An Introduction to Facebook Messenger Home Screen Ads

You’re probably familiar with Facebook Messenger as just a platform to stay in touch with friends and family. Recently, however, Facebook opened the platform to marketers, providing you with even more inventory and reach for your Facebook advertising efforts.

This is big news for marketers who have seen competition increase across the current placements available on Facebook globally. According to the Kenshoo Digital Marketing Snapshot for Q2 2017, CPMs rose 27% year over year from Q2 2016 to Q2 2017 for Facebook Ads, and this is the second consecutive year where Kenshoo reported over 10% CPM increases year over year for Facebook Ads.

Source: Kenshoo

Also, the increased use of mobile devices globally has accelerated the adoption of messaging apps. Business Insider reports that the largest four messaging apps exceeded the largest four social networking apps in terms of global monthly active users at the beginning of 2015, and these messaging apps continue to show more monthly active users through Q1 2017.

Facebook Messenger has seen tremendous growth over this time period as well, surpassing 1.2 billion users globally in April 2017. It is more than likely that your target audience is using and engaging with the product, which is why you should begin incorporating Facebook Messenger into your overall marketing strategy as soon as possible.

Source: TechCrunch

Here are some recommendations for tactics to try as you ramp up your efforts on the Facebook Messenger platform.

Using Facebook Messenger Ads for Website Conversions

The newest offering from Facebook for ads that display in Messenger is the global release of Messenger Home Screen ads with delivery to all Messenger users. This is a significant departure from the first ads that appeared in Facebook Messenger, known as Sponsored Messages. While Sponsored Messages only allow you to deliver ads to the users who have sent or received a message from your Facebook page, Messenger Home Screen ads allow you to target a variety of audiences, including those who have not previously been to your Facebook page.

The Home Screen ads also have another new component when compared with Sponsored Messages – they allow you to drive users to your website via the Messenger browser. Sponsored Messages only allow you to initiate Messenger conversations. An example of this user flow is below:

Source: Facebook

This ad format, which is in many ways more traditional than what was previously offered in Messenger, opens the door for advertisers who have seen success driving website conversions on Facebook and Instagram. With these ads, you can increase the delivery of your strongest performing ads to the target audiences you’ve already identified and built in your Facebook Ads account.

How to Set Up Messenger Home Screen Ads

Delivering to the Home Screen Messenger inventory is straightforward. If you have selected “Automatic Placements” for the ad sets in your website conversions or traffic objective campaigns, then you are already opted-in to deliver Home Screen Messenger ads. If you are selecting placements manually, then the option will appear under Platforms > Messenger > Home.

Please note that this targeting option is not available to all advertisers today; however, it will be available to all ad accounts soon, so stay tuned!

Facebook Messenger ads are an incredible opportunity for marketers interested in leveraging the targeting capabilities of Facebook Ads to drive even more conversions. Being able to show ads on Messenger has made it a very powerful marketing tool, especially considering the amount of users who interact with Messenger on a daily basis. See what it can do for your business and try these ads today.