Dive Brief:
- Facebook plans to introduce new features that will enable marketers to create and launch campaigns with nothing more than a mobile device, according to Bloomberg.
- Facebook also plans to launch its new Creative Hub interface, an ad platform that allows marketers to create, test, share and review ads on Facebook and Instagram.
- Facebook said it will publicize the tools on Tuesday at the Cannes Lions festival.
Dive Insight:
Mobile is the hot advertising opportunity, and Facebook wants to help brands and agencies seize it. Over 50% of all digital advertising revenue last year came from mobile, according to the latest Pew Research data, but marketers are still trying to figure out the best way to deliver ads in the format.
“If a company doesn’t become expert at mobile marketing, they will be at a competitive disadvantage," Carolyn Everson, Facebook’s vice president for global marketing solutions, told Bloomberg. "The rate of disruption is faster than anything we’ve ever seen and marketers are having to rethink and rewire their business models.’’
Facebook said that 82% of its revenue is derived from mobile ads in its most recent quarterly report. Although serving ads to mobile devices and managing ad campaigns on smartphones are two different things altogether, the new tools that Facebook will be promoting at Cannes Lions showcase the social media giant's growing emphasis on mobile, both in reaching its audience and helping marketers do their jobs.
“No one has been able to crack mobile advertising," Mark D’Arcy, Facebook’s chief creative officer, told Bloomberg. "We’re still just in the beginning of the creative stages of mobile ads.”
Facebook's latest features will allow marketers to use its ad-creation tools, Canvas and Slideshow, from their mobile devices. The tools will provide the ability for marketers to preview campaigns on smartphones, as well as the ability to target ads through data points such as demographics, search preferences, and social media likes and interests.
At first, the Creative Hub will be available only for ad agencies, while Facebook's ad-building tools will be immediately available to all marketers via mobile devices upon launch this week.
