Facebook tests messenger ads

By

Kate Dingwall

Published
Jan 27, 2017

Following the announcement that m-commerce is the way of the future for Facebook, Facebook has started testing integrated ads on Facebook’s Messenger service.

The new ad integration won’t occur in conversations with friends – the ad will be placed on the Messenger homepage, where birthday notifications and ‘Active Friends’ is currently located. This new roll-out will also allow users to have one-on-one conversations with advertising brands.

“Businesses have long been telling us that they are very excited about the potential of the Messenger platform to reach their customers and help them to drive sales, build brand awareness and increase customer satisfaction.” Facebook reps said in a press statement.

“Our current offerings like ads that take people to Messenger conversations from their Facebook News Feed and sponsored messages have demonstrated that people are interested in hearing from and interacting with business and brands on Messenger.”

Facebook hopes that this new integrated ad placement will allow businesses to better communicate with its consumers. Currently, over one billion messages are sent between businesses and customers on Facebook Messenger every single month, with those numbers only to grow during this roll-out. Currently, in order to speak with a business, the customer has to directly search for the business’s Facebook page. The new integrated ads will allow a seamless way for customers to message the business along with view new products.

A study this week was released found that m-commerce purchases on Facebook has grown a whopping 114% over the past two years. The study also found that one fifth of Facebook users had purchased something because they saw it on Facebook.

The testing will start this week in Australia and Thailand, with no expected date for worldwide roll-out.