Everyone knows that the Facebook mobile app has been at the top of the list in every app market for a long time now. It is quite possibly the most popular app released on any mobile platform, and it is starting to seem like people are using the mobile platform more than they are browsing Facebook on their computers. Marketers realized this a while ago, and have started using Facebook mobile advertising options and services to their advantage. These services have worked quite well, mainly due to the high engagement with Facebook mobile and ultimately the immense traffic that Facebook sees every day.
Now, according to a few sources across the internet, Facebook is improving upon their mobile advertising services. This upgrade will allow marketers to target Facebook users based on what type of mobile device they use, be it Android, Apple, etc. Now, everyone knows how much the mobile OS a person uses can tell about buying habits and interests, so targeting based on this information could be quite effective.
The new mobile marketing feature on Facebook was apparently not a very big announcement, but rather Facebook made drew very little attention from it. TechCrunch explains it like so;
Facebook confirmed to me it quietly unlocked the new device and OS mobile ad placement options when it officially launched its new mobile app install ads two weeks ago. These ads let developers pay to show links to their App Store or Google Play apps in the Facebook mobile news feed. Facebook needed a way to make sure devs were reaching users on the devices they build apps for.
The company also states that the option, so far, only allows marketers to target either Apple iOS or Google Android. Microsoft, Blackberry, and any other competitors have not been added into the equation quite yet. Also, Facebook has not figured out a way to allow marketers to target specific devices from either OS, aside from a differentiation between iPhones, iPods and iPads. The service, though still young and possibly underdeveloped, will prove to be a very effective tool for marketers.
Here is TechCrunch’s opinion on Facebook’s reasoning behind the release of this upgrade;
Facebook is desperate to become a mobile advertising company. It’s got the data to do it, luckily. It just needs to find more creative ways like this that turn what it knows about us into reasons businesses should pay.
I agree with this statement quite heavily. For a long time now we have seen Facebook’s focus on their mobile platform, apparently feeling quite comfortable with their desktop marketing efforts, which started off a bit shaky. Since the big boom of mobile popularity occurred, Facebook has been a thing for mobile phones, and realizing that most of their users were going mobile, Facebook has felt that they need to pick up the slack that is left behind on their desktop network. So, along with the various other mobile marketing services that they have created in past months, this new upgrade will allow them to become a step closer to their mobile advertising goals.
