Todd Herrold, senior director of product marketing, Kenshoo Social
Facebook recently launched Facebook Exchange (FBX), a new way of purchasing ads on the social network through real-time bidding (RTB). This came out of beta in September and our experience thus far shows it as a highly effective channel that drives significant incremental conversions from Facebook users.
FBX targets ads to Facebook users based on their off-Facebook browsing history, so advertisers working through the FBX RTB system can display timely ads to users of the social network.
This increases the relevance of the ads served to users and improves the number of click-throughs and conversions they receive. FBX is only available through the digital marketing software of approved Demand Side Platforms (DSPs) and Ads API partners, including Kenshoo Social.
More and more, advertisers are experimenting with FBX as part of their mix and some have already made it a cornerstone of their media buys. Overall, we have seen that FBX currently accounts for a small proportion of overall Facebook ad budgets but that is starting to change as the social network makes more inventory available via FBX to meet interest from advertisers.
FBX is a great way to expand upon and augment an advertiser’s existing Facebook premium and marketplace ads and sponsored stories activity, effectively reaching customers at all stages of the buying funnel.
This is because FBX campaigns re-market to Facebook users who have already demonstrated intent by visiting the advertiser’s website and product pages. Thus, it leads to higher conversion rates and return on investment.
Ensuring FBX works is dependent on a number of factors, such as campaign goals and objectives, quality of the ad copy and images, and so forth.
The most successful FBX ads tend to be those that are dynamically generated based on the actual products or pages the user has previously viewed. Selecting an FBX partner with this capability is key for advertisers and agencies.
As with everything in social media advertising, complexity is weakness and simplicity is strength. Follow these steps to succeed on FBX:
- Adopt a Facebook-approved FBX provider
- Be clear on your campaign objectives
- Make your ads eye-catching and relevant to the target audience, using dynamically generated creative when possible
- Include a clear call to action in your text
Keep in mind that Facebook makes up roughly 25% of internet traffic, according to a recent comScore report. At scale, FBX represents the largest intent-based advertising channel for direct marketers since Google AdWords.
FBX presents a tremendous opportunity for digital marketers who dive in early to get a lead on their competition in a nascent market that will quickly grow. Now is the time to try it!
