SocialDisplay and VideoConnected Campaign / July 28, 2016 / By Erin Martin

3 Things Publishers Can Takeaway from Facebook’s Q2 Earnings Report

Yesterday Facebook released it’s Q2 2016 earnings report and once again beat Wall Street’s estimate. Success was attributed to strong growth in active users and advertising revenue, specifically pointing to mobile-ad products and rising popularity of its video ads.

As the dominant publisher in digital, what can other publishers learn from Facebook’s success? These three basic steps should be on every media companies mind:

1) Mobile

More than 90% of Facebook’s 1.71 billion users are on mobile devices and mobile advertising accounted for 84% of Facebook’s $6.2 billion in ad sales in the latest quarter (source Facebook Q2 Earnings Report). Their mobile success goes back to 2012 when Mark Zuckerberg said he kicked out anyone who proposed features tailored for desktop.

Publishers should apply this same mentality to their suite of digital ad formats. Consumers spend 25% of their time on smartphones, yet the channel grabs just 12% of ad budgets, leaving a $21 billion opportunity for publishers to seize (source Internet Trends 2016).

According to Mixpo’s latest report, most of the publishers interviewed said they are just now beginning to offer ad formats designed specifically for mobile, and nearly all are looking for new ad formats to better monetize the small screen. Granular location-based targeting and more mobile video ads were cited as important mobile-specific opportunities.

By focusing on mobile ad formats, publishers can deliver a better experience for readers while providing a richer way for brands to connect to those readers.

2) Video First

“Ten years ago, most of what we shared and consumed online was text. Now it’s photos, and soon most of it will be video. We see a world that is video first with video at the heart of all of our apps and service,” said Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. Video is the fastest growing digital ad format, driving nearly $10 billion in ad spend this year
(source eMarketer).

Luckily for publishers, video is also at the heart of everything they do. Huge demand has made video a valuable ad product and publishers can capitalize by finding new ways to deliver it. In the past year, 61% of publishers have sold video ads as a part of their audience extension packages. In-banner video and outstream ads have also become part of a larger strategy to fill the supply gap by delivering video to audiences in traditionally non-video formats.

3) Making Ads More Effective and Relevant

According to Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg, one of their top priorities is making ads more effective and relevant. “Businesses that want to build their brands need to reach a large audience with a compelling story, and they’re seeing strong results from immersive formats,” said Sandberg.

Publisher success relies upon a tried and true equation: Quality content + premium ad placements + valuable audience = revenue. A renewed focus on effective and relevant ad placements is critical for success. This involves reevaluating audience targeting and tracking capabilities, leading with mobile, and clearly defining the brand objectives your immersive ad products serve.

By pinpointing the exact KPI an ad product plays in the purchasing funnel, whether that is driving video views and awareness or clicks and direct response, publishers can continually optimize and improve their suite of digital products, which means more meaningful connections for readers and advertisers.

Learn more by downloading The State of Digital Advertising for Publishers.