Next week, Facebook will be beginning a test that involves selling video ads that will appear on internet based TV platforms, such as Roku and Apple TV. A Facebook representative reported in an email statement, “We are testing how to best deliver video ads through Audience Network to people watching content on connected TVs. Our goal is to bring relevant ad experiences to people both on Facebook and off.”
During this initial testing phase, Facebook will be using Tubi TV along with A&E, to test the waters of this new advertising battle ground. The strategy that Facebook will implement does not include selling ad time to third party brands like Nike or Samsung. Instead it will use the video space to promote itself and some of the non-profit organizations that they (Facebook) work with.
As it stands, it is believed that Facebook and Google, two powerhouse hitters when it comes to digital advertising, already claim almost all of the digital ad revenue being made. TV is now starting to garner advertiser’s attention because it is no longer just a display to watch what comes out of a cable box. Anything that can be displayed on a TV, which includes virtually anything online, can now be considered part of this new advertising realm.
Affiliate marketers should be interested to see the strategy that Facebook will implement, and how its new advertising stream plays out. Will Facebook eventually start to use the ad space for other brands, rather than just self-promotion? If so, affiliate marketers should take advantage of Facebook’s new strategy.
