Buy video ads in TV-like fashion on Facebook

New York: Ad buying on Facebook has got more easier with the social media website introducing a familiar terminology for broadcast advertisers, making the purchase easy and more TV-like.

Target rating point video buys on Facebook or photo-sharing website Instagram can now leverage day-parting and Nielsen Designated Market Area (DMA) targeting -- two features that were previously unavailable -- www.adage.com reported.

DMAs are defined by Nielsen Media Research and are used to identify specific media markets for those interested in buying and selling television, advertising and programming.

DMA targeting allows marketers to home in on a specific local television market area while day-parting delivers advertisements during specific parts of the day.

The move will provide marketers further brand building capabilities on mobile as well as flexibility to extend TV and video campaigns on Facebook with a currency broadcast advertisers are familiar with. 

"At the same time, the company is telling advertisers to rethink the way they deliver video on Facebook -- particularly on mobile -- as opposed to TV," the report said.

Facebook said that broadcast advertisers should consider various factors when implementing TV ads on its mobile News Feed.

"The mobile feed has fundamentally changed the way people view and absorb information, and this is especially true with video," Matt Idema, vice president of monetisation product marketing at Facebook was quoted as saying. 

"For marketers, this shift makes it essential to take new creative considerations into account when designing effective video ads," Idema added.

According to data released by Facebook this week, on Facebook's mobile News Feed, for example, users spend on average 1.7 seconds with a piece of content versus 2.5 seconds on desktop.