Understanding Paid and Earned Reach on Facebook

7/31/2019 Understanding Paid and Earned Reach on Facebook

1/16

UNDERSTANDINGPAIDANDEARNEDREACHON

FACEBOOK

Executivesummary..................................................................................................................2UnderstandingSocialReachonFacebook................................................................................3PaidreachamplificationonFacebookplatform.......................................................................4CaseStudy:Indepthreachanalysisof3brands.......................................................................6 Totalbrandreach............................................................................................................................6 Per-postreach.................................................................................................................................7 AudiencedemographicsandFacebookengagement.....................................................................8 Shoppingandbuyingbehaviorofpaidaudience..........................................................................10

MajorRetailerPaidMediaAudience........................................................................................11 SamsungPaidMediaAudience.................................................................................................12 MajorFinancialServicesbrandPaidMediaAudience..............................................................13

Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14 Methodology.........................................................................................................................15ReachMeasurement.....................................................................................................................15 Definitionofpaidandorganicreach.............................................................................................15


2/16

EXECUTIVESUMMARYResearchinthePowerofLikeseriesdemonstratesbrandsopportunitytoreachavaluable

audiencebyengagingtheirfansinordertoreachfriendsoffans.Theuseofearnedmediato

reachandinfluenceconsumershasbeenwelldocumented,butlittleresearchhasbeenfocused

onhowpaidmedia(ads)canbeusedtoextendaudienceforsocially-enabledbrandcontentbeyondthosethatcanbereachedorganicallyorvirally.

Facebooksadvertisingplatformhasbeenbuilttoleveragethepowerofsocialendorsementat

scale.Socialadunitsaffordbrandstheopportunitytotakecontentsharedwithfans(and

friendsoffans)andamplifyitsreachdramatically.Thegoalofthispaperistohelpquantifythis

effectaswellasprofiletheaudiencereachedthroughads.

Thesummarybelowestablishesthekeyfindingsandimplicationsofthisresearch.

LeadingbrandsonFacebookcanusepaidmediatoextendtheirtotalbrandreachbeyondthereachtheyachieveusingorganicmediaalone.Amongaselectionof100topbrandpagesonFacebook,thoseusingpaidmediareachanaudiencethatisonaverage

5.3timeslargerthanorganicaudiencealone,and5.4timesgreaterthanthetotal

audienceoftopbrandpagesusingnopaidmediawithasimilarlysizedfanbase.

Asanexample,wedemonstratehowthreepageswitharangeoffanbasesizesusepaidmediatoextendtheirreachsignificantlybeyondtheirorganicaudience.Specifically,we

foundthataMajorRetailer,SamsungMobile,andaMajorFinancialServicesbranduse

paidmediatoextendreachbyfivetimesovertheirorganicaudienceinasingleweek.

Paidmediacanextendthereachofasinglepieceofcontentbymorethan100times.AmongpageslikeMajorRetailer,SamsungMobile,andMajorFinancialServicesbrand,

paidmediacanamplifyaveragelifetimereachofallpagepostsinaweekbybetween

twoand24times.

Paidandorganicaudienceshavesimilaragedistributionsthedistributionofpaidandorganicaudienceinanygivenagebandarewithinthreepercentagepointsofeachother.

AdsareslightlymorelikelytoreachlessactiveFacebookusers(10percentagepoints),whileorganicmediareachesslightlymoreheavyFaceboookusers(between5and10

percentagepoints).

WithinthepaidaudienceforMajorRetailer,Samsung,andMajorFinancialServicesbrand,participationinshoppingandbuyingishigherthaninternetaverageinkeyareas

relevanttothespecificbrands.Thisdatasuggeststhataudiencesreachedbypaidmedia

onFacebookrepresentavaluablepotentialsetofcustomersforindividualbrands.

Thisresearchestablishesthatpaidmediaprovidesanopportunityforbrandstoextendthe

reachoftheirsocially-enabledbrandcontentonFacebooksignificantlybeyondtheaudience

theyareabletoreachwithorganicmediaalone.Importantly,wefindthatevenbrandswiththe

largestfanbases(greaterthan20millionfans)benefitsignificantlyfromusingadstoamplify


3/16

reach.Finally,thisresearchprovidesevidencethatpaidaudiencesreachedonFacebook

representsegmentsthatareactivein-categorybuyersandshoppers.

UNDERSTANDINGSOCIALREACHONFACEBOOKItsbeenwellestablishedthatrecommendationsfromfriendsareatrustedandinfluential

sourceofinformationaboutbrands.Recentresearch,suchastheSeptember2012Nielsen

ReportTrustinAdvertisingPaid,OwnedandEarned,hasestablishedthatthispower

extendstoimpliedendorsementaswell.1OnFacebook,allbrandmessageswhetherpaid,

owned,orearnedcancarryimpliedendorsementintheformofsocialcontext.TheNielsen

TrustinAdvertisingreportfoundthatFacebookadsenabledwithsocialcontextgenerate

strongerbreakthroughandpersuasionthanadswithnosocialinformation.Socialadsinthe

Nielsenstudywere55%morerecalledthanadswithnosocialendorsement.2Thereport

suggeststhatthesociallayerinbrandmessagesonFacebookbuildstrustthroughimplied

recommendation,andthatthisincreasesthepowerofindividualbrandmessages.

ThepowerofFacebookforbrands,then,istheabilitydistributethissocially-enabledbrand

messagingatscale.AsdiscussedincomScoresPowerofLikeseries,fanandfriend-of-fan

connectionsrepresentanopportunityforbrandstoreