App Event Optimization targets shoppers who are more likely to download—and then use—the advertised app.

Marketers who run ads on Facebook Inc. to drive downloads of their mobile apps can now set more advanced, intent-based targeting goals.

Previously, the goal for ads promoting mobile apps on Facebook was to drive app downloads. With Facebook’s new mobile ad format, marketers bid to get their ad in front of consumers who Facebook deems more likely to go one step further. App Event Optimization allows marketers to pick one of 14 goals for their app after a consumer downloads it. These goals, or “events,” hence the name of the ad unit, include: launch the app, add payment information, add an item to the wish list, add an item to the cart, complete registration, complete the tutorial, initiate checkout and purchase an item. Facebook has other goals for marketers that are specific to other verticals, much like a goal for a gaming app is for a consumer to achieve a certain level.

A simple install is not always the best metric to measure when a marketer wants  to acquire high lifetime value shoppers, says Jehan Damji, product manager at Facebook.

“Not every install is created equally,” Damji says. In fact, 26.7% of consumers will abandon a shopping app after one use, according to Adobe’s Digital Index for August 2015, “Mobile Benchmark Report.”

“We know that our ads work, and we want to show more clearly that these ads drive results,” Damji says.  

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Facebook will target consumers based on data it has about Facebook users’ online  behavior. The social network will then serve the ads to consumers it deems are most likely to take the action the advertiser wants. Facebook will serve these ads on mobile devices in its Facebook news feed in its app, Instagram and Audience Network, which is its mobile ad network. The mobile ads are linked to the retailer’s app page in Apple Inc.’s App Store, or Google Inc.’s Google Play.

Advertisers bid what they’d pay for both an install and an event in one bid. Advertisers are charged per impression, not per action. Advertisers should see a higher return on their ad spend because they are able to reach more people who take a valuable action in their app at their budget, Facebook says. 

“Because so many people engage with ads across Facebook, Instagram and the Audience Network, we’re uniquely able to determine whether a person is likely to take actions based on historical data and people with similar characteristics,” Facebook says.

Facebook ran a beta test with App Event Optimization involving a few businesses across multiple verticals, including travel, retail and gaming. The businesses had “really positive results” with the new ad, Damji says. He did not say how long the beta test ran nor how many business were included.

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Online marketplace Poshmark Inc., which allows consumers to shop apparel that other consumers offer for sale, was part of the beta test. Its goal was for consumers to download its app and make a purchase. In using App Event Optimization, Poshmark was able to decrease what it spent on its App Event Optimization ads by 24% because it had to serve fewer ads to get the same number of consumers to make a purchase in app, says Michelle Lo, marketing manager at Poshmark.

“This is a testament to [Facebook’s] ability to help businesses find the right people and to help people connect with apps they’ll enjoy using,” Lo says.

Facebook also will roll out ads that focus on app installs with its Dynamic ads and Canvas ads in the next few weeks, the social network says. Canvas ads are mobile ads in the Facebook news feed. When a consumer clicks on one of these ads it quickly opens up a full-screen mobile ad. Dynamic ads let retailers and other advertisers serve shoppers ads at consumers who visited their site or app.

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