Ellen Fokas

In recent weeks, the two juggernauts in social media – Facebook and Twitter – announced plans to roll out mobile advertising, marking a pivotal moment in the collision of social and mobile advertising. These launches will not only mean significant revenue growth for the social media networks, but also a substantial extension of a brand’s reach on these networks. Here are the Who, What, Where, When and Why of the launches.

WHO:  Facebook and Twitter both made announcements late last month.  Facebook made the announcement during its fMC 2012 conference, and Twitter posted the news to its blog the day before on Feb. 28.

WHAT & WHERE: Facebook’s new Premium Ad Package includes the addition of mobile for the News Feed ad placements. On Facebook’s mobile apps, the ads will appear in a fan’s News Feed as a Sponsored Story.  The look and feel will be similar to the desktop experience including social connotation (i.e. number of comments and ability to like/comment). There has been speculation about how long it will appear, but as of right now it would move along the fan’s New Feed like any other post appearing in the feed.

Facebook recently introduced Coupon Post Ads, a brand new ad unit designed to pique the interest of brands looking to integrate the platform into their drive-to-store media mix. Coupon Post ads live in the Premium ad placement on the Homepage or on a brand’s Facebook wall. This unit follows page posts and promo-driven premium/marketplace ad units, which empower advertisers to incorporate offers into their messaging and deliver value by providing fans with tangible discounts and promotions. As we highlighted in our Digital Coupons Playbook, digital coupons are becoming increasingly important as a new generation of shoppers turn to the web for savings.

Coupon Post Ads are similar to Facebook’s expanded post ad units, appearing alongside a user’s News Feed results or within the News Feed as a post if the user has already liked the brand (see image below). The ad displays the brand name, specifics on the offer itself and information regarding when the coupon expires. The unit also provides different ways to engage with the offer: Get the Coupon or Share the Coupon.

After clicking the Get the Coupon link, the user is sent a Facebook email that contains a printable version of the coupon. The offer can be redeemed by printing the email or showing the email in store on the mobile phone. The user can also share the coupon with friends within the ad unit.

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