A recent joint study from Nielsen and Facebook, titled "Advertising Effectiveness: Understanding the Value of a Social Media Impression," analyzed survey data from more than 800,000 Facebook users with regard to more than 125 Facebook ad campaigns from 70 brand advertisers. The report provides quantifiable data that can be mapped to trusted advertising benchmarks: Ad Recall, Brand Awareness, and Purchase Intent.
Studies have shown that consumers trust their friends and peers more than anyone else in making a purchase decision. The authors acknowledge that it's critical to understand advertising not just in terms of "paid" media, but also in terms of how "earned" media (passed along or shared among friends) and social advocacy contribute to campaigns.
Percent of Respondents Trusting "Completely or Somewhat" in Selected Forms of Information | |
Form of Information | % of Respondents |
Recommendations from people known | 90% |
Consumer opinions posted online | 70 |
Brand websites | 70 |
Editorial content | 69 |
Brand sponsorship | 64 |
TV | 62 |
Newspaper | 61 |
Magazines | 59 |
Billboards/outdoor advertising | 55 |
Radio | 55 |
Opted-in Emails | 54 |
Ads before movies | 52 |
Ads fromSearch engine results | 41 |
Online video ads | 37 |
Online banner ads | 33 |
Text ads on mobile phones | 24 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, April 2009 |
The study took a close look at 14 Facebook ad campaigns that incorporated the "Become A Fan" engagement unit and sliced the effectiveness results three different ways, by each of the types of ads available on Facebook:
For those Homepage engagement ads at the top of the marketing funnel, awareness increased on average by 4% between exposed and control audiences. Purchase intent also increased on average by 2% following ad exposure on Facebook.
Variance Between Control Group to Homepage Ad | |
Benchmark | % Lift Change vs. Control |
Ad recall | 10% |
Awareness | 4 |
Purchase intent | 2 |
Source: the Nielsen Company/Facebook, April 2010 |
Comparing the responses of those users who had seen ads with social context against users who saw ads with no social context from the same campaign, there is a measurable lift in lift.
Relative "Lift" between Homepage and Homepage with Social Context Added | ||
Benchmark | Homepage Exposure Lift | Homepage with Social Advocacy |
Ad Recall | 10% | 16% |
Awareness | 4 | 8 |
Purchase intent | 2 | 8 |
Source: the Nielsen Company/Facebook, April 2010 |
While exposure to the homepage ad itself increased ad recall, those users exposed to both the "paid ad" and the organic impression remembered the ad at three times the rate of those just exposed to the paid homepage ad.
We saw a similar effect for the other two metrics evaluated. Homepage ads increased awareness of the product or brand by 4% on average, but exposure to both homepage ads and organic ads increased awareness by a delta of 13% versus the control group. Exposure to organic impressions also impacted purchase intent as well, increasing the impact of the ad from 2% to 8%.
Variance in Lift Between Homepage Control and Homepage Ad With Organic Context Added | ||
Benchmark | Homepage Ad Exposure | Homepage Ad + Organic |
Ad Recall | 10% | 30% |
Awareness | 4 | 13 |
Purchase intent | 2 | 8 |
Source: the Nielsen Company/Facebook, April 2010 |
To access additional visuals in the TopLine report, please visit Nielsen here, or for the complete PDF file on earned media, social advertising and the methodology behind the study, please visit here.
Great info. But I would submit that the most important aspects of a Social Media program will never be measured. Because Social Media is conducted on a one-to-one basis (in front of thousands of spectators), its strength is its ability to strengthen the relationship between marketer and customer. To resolve customer service issues before the customer decides to take a powder (or vent elsewhere). To reward frequent and loyal customers with special access and considerations. To get input on possible product offerings and initiatives. To conduct quick-and-dirty surveys. To work casual customers up the loyalty ladder. To provide several new portals through which to engage the organization. Read more about that here: http://ht.ly/1Er22
http://www.quisenblog.com
I would disagree with the comment above. If not all aspects of social media are being measured, then certainly the most important aspects should be. Measuring the ROI is important in order to ensure that your social media efforts are working.
Although the task of implementing an attribution model may sound daunting, it should be a key element of your social media strategy.
Read more: http://bit.ly/9y8XMk