Dive Brief:
- Facebook Canvas, a platform dedicated to full-screen mobile ads, now has 360-degree video capability and will allow advertisers to link together multiple spots, creating a larger digital storytelling experience, according to a blog post by the company.
- Facebook tested the new features with the Brazilian bank Itau. The music brand Beats by Dre also tried out the linked Canvas ads and saw an average of 39 seconds spent engaged with the ads, and 73% viewability on average.
- The new ad options went live Monday; Canvas first launched in February, and companies like Prudential reported a 28 percent growth in brand awareness following Canvas campaigns.
Dive Insight:
Though a nascent project, Facebook Canvas has proved to be one the brand's more solid mobile marketing endeavors in terms of growing brand awareness, according to Adweek, and the recent expansion of the format suggests Facebook sees potential to build the business further.
By adding 360-degree video, Facebook clearly has its finger on the pulse of where mobile advertising is heading with the emphasis on immersive video, especially given that eMarketer recently estimated 71 percent of marketers plan to run video campaigns on social media over the next year.
Facebook is also smart in ensuring that move is accommodating for marketers: The option to link Canvas stories together not only allows for more cohesive brand building, but also ensures people stay on the Facebook app when engaging with their favorite brands, further transforming the social media platform into a sort of one-stop-shop for online purchases and services.
The big concern for marketers toying with Canvas is ensuring their videos are actually getting watched and engaged with. Last week, Publicis Media announced that Facebook's viewership measurements overestimated how much video was actually watched by users by anywhere from 60 to 80 percent.
