Violeta Pirnog (Senior Performance Marketing Manager at Blinkist) discusses using native ads on Facebook: the user flows, how to optimize and the practices that have been working for Blinkist.
Sending users from an ad to an article provides context, which is great for content-driven products (like Blinkist). It’s also a great way to preempt any concerns users might have by addressing them in the article.
The newsfeed placement on Facebook is the one that can be mistaken the most for an organic post and works the best for native ad campaigns.
The instant experiences format has also worked well because you can provide a similar experience to an article, without taking users out of the Facebook platform. It’s a great way to first assess the opportunity of a softer sell.
To define which headline and image to use for the ad leading to the article, it is still easier to do it manually than trying dynamic ads.
Initially, Blinkist wanted to have different flows and angles for the different platforms but, after testing, they realized that it’s the same articles that work for Outbrain, Taboola and Facebook.
It’s usually images of people that work the best for the ad, with a front angle shot (but not someone staring). For Blinkist it’s always been static images that have worked the best.
You can also add some branding elements to the top performing ad photo. It has been working well, as it creates brand familiarity from the ad to the article.
The title is very important. There is an equal amount of testing that goes into optimizing the article and into matching it with a catchy title.
Usually the ad title/headline should also be the title of the article as well. They haven’t seen any uplift in changing it.
Sending users from an ad to an article provides context, which is great for content-driven products (like Blinkist). It’s also a great way to preempt any concerns users might have by addressing them in the article.
The newsfeed placement on Facebook is the one that can be mistaken the most for an organic post and works the best for native ad campaigns.
The instant experiences format has also worked well because you can provide a similar experience to an article, without taking users out of the Facebook platform. It’s a great way to first assess the opportunity of a softer sell.
To define which headline and image to use for the ad leading to the article, it is still easier to do it manually than trying dynamic ads.
Initially, Blinkist wanted to have different flows and angles for the different platforms but, after testing, they realized that it’s the same articles that work for Outbrain, Taboola and Facebook.
It’s usually images of people that work the best for the ad, with a front angle shot (but not someone staring). For Blinkist it’s always been static images that have worked the best.
You can also add some branding elements to the top performing ad photo. It has been working well, as it creates brand familiarity from the ad to the article.
The title is very important. There is an equal amount of testing that goes into optimizing the article and into matching it with a catchy title.
Usually the ad title/headline should also be the title of the article as well. They haven’t seen any uplift in changing it.
Sending users from an ad to an article provides context, which is great for content-driven products (like Blinkist). It’s also a great way to preempt any concerns users might have by addressing them in the article.
The newsfeed placement on Facebook is the one that can be mistaken the most for an organic post and works the best for native ad campaigns.
The instant experiences format has also worked well because you can provide a similar experience to an article, without taking users out of the Facebook platform. It’s a great way to first assess the opportunity of a softer sell.
To define which headline and image to use for the ad leading to the article, it is still easier to do it manually than trying dynamic ads.
Initially, Blinkist wanted to have different flows and angles for the different platforms but, after testing, they realized that it’s the same articles that work for Outbrain, Taboola and Facebook.
It’s usually images of people that work the best for the ad, with a front angle shot (but not someone staring). For Blinkist it’s always been static images that have worked the best.
You can also add some branding elements to the top performing ad photo. It has been working well, as it creates brand familiarity from the ad to the article.
The title is very important. There is an equal amount of testing that goes into optimizing the article and into matching it with a catchy title.
Usually the ad title/headline should also be the title of the article as well. They haven’t seen any uplift in changing it.
Notes for this resource are currently being transferred and will be available soon.
A native ad campaign on Facebook is paid content: a piece of content that is usually seen as organic, with an optimized user journey and making sure that users seeing that ad are interested in getting to know more about the product.
Brands and advertisers usually love native ads because the CTR tends to be higher and engagement stronger. They also increase your brand awareness.
Only half of the people being served these ads know that they are being served an ad. Of those, half are skeptical but the other half are fine with it. It’s a soft sell.
The user flow is not that different from an app install campaign but it is a bit longer. From the ad, people are taken to an article and there is also a sticky smart banner to download the app.
Native ad campaigns are great for content-driven products.
[💎@06:46] Sending users from an ad to an article provides context, which is great for content-driven products (like Blinkist). It’s also a great way to preempt any kind of concerns users might have by addressing them in the article.
