Audience Network, Messenger ads are an additional placement option when businesses run ads on Facebook. Advertisers will be able to add Messenger to campaigns using the Traffic and Conversion objectives on July 11, with more options like the App Installs objective coming soon.

Marketers can already open conversations with potential or current customers and manage those conversations. They can also engage with consumers they have previously courted using advertising options that Facebook is offering through its Messenger app.

Messenger ads will also become an important revenue source for Facebook.

The Guardian reported:

Facebook gets about 85% of its ad revenue from mobile, but advertising through the main Facebook app is expected to cool off this year, meaning that multiple revenue streams from separate platforms are becoming more important.

The move brings opportunities to marketing pros, but many users are groaning over the upcoming feature.

 

 

Journalists vehemently dislike the new feature and its design.

Fast Company’s write up about Messenger ads is titled, “Ugh. Facebook Messenger will soon start showing you ads with your messages” and TechCrunch’s Devin Coldewey headlined his piece, "Facebook Messenger ads are bad and must be destroyed.”

Though the ads are in a trial period, it’s unlikely that they will go away simply because users complain.

Engadget’s Jon Fingas wrote:

Messenger product lead Stan Chudnovsky tells VentureBeat that it's a simple matter of income: advertising is "how we're going to be making money right now." There are "other business models" under consideration, he says, but they all tie into ads. In short: don't expect Facebook to have second thoughts as long as it's making billions of dollars in profit from ads.

Though ads aren’t leaving Facebook’s products anytime soon, the platform will probably do its best to target promoted messages to users, so it feels more like a shopping suggestion rather than an intrusive banner shoved in the middle of your conversations.

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Fingas wrote:

Facebook does care about the kinds of ads you see. While it's fine with ads kicking you to a website, it would prefer that ads lead to chats with businesses. You're more likely to respond to an ad if it takes you to another conversation inside the chat app, Chudnovsky says. The question is whether or not people will simply roll with the changes or balk at them. It's entirely likely that people will just shrug and move on, but there is a chance this could steer some users toward ad-free alternatives.

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