Should You Be Buying on the Open Web? 3 Takeways From a Surprising Study
If you run a DTC brand you’re probably already aware of what we in the advertising industry refer to as the “Walled Gardens” or the “Duopoly”. That is, Facebook and Google. These ad environments have claimed a dominant role in the advertising world due to their relative ease of use and effectiveness, but are advertisers seeing the whole picture when they use them?
A new study suggests that you may be missing more than you expect when you only advertise inside the walled gardens. OpenX recently released a study that shows that attitudes towards Facebook and other social media platforms are changing, and the results may surprise some advertisers. Below are the 3 biggest takeaways from the study and how you can use this knowledge to your advantage in future advertising campaigns.
1 - People are using Facebook less than ever
The study shows a trend we’ve discussed for years is continuing, and that is a notable decrease in Facebook usage. Of the people surveyed for this study over 30% reported using Facebook less today than they did a year ago and 26% reported that they plan to continue to decrease their use of Facebook. This is not an indicator of decreased time online, however. Another study shows a notable annual increase in time spent online - 17% increase from 2016 to 2018 and continuing steadily. If current trends continue, this traffic will only further grow as people move off social media sites and onto the rest of the web, or what we call the “open web.”
Given these numbers it may be unsurprising to learn that those people still using social platforms would be less engaged with the content therein. When surveyed, 30% of people using Facebook or Instagram say they are simply “zoning out and not paying attention” while 56% said that when using the open web, they are “curious and in a mood to learn more”. That means when you advertise your brand on the open web you are advertising to an audience over 2x more engaged and ready to interact with your ads than they would be when using Facebook or Instagram.
Take advantage of this by adjusting your advertising spend according to where the traffic and interest is. By moving your ad buys to the open web with brand-content-powered display ads you ensure your brand gets shown to the widest possible audience of qualified intenders and you don’t miss a single opportunity to convert a new customer.
2 - People trust facebook less (and trust open web more) than ever
Another major revelation in this study is the growing distrust of Facebook as an avenue for reliable information. In the era of fake news, inappropriate content and questionable data practices, Facebook is falling out of favor as the go-to source of news and information for millions of consumers. In fact, an astonishing 77% of respondents surveyed said they trust articles they see on open web sites more than those they read (or see links to) on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. When looking for “high quality” content, more people say they turn to the open web first than Facebook, Instagram and YouTube combined.
The open web is also the place where consumers report that they are most likely to find relevant ads, and when asked where the most effective and impactful ads are, the open web ranked higher than Amazon, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. These numbers should be a wake up call to anybody who is only buying ads on social. The number of activated, engaged and interested consumers you miss by only advertising within the walled gardens is immense, but there is always time to fix this. The FieldTest platform makes it simple and easy to place your ads on the premium open web publishers consumers trust more than anything else online.
3 - Facebook is removing features and making it harder to succeed
If your brand is only advertising on Facebook you’re not the only one. Reports show that over 60% of all ad buying happens within the confines of the duopoly walled gardens. This means that only 40% of total digital advertising is occurring where the majority of browsing occurs and is trusted most by consumers. This may change soon, however, as Facebook continues to make fundamental changes to their advertising product that impact the bottom line for brands who use it. With the recent removal of the Facebook audience network many advertisers are finding themselves stuck questioning where they can source a steady stream of new consumers for their digital ads. The answer is the open web, the answer is FieldTest. We give you access to the largest library of audience intender groups anywhere while our audience predictor tool touts one of the most accurate models of consumer intent available on the market. While others throttle results and make it more difficult to achieve advertising success, we have dedicated ourselves to making it easier and more accessible. This all adds up to one thing: When you advertise on the open web with FieldTest, you reach the most potential customers while they are most engaged and interested in your product.
We’ve written before about the benefits of breaking free from the duopoly, and we continue to tell our clients that while buying on facebook and google have their place, they are only pieces of a larger marketing puzzle. We’ve found time and time again that the key to successfully advertising your company is to take a varied approach, to build what we call a marketing stack that services every point in your funnel and makes sure your clients are shown the proper ads at the proper times. More and more, however, this means breaking out from the walled gardens and approaching your customers everywhere else they browse. FieldTest has made this simple with our easy-to-use online ad platform. From creative setup to audience targeting to flight, our digital ad platform is the simplest way to approach your customers wherever they browse. Why wait to break free from the duopoly? Sign up for the FieldTest platform and see what you can accomplish on the open web today!