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Share on XTogether at Home is a new, recurring series about the current global climate, how the world is adjusting, and what it means for the industry. This series will explore how shared stay-at-home behaviors are uniting consumers while also shaping the digital ecosystem.
While global encouragement for consumers to stay home has brought joy to the world’s pets, the digital advertising industry remains uncertain on how best to navigate the current situation. Among concerns over brand suitability, the quarantine took effect at an especially inopportune time in the digital realm: new privacy legislation rolled out in the U.S. at the start of the year. Consumer privacy regulations are still relatively new to the industry, and marketers are finding ways to adjust to the shifts while still reaching their desired audiences. At the same time, publishers and platforms are providing consumers with more information, new privacy features, and the ability to ‘opt-in’ to certain mechanisms. For example, Facebook, as a way to help consumers decrease their online footprint, recently rolled out a new “clear history” service. With this option, users can clear their online history, giving consumers the power to limit advertisers’ ability to target them based on their activity. While increased privacy capabilities can be beneficial for consumers, the timing presents a challenge for advertisers who recognize that more time at home means more time online.
How are consumers spending their time on Facebook?
Less commuting means more communing, and consumers have much more time on their hands: according to eMarketer, 33% of U.S. consumers report spending more time on social media, and about 78% of those consumers rely on Facebook as their go-to site. But, even though consumers are spending more time on Facebook and social media in general, Ad Age points out that that doesn’t always mean they’re scrolling through their news feeds. Even with a surge in traffic, Facebook has reported a recent dip in ad revenue—it’s been noted that consumers have reportedly been primarily using Facebook to directly connect with loved ones, using unadvertised services like Messenger and Facebook Groups.
With less consumer attention, how can ad campaigns be successful?
While news feeds might not be top priority, consumers—like the rest of us—multitask. When they’re not in Facebook Messenger or Groups, there is still a massive 68% who report browsing their news feed for friends’ posts and status updates, and another 37% say they spend their time watching videos. Keeping this in mind, Facebook in-stream video presents an opportunity for advertisers to reach consumers who are otherwise preoccupied by direct messages.
But how do advertisers reach the right audiences on Facebook?
The new IAS and Facebook Content Whitelist solution provides the opportunity for marketers to place ads before, during, and after publisher-driven video content. With a reported 70% of in-stream ad impressions viewed to completion, advertisers can rely on their ads appearing directly in front of their target audience and viewed entirely. Facebook advertisers will not only be able to reach the right consumers but can also expect their ads to appear in brand safe environments: in-stream videos are verified for brand suitability to create Content Whitelists, which can be added to an advertiser’s Facebook Business Manager account.
With seemingly infinite content creation and billions of users, social media platforms can be an intimidating place to try to reach consumers, especially given the increasing privacy options available to consumers and legislation implemented by the government. Together, IAS and Facebook are committed to providing solutions to ensure that advertisers are able to effectively communicate with their audiences while also respecting the desired boundaries of consumers. With the Facebook Content Whitelist solution, ads that run alongside the brand-safe, vetted in-stream videos have the opportunity to engage the right consumers, in the right places.
To learn more about the IAS and Facebook Content whitelist solution, download the one sheet.
