Marketing to Women: Facebook Targets TV Dollars with Video Ads

It’s all about Facebook, isn’t it?  First it was Instagram/Facebook obtaining our photos surreptitiously, then it was $1 messaging and now it’s video ads on our Facebook news feed.

While we are all stuffing ourselves with sugar plums and Christmas pre- and post-sales, Facebook is planning to launch new video-ads sometime in the first half of 2013.  Ad Age reports by April, Facebook will offer advertisers targeted video ads to large numbers of Facebook users in their news feeds on both the desktop version of Facebook as well as on Facebook apps on mobile phones and tablets.   Oh, and you will see them, because the ads will automatically play.  And there is a lot of emphasis on the mobile capability for tablets and smartphones.

I am conflicted about all this Facebook news – as a marketer, I can see interesting and impactful users of this new ad feature.  But on the other hand, I am wondering if Facebook will lose its soul and lots of followers by commercializing each and every part of the social network.  Will users start migrating to other networks that offer less advertising intrusion?

As a marketer, we are always looking for ways to repurpose messaging and Facebook video might provide a strategic medium for some advertisers. Facebook’s ability to target gives it an edge over other forms of broadcast.