Facebook continues to expand its revenue base as the newest addition to its Messenger application is revealed. Messenger, with over 1.2 Billion users worldwide, has been testing showing ads on its home tab for a while now, in Australia and Thailand since January.
The company announced on Tuesday that it will finally be releasing advertising on the app in the USA, its home turf. It announced that it will soon be available worldwide, but no actual date has been given yet.
Finally cashing in
The Messenger application is one of Facebook’s core apps, along with its main app and Instagram.
The messaging app alone has more than 1.2 bilion users, but unlike the other two core apps, Messenger doesn’t actually have means to contribute to the company.
There has been pressure to increase revenue due to a slowing growth rate, according to their Q1 stats release, and pressure from marketers to provide them with more options. Facebook, until now, has kept Messenger ad-free while the main app and Instagram are reaching ad saturation points.
New Marketing Options
There will be three new types of ads coming to the app.
Messenger ads, click to messenger and sponsored messages.
Messenger Ads
Messenger ads will be simple ads that will appear on the main messenger screen/home tab; users scrolling through messenger will pass by these. Marketers can choose where consumers will go when clicking on the ad, whether to their website or straight to a messenger conversation.
So far, Facebook has stated that messenger users currently cannot turn off ads on the application.
Looking up what kind of insights will you have to measure ROI? Click here.
Click to Messenger
Messenger ads aren’t the only thing that will help you start a conversation with Facebook and Instagram users.
Click to Messenger is a new system where when a user clicks on the ad, whether on their newsfeed or on the Messenger home tab, users can be directly sent to the messenger tab of your business. This will help marketers push for engagement after showing interest in the brand or product.
The ad formats for Click to Messenger are single images, single videos and slideshows (Facebook only).
The CTA buttons that are available for ads that will send to messenger are
- Send message
- Apply now
- Book now
- Contact us
- Donate now
- Download
- Learn more
- Shop now
- Sign up
- Watch more
Tracking options are currently Replies on Messenger and Link Clicks.
Sponsored Messages
Sponsored Messages are the new way to re-target your old potential consumers.
These messages are great for re-targeting to get more engagement of a bot, and to reach people who have shown an interest in your page before by messaging your business.
Sponsored Messages will be billed according to impressions.
