Facebook has urged marketers to “be global” and “go mobile” with content after publishing new data from the 2017 holiday season, which shows a notable boost in online conversions for both Black Friday and Cyber Monday compared to the previous year.
Facebook noted that mobile ad spending accounted for almost two thirds of total digital ad spend in 2017. This is largely due to the changing content consumption and shopping habits of consumers, who are now using smartphones more than ever before in the journey from search and discovery to point of sale.
Also, more holiday shopping is now taking place on mobile compared to desktop. Facebook believes advertisers can tap into this ongoing trend by launching content campaigns that are capable of reaching and engaging with shoppers regularly, to push them along the sales cycle more effectively. Going global with localised content should also be a major consideration in 2018.
Retailer American Eagle Outfitters said the use of dynamic ads and optimised targeting increased the effectiveness of its ad spend significantly, while Gap also revealed that a new ad strategy helped them to reach 40 million people during the run up to Black Friday.
“Specifically, video is top of mind in many of the conversations we’re having with advertisers, and there’s a lot of creative opportunity to define what short-form video is on mobile,” Facebook VP of global marketing solutions North America, Nada Stirratt said. “Smart marketers will capitalize on this opportunity and start to think about video as a powerful merchandising tool, and not just a branding tool.”
