Facebook announces testing of advertising video format for News Feed
Facebook has today announced that it is working with Summit Entertainment and Mindshare to promote a series of videos for the upcoming film, Divergent, as it looks to test its advertising video format for News Feed.
Rather than having to click or tap on the content, videos will begin to play as they appear on screen — without sound — similar to how they behave when shared by friends now, and sound will play if the video is clicked on or tapped.
At the end of the video, a carousel featuring two additional videos will appear, making it easy to discover more content from the same marketer.
Facebook said of the move in its blog: “This format isn’t intended for every video ad or Page post video on Facebook; it meets specific needs for certain marketers with certain objectives. We’ll continue to refine this new way for brands to tell stories on Facebook to ensure the best experience for people and marketers.
“This premium feature is specifically designed for awareness campaigns that are meant to reach a large number of people to increase interest in a brand, product or content, in a short amount of time. Page post video ads can then come into play to sustain the message of this initial campaign over longer time periods, in more targeted ways.”
Earlier tests on the platform have been running since September, with Facebook reporting more than 10 per cent increase in people watching, liking, sharing and commenting on videos.
While some people may see the Divergent ads on their News Feed, Facebook stresses that this is still a ‘limited’ test at the moment, and will not reveal pricing schemes.