• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, October 1, 2012

According to Social Media Insights: Men are Cheap, from Kenshoo, exploring gender differences in Facebook advertising campaigns, men are less expensive to reach and respond better with Facebook ads than women, though the women represent the majority of Facebook users.

Alan Osetek, president of Resolution Media, notes that “... advertisers capitalized on this trend and spent 53% of Facebook advertising budgets reaching men... men delivered better Exposure Rates and click through rates than women, increasing their value for marketers... ”  

Key highlights of the report include:

• Men are exposed to and click on more Facebook ads
• On average, ads targeting men cost less through the cost-per-thousand impressions ($0.16 male / $0.20 female) and cost-per-click ($0.51 male / $0.68 female) pricing models
• Ads targeting men achieved superior Exposure Rates, reaching a larger percentage of their unique audiences

Sivan Metzger, general manager of Kenshoo Social, concludes that “... gender is just one of the many rich targeting options available to Facebook... (to) create highly engaging campaigns at scale.. .”

Suggested in the report are “Key Takeaways for Advertisers”

1. Create finely-targeted ad segments... highly-targeted ad segments enable more relevant and cost effective Facebook advertising.

2. Methodically expand the number of highly-targeted ad segments... to effectively scale campaigns

3. Use custom text and images for targeting men vs. women...

4. Adjust bidding strategies based on segment attributes, including gender...

5. Monitor frequency...  six is optimal... beyond that point, people tune out...

The data set examined for this report spans nearly 65 billion Facebook ad impressions and 20 million Facebook ad clicks during a 12-month period.

For more from Kenshoo Social and Resolution Media please visit here, and the free PDF file may be accessed here.