TV Like Video Ads Now Possible on Facebook


09/28/2015



In the hope of unlocking big advertiser spend, Facebook would now allow advertiser buy ad spaces for video advertisements in a way similar to how the advertisers book TV ads now. Facebook is soon to launch a new product for this purpose.

The advertisement product would be based on the what TV advertisers now use - the Gross Rating Points (GRPs.)

Since the 1950s, GRPs have been used for TV ad planning and measurement. Other "traditional" advertising media like radio, print, and billboards also make use of GRP. It allows advertisers to measure the reach and frequency of an ad campaign among an advertiser's target audience.

Facebook announced the launch of "TRP (Target Rating Point) Buying, on Sunday evening just ahead of the opening of the annual Ad Week New York trade event
 
"We want to be the single-most important platform for all businesses," said Carolyn Everson, Facebook vice president for global marketing solutions.

"These are Facebook's version of GRPs for video ads on its platform. Now, marketers can plan campaigns across TV and Facebook with a total ‘TRP,’ buying a share of those directly with Facebook’” said Fcaebook in the announcement.
 
How well Facebook's ads perform alongside TV spots would be measured by Nielsen's Digital Ad Ratings division.
 
The GRP in TV goes up depending on the frequency that ad is shown with iRGP ass the starting point which is equal to 1% of the target audience the advertiser wants to reach but not the total number of people who see the ads.
 
Advertising spend on the internet still lags behind TV advertising though it is steadily increasing and with on-line platforms like Facebook having huge audience of more than 1 billion users.

Designed to take advantage of the social network's strengths on mobile devices, most of the advertising options will also be available on Facebook-owned Instagram. While generating more than three-quarters of Facebook’s $10 billion-plus in annual ad revenue on phones, Instagram is the world's most popular smartphone app.  

Facebook claims that its users especially millennials, spend more time on their phones than watching television and the company is using this as a point in case to convince advertisers, especially those who use video, that their dollars will be better spent on mobile platforms rather than on TV.

Along with this announcement, on Sunday Facebook also announced that the total number of active advertisers on its platform had risen to 2.5 million compared to 2 million in February.

The digital video advertising is a rapidly growing segment and according to eMarketer, it is expected to increase by 13 percent and reach nearly $15 billion by 2019. In the same period, the growth in TV advertisement spending is expected to grow by only 2%.

"Facebook is listening to the ad community and giving them what they are looking for," said Debra Aho Williamson, social media marketing analyst with eMarketer. "Does Facebook want video ad dollars? Yes," she says.

The new product, apart from providing GRP style ratings, would enable advertiser to target highly specific audiences, such as women aged 18 to 35 years old who have shopped on a specific website, which TV cannot do.

(Source:www.businessindier.com & www.reuters.om)