Facebook Introduces Ads in Facebook Messenger

From this week onwards, brands advertising on Facebook can buy ads that display in Facebook Messenger. They will be News Feed ads that will be able to be launched in a Messenger conversation.

Facebook explained in a blog post, “All advertisers on Facebook now can reach people in News Feed and direct them to Messenger. We began testing This ad destination a few months ago and are happy to announce that this is now available to all Facebook advertisers. Early adopters have used these news feed ads to open conversations on Messenger to raise awareness of their brand campaigns and increase sales. For example, Absolut recently launched a Messenger bot to drive product samples and used News Feed ads to increase traffic to this experience.”

The usual extensive demographic targeting options will be available to advertisers, and Facebook will only allow brands to market to customers who have already sent them messages using Messenger. This ability to re-engage existing customers is expected to be highly efficient and effective, carefully targeting people who have demonstrated an interest in the brand.

Some customers have expressed dismay at the thought of ads within Messenger, but the fact that brands can only contact people who have already made contact, and that users can block messages from companies they do not want to hear from should hopefully safeguard against spam and abuse.

Sponsored messages will be allowed to contain one link and one photo. Marketers will be charged whenever their ads are viewed on a Messenger user’s inbox screen, and ad impressions will be paid regardless of whether the message is opened.