Collections, The New Advertising Format from Facebook

The social network of Mark Zuckerberg surprises us on a weekly basis with new tools and functionalities (we already told you a few weeks ago about how he’s developing his own Artificial Intelligence).  This time we want to focus on Collections, the new ad format which Facebook just announced in its blog.

Context

It is essential to adapt to mobile and Facebook knows this quite well.  It’s very common for consumers to do their shopping online, using their smartphones.  Therefore, the need arose for advertising, like e-commerce, to be 100% adapted to all mobile devices.

 Along these lines, it is important to note that many of the purchases made on mobile phones are not finalized, either because the website takes too long to load or because it’s too hard to fully appreciate the product on a mobile phone.  Because of this, the Facebook team has developed an advertising program which promises to solve these problems:  Collection.

What is Collection?

 With this new format, the social platform makes the products more accessible that the brands want to display as part of their digital sales.  Thanks to Collection, the consumer can make a purchase in a way that is immersive and agile.

The format shows up to 50 products, each of them with their own page where the details can be viewed.  Therefore, it’s now possible to see the products that we want to buy in perfect detail.    And not only is it possible to upload numerous photographs of the products, but videos can also be uploaded.

The ad quickly redirects you to the advertiser’s website.  Once in the purchase process (the full screen), the consumer can visualize the different views of the product.  And the app also makes purchasing recommendations.  For example, in the fashion sector, you can include other items which will create a complete outfit.

Improvements for Advertisers

Additionally, in order to improve the statistics for the ads, Facebook has announced in their blog that they will provide more data about the effectiveness of their experiential ads, like Collection and Canvas.  In this way, Facebook has agreed to provide as part of its analysis, the clicks which redirect users out of the ad to the business’ website.  This is all being done in order to satisfy the needs of their advertisers.

If you want consumers to enjoy new shopping experiences with your brand, then Collection is your format!  For now, brands like Adidas and Tommy Hilfiger have already used the app to grow sales.