You can optimize the campaigns for either mobile (i.e post install events through MMP) or web events. For web events they use something similar to Google Analytics (Vivek?) to track the event, which is then brought to their in-house back-end system for attribution and finally fed back to Facebook’s pixel and conversion APIs to be able to optimize the campaign.
This is probably harder to do for a smaller developer.
When there is a traditional landing page, it is very clear for users what the purpose is because messaging is very sales-driven.
The article following a native ad is more of a soft sell (vs. a hard sale for a traditional landing page).
[💎@11:34] The newsfeed placement on Facebook is the one that can be mistaken the most for an organic post and works the best for native ad campaigns.
It’s ok to send high-intent users (e.g. from Google) to a sales-driven landing page but for Facebook it might make sense to be more subtle.
[💎@13:54] The instant experiences format has also worked well because you can provide a similar experience to an article, without taking users out of the Facebook platform. It’s a great way to first assess the opportunity of a softer sell.
In instant experiences you can add your quotes, images and blocks of text, your CTAs, etc. Blinkist even puts an entire article in there.
To get started, take a proven article from your paid content marketing channel that you know has a good conversion rate (the article is the main piece of creative) then test out an ad with different images and titles.
[💎@18:24] To define which headline and image to use for the ad leading to the article, it is still easier to do it manually than trying dynamic ads.
[💎@19:59] Initially, Blinkist wanted to have different flows and angles for the different platforms but, after testing, they realized that it’s the same articles that work for Outbrain, Taboola and Facebook.
A lot of work goes into creating and optimizing the articles. So now Violeta waits for an article to perform on Outbrain/Taboola then uses it on Facebook.
However, sometimes for the actual ad you might need different images and headlines depending on the platform.
[💎@23:03] It’s usually images of people that work the best for the ad, with a front angle shot (but not someone staring). For Blinkist it’s always been static images that have worked the best.
[💎@25:00] You can also add some branding elements to the top performing ad photo. It has been working well, as it creates brand familiarity from the ad to the article.
Keep in mind that best practices change.
It’s not always easy to find the right stock photo when you know exactly what you’re looking for, so in a lot of Blinkist ads they have featured colleagues.
[💎@27:40] The title is very important. There is an equal amount of testing that goes into optimizing the article and into matching it with a catchy title.
[💎@28:19] Usually the ad title/headline should also be the title of the article as well. They haven’t seen any uplift in changing it.
A native ad campaign on Facebook is paid content: a piece of content that is usually seen as organic, with an optimized user journey and making sure that users seeing that ad are interested in getting to know more about the product.
Brands and advertisers usually love native ads because the CTR tends to be higher and engagement stronger. They also increase your brand awareness.
Only half of the people being served these ads know that they are being served an ad. Of those, half are skeptical but the other half are fine with it. It’s a soft sell.
The user flow is not that different from an app install campaign but it is a bit longer. From the ad, people are taken to an article and there is also a sticky smart banner to download the app.
Native ad campaigns are great for content-driven products.
[💎@06:46] Sending users from an ad to an article provides context, which is great for content-driven products (like Blinkist). It’s also a great way to preempt any kind of concerns users might have by addressing them in the article.
You can optimize the campaigns for either mobile (i.e post install events through MMP) or web events. For web events they use something similar to Google Analytics (Vivek?) to track the event, which is then brought to their in-house back-end system for attribution and finally fed back to Facebook’s pixel and conversion APIs to be able to optimize the campaign.
This is probably harder to do for a smaller developer.
When there is a traditional landing page, it is very clear for users what the purpose is because messaging is very sales-driven.
The article following a native ad is more of a soft sell (vs. a hard sale for a traditional landing page).
[💎@11:34] The newsfeed placement on Facebook is the one that can be mistaken the most for an organic post and works the best for native ad campaigns.
It’s ok to send high-intent users (e.g. from Google) to a sales-driven landing page but for Facebook it might make sense to be more subtle.
[💎@13:54] The instant experiences format has also worked well because you can provide a similar experience to an article, without taking users out of the Facebook platform. It’s a great way to first assess the opportunity of a softer sell.
In instant experiences you can add your quotes, images and blocks of text, your CTAs, etc. Blinkist even puts an entire article in there.
To get started, take a proven article from your paid content marketing channel that you know has a good conversion rate (the article is the main piece of creative) then test out an ad with different images and titles.
