We need video ads that the consumer will actually watch

Published December 30, 2013 at 6:49 am

Facebook has recently launched a new means of displaying ad content on its website: videos. While this might sound like a green light for all of the ambitious projects your company might want to get off of the ground, you should really stop and think about this from the consumer’s point of view.

This is to say: will your audience be receptive to video ads on Facebook? It all depends on how you use this opportunity and whether you come across as appealing or insensitive. Facebook has already been criticized for making user data available to marketers and cramming ads down their members’ throats. It shouldn’t be very surprising, then, that Time Magazine is already advising readers on how to skip over these videos, which start automatically without warning.

Facebook is clearly seeing this issue from one angle, while the people who actually have  to watch the ads might see it from quite another. Your business needs to consider exactly what the consequences will be if you follow this trend without thinking about the reaction on the other end.

But Zuckerberg’s baby apparently means business with this initiative, at least for now, althoughthe official message regarding this new process does seem somewhat provisional.

“This format isn’t intended for every video ad or Page post video on Facebook; it meets specific needs for certain marketers with certain objectives,” it states. “We’ll continue to refine this new way for brands to tell stories on Facebook to ensure the best experience for people and marketers.”

It should be clear that, despite the chance that this could grant your brand to reach other people, these channels are worthless unless the “stories” you’re telling actually get read.