Now Serving: Targeted Facebook Video Ads

Facebook introduced an easier way to watch videos in 2013 by having videos come to life when someone simply scrolls by them in their news feed. No play button needed, just a click to turn the sound on.

But what about all those videos you don’t want to see? What if you would rather read posts and look at images than watch a video of your co-worker’s baby demolishing a cake on his first birthday? Facebook has now improved the news feed algorithm for videos, which will help them better understand the video preferences of users to create a more personalized news feed.

When the news feed feature was introduced in 2008, it was intended to display a personalized feed of news stories from your social circle. So, if your long-lost college roommate posted that she was newly engaged, you would be able to see it in your news feed. The news feed algorithm considers several factors to determine what stories a user sees in his or her news feed. The most recent addition to the algorithm helps determine which videos display in a user’s news feed. Factors such as whether someone has watched a video and for how long they have watched it are both considered. Facebook also stated that likes, comments and shares on videos will now be included in determining rank.

So yes, Facebook wants you to have a news feed that includes everything you want to see, but they have an additional motive, as well. The company started releasing video ads in March – this algorithm update will give the company knowledge of which users are more receptive to videos.

What does this mean for marketers? Now that the algorithm provides user behavior concerning video advertisements, Facebook will be able to target those who enjoy watching videos. Facebook’s targeting tool has become more precise to aid in advertising efforts. The change in the algorithm only applies to videos uploaded by users and Pages, as opposed to other video content such as YouTube links.

Staying up to date with algorithm changes and updates is important for your social media strategy. Have you started using Facebook video ads? How are they working for your company? Tell us what you think of them!

Interested in learning more about social media strategy? Check out our demand generation eBook and our pay-per-click advertising capabilities to learn why social media is important in a successful inbound marketing campaign.

Updated: Apr 13, 2022