[💎@18:24] To define which headline and image to use for the ad leading to the article, it is still easier to do it manually than trying dynamic ads.
[💎@19:59] Initially, Blinkist wanted to have different flows and angles for the different platforms but, after testing, they realized that it’s the same articles that work for Outbrain, Taboola and Facebook.
A lot of work goes into creating and optimizing the articles. So now Violeta waits for an article to perform on Outbrain/Taboola then uses it on Facebook.
However, sometimes for the actual ad you might need different images and headlines depending on the platform.
[💎@23:03] It’s usually images of people that work the best for the ad, with a front angle shot (but not someone staring). For Blinkist it’s always been static images that have worked the best.
[💎@25:00] You can also add some branding elements to the top performing ad photo. It has been working well, as it creates brand familiarity from the ad to the article.
Keep in mind that best practices change.
It’s not always easy to find the right stock photo when you know exactly what you’re looking for, so in a lot of Blinkist ads they have featured colleagues.
[💎@27:40] The title is very important. There is an equal amount of testing that goes into optimizing the article and into matching it with a catchy title.
[💎@28:19] Usually the ad title/headline should also be the title of the article as well. They haven’t seen any uplift in changing it.
A native ad campaign on Facebook is paid content: a piece of content that is usually seen as organic, with an optimized user journey and making sure that users seeing that ad are interested in getting to know more about the product.
Brands and advertisers usually love native ads because the CTR tends to be higher and engagement stronger. They also increase your brand awareness.
Only half of the people being served these ads know that they are being served an ad. Of those, half are skeptical but the other half are fine with it. It’s a soft sell.
The user flow is not that different from an app install campaign but it is a bit longer. From the ad, people are taken to an article and there is also a sticky smart banner to download the app.
Native ad campaigns are great for content-driven products.
[💎@06:46] Sending users from an ad to an article provides context, which is great for content-driven products (like Blinkist). It’s also a great way to preempt any kind of concerns users might have by addressing them in the article.
You can optimize the campaigns for either mobile (i.e post install events through MMP) or web events. For web events they use something similar to Google Analytics (Vivek?) to track the event, which is then brought to their in-house back-end system for attribution and finally fed back to Facebook’s pixel and conversion APIs to be able to optimize the campaign.
This is probably harder to do for a smaller developer.
When there is a traditional landing page, it is very clear for users what the purpose is because messaging is very sales-driven.
The article following a native ad is more of a soft sell (vs. a hard sale for a traditional landing page).
[💎@11:34] The newsfeed placement on Facebook is the one that can be mistaken the most for an organic post and works the best for native ad campaigns.
It’s ok to send high-intent users (e.g. from Google) to a sales-driven landing page but for Facebook it might make sense to be more subtle.
[💎@13:54] The instant experiences format has also worked well because you can provide a similar experience to an article, without taking users out of the Facebook platform. It’s a great way to first assess the opportunity of a softer sell.
In instant experiences you can add your quotes, images and blocks of text, your CTAs, etc. Blinkist even puts an entire article in there.
To get started, take a proven article from your paid content marketing channel that you know has a good conversion rate (the article is the main piece of creative) then test out an ad with different images and titles.
[💎@18:24] To define which headline and image to use for the ad leading to the article, it is still easier to do it manually than trying dynamic ads.
[💎@19:59] Initially, Blinkist wanted to have different flows and angles for the different platforms but, after testing, they realized that it’s the same articles that work for Outbrain, Taboola and Facebook.
A lot of work goes into creating and optimizing the articles. So now Violeta waits for an article to perform on Outbrain/Taboola then uses it on Facebook.
However, sometimes for the actual ad you might need different images and headlines depending on the platform.
[💎@23:03] It’s usually images of people that work the best for the ad, with a front angle shot (but not someone staring). For Blinkist it’s always been static images that have worked the best.
[💎@25:00] You can also add some branding elements to the top performing ad photo. It has been working well, as it creates brand familiarity from the ad to the article.
Keep in mind that best practices change.
It’s not always easy to find the right stock photo when you know exactly what you’re looking for, so in a lot of Blinkist ads they have featured colleagues.
[💎@27:40] The title is very important. There is an equal amount of testing that goes into optimizing the article and into matching it with a catchy title.
[💎@28:19] Usually the ad title/headline should also be the title of the article as well. They haven’t seen any uplift in changing it.
