3 Examples Of Impactful Facebook Playable Ads

For advertisers, standing out on social platforms such as Facebook isn’t exactly a walk in the park. Competing noise combined with short attention spans call for compelling creative in order to cut through and drive impact. 

This article explores a format that can help give brands a leg up in the battle to capture attention: Playable Ads.

What are Facebook Playable Ads? 

Facebook’s Playable Ads are in interactive mobile ad format that places the audience in the driver's seat, providing them with a rich, hands-on experience. Acting as a hybrid between video ads and mobile-gaming, Playables boost engagement by immersing viewers through fun, touch-responsive elements. 

Playable Ads were originally developed by Facebook in order to drive higher-intent leads towards install pages for mobile-games by offering a “test drive” preview. Although this remains a key use-case for Playables, the format can now be utilized by a diverse range of brands and for an equally diverse set of campaign objectives. 

Being a fully customizable HTML5 format, Playable Ads are limited only by creativity and imagination, making it a versatile placement that can take many forms. 

How do Facebook Playable Ads work? 

Each Facebook Playable Ad can be broken down into the following three sections:

 1) Lead-In Video

The lead-in video appears in-feed on Facebook and has a primary purpose of capturing the viewer’s attention and encouraging them to click through to begin the Playable Ad. 

 2) Full-Screen Playable Ad 

Once the user clicks through from the lead-in video, they are transported into the full-screen playable ad itself. From here they interact with the ad, clicking and swiping their way through an interactive journey. 

 3) Call-To-Action 

A call-to-action (CTA) appears at the conclusion of the ad, driving traffic towards a desired destination such as the download page on either Google Play or the App Store. 

What are the benefits of Facebook Playable Ads? 

Playables fall under the larger category of interactive ad formats that are becoming more prevalent within the digital landscape. These innovative formats have come about as a result of the enormous amounts of competing noise that is now present on digital platforms. Brands who invest in new formats such as Playable Ads gain a competitive advantage as they are able to deploy something new, something that breaks from convention and engages audiences on a deeper level. 

Playable Ads can be extremely useful from a performance standpoint. The interactive experience of engaging with a Playable can help to qualify a lead, creating higher purchase intent. 

However, the true power of Playables comes from a brand perspective. Playables significantly lift brand recall due to audiences spending more time with the ad due to its interactive elements. Studies conducted by Magna have also shown that the innovative nature of interactive ads also helps brands to develop positive “cutting edge” and “exciting” brand associations. 

Let’s take a look at some Playables in action. 

Playable Example #1: Babbel

Leading language app Babbel developed the above Playable Ad in order to promote their 7-day free trial and ultimately drive subscriptions. The Playable gave prospects the chance to demo Babbel’s Spanish course, testing their knowledge with two quick and easy lessons that helped familiarize users with the app before giving them the chance to download it. Qualifying leads by allowing them to demo the app helped Babbel to reduce their cost-per-purchase by 11% during the campaign. 

Playable Example #2: Monster Legends

Mobile-gaming fan favorite, Monster Legends, adopted Playable Ads into their digital strategy in order to give them a point of difference and drive downloads. 

By giving their target audiences a hands-on teaser of the game, Monster Legends were able to get their gameplay in front of a larger number of potential gamers. Due to the ad mirroring the actual Monster Legends gameplay experience, the Playable essentially provided a scaled demo experience to a large target audience of Facebook users.  

Playable Example #3: New York Lottery

This was an effective way of building awareness for the game by engaging audiences through an interactive experience and driving this traffic towards the corresponding landing page. 

Social distancing meant that in 2020, NY Lottery was unable to hit the streets with their usual promotional efforts. So, in response, the team decided to develop a fun, retro-style Playable Ad that brought their Skee-Ball Scratch-Off Game to life. 

This was an effective way of building awareness for the game by engaging audiences through an interactive experience and driving this traffic towards the corresponding landing page. 

Summary 

Forward-thinking brands should consider interactive ad formats such as Playable Ads as a way of gaining a competitive edge—whilst also engaging their target audiences in a richer, more impactful manner. 

This article has showcased a variety of different use-cases for Facebook Playables, each offering a very unique, yet consistently immersive experience for the audience.