Facebook plans to release a new premium ads product Feb. 29
According to leaked documents, Facebook plans to upgrade its premium ads on February 29. The company expects the new ads to perform 40 to 8o percent better than its previous product. — As the owner of a social creative agency …
Context & Ripple Effects
Facebook has been building its advertising stack for years, from engagement advertising for brands to ad APIs tested with agencies and a broader ad-system upgrade in 2011. The leaked premium-ad plan fits that continuing effort to make brand spending on the network more measurable and scalable.
The timing also overlaps with Facebook's planned Timeline rollout for brands and a Feb. 29 marketer conference. With Facebook preparing for an IPO and disclosing 425 million mobile users, advertising-product execution carries particular weight.
First-order effects
- If the leaked plan is accurate, Facebook's premium advertisers and their agencies will receive a replacement ad product that Facebook expects to outperform the prior version by 40% to 80%.
- Facebook would pair a new premium inventory proposition with brand Timeline pages, giving marketers two major platform changes to evaluate at the Feb. 29 event.
Second-order effects
- Agencies buying Facebook premium ads would have reason to shift campaign budgets and creative testing away from the previous product toward the new format if its claimed performance gains hold.
- Facebook's ability to substantiate the promised improvement would become central to advertiser confidence as it seeks to turn its large mobile audience into a stronger advertising business.
Third-order effects
- A continuing cycle of ad-format upgrades, agency tooling and brand-page features points toward Facebook competing for brand budgets through a fuller marketing platform rather than standalone display placements.
- If premium formats deliver reliably better results, measurement and product performance—not simply audience scale—will increasingly determine Facebook's leverage with advertisers.
The trend: Facebook is moving from basic social-network advertising toward an integrated brand-marketing platform built around improved formats, tools and business pages.