Facebook launches new shoppable video ad format for mobile

Facebook has started to roll out a new mobile shopping ad format globally, supporting the format with new metrics to measure the number of outbound clicks an ad receives.

This new video ad format is called ‘Collection’ and is similar to Facebook’s ‘Canvas’ ad format. ‘Collection’ will take a user to a full screen display within Facebook that showcases up to 50 products sorted by relevance.

The ‘Collection’ video format ads are an important addition for Facebook as they see them fitting naturally with mobile advertising. In internal studies Facebook found that 45% of shopping includes some kind of mobile interaction.

“People are increasingly expecting fast-loading, seamless, compelling experiences on mobile, and ‘Collection’ enables marketers to drive product discovery details through an engaging format.” says Maz Sharafi, director of product marketing at Facebook. Further Sharafi stated:

“Mobile influence in commerce is exploding”

For the past few months, Adidas, Tommy Hilfiger, Michael Kors, Cartier, Sport Chek, and Lowe’s were able to test out this new ad product with very positive results.

Adidas saw 5.3 times its return on ad spend and 1.8 times decrease in cost per conversion, according to Rebecca Watts, performance marketing senior specialist at Adidas.

Tommy Hilfiger realized a 2.2 times return on ad spend and a 200% increase in return on investment, according to Avery Baker, chief brand officer at Tommy Hilfiger.

Even Lowe’s reported a 600% increase over the holidays in in-store conversations as Lowe’s tested this new feature to drive more customers to their stores.

This announcement of the ad format complements Facebook’s recent push to attract more advertisers to video ads. Facebook has been pushing the idea of emotional films at media buyers as they are far more powerful than static images.

What do you think, will this new ad format by Facebook interest you to try video adverts on Facebook? Let us know in comments below.

Richard Meldner

Richard is co-founder of eSeller365. He has over 17 years of experience on eBay which includes tens of thousands of sales to buyers in over 100 countries and even has experience with eBay’s VeRO program enforcing intellectual property rights for a former employer. And for about two years Richard sold products on Amazon using Amazon FBA in the US.

To “relax” from the daily business grind, for a few weekends a year, he also works for IMSA as a professional race official.