• by Colin Kirkland , May 18, 2023

Meta has announced two advertising updates, including the testing of “promotional ads,” which are aimed at making it easier for people to discover, manage and apply digital promotions to their online purchases, and the expansion of its lead ads via new features to help businesses find “more qualified customers.”

According to Meta, 85% of shoppers actively seek out promotions and offers prior to making a purchase, which is why the company says it is starting to test “promotional ads,” a new ad format aimed at helping businesses complete a sale by offering customers brand deals.

With promotional ads, Meta wants advertisers to be better able to engage people through features like “seasonal sales, first-time purchase discounts and holiday promotions” and make it easier for customers to find, apply, and manage relevant deals.

More specifically, when people see an ad with a promotion on Facebook, they can click the ad to claim the offer and automatically apply the discount code, removing extra steps like entering an email address and typing in the code manually. Furthermore, Meta says if they don't complete the purchase, they will receive a reminder notification before the deal ends.”

Meta added that promotional ads tests will include select advertisers on Facebook in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and India. “As we learn more in the coming months, we will consider testing additional features,” the company stated in the announcement.

In addition to the promotional ads tests, Meta is also expanding its suite of lead generation products, which surrounds the filling out of digital forms.

For starters, advertisers' question and-answer-forms can now update automatically based on how customers respond. If an educational institution asks “What degree do you want?” subsequent questions will be based on their answer as to better guide the person to more information about a desired program.

Meta is also inviting advertisers to overlay Instant Forms -- a way to obtain contact information from people reached via an ad without leaving Facebook or Instagram -- on their business’s web page within the app where people can gain more context about the business while submitting their name and email address automatically.

Finally, before setting up a lead ad campaign, businesses can now connect with interested customers by adding a contact form to the “Contact Us” call to action button on their Facebook page. This will allow people to inquire and start a conversation with them through Messenger.

“In today’s economic environment, it’s important for businesses to find the right customers, and for people to find the best deals so their dollars go further,” says Meta’s senior director of product management Helen Ma. “That's why we're expanding our lead ad capabilities and testing this new promotional ads format, so people can gain more information about a brand’s product or service as well as access to deals that help them save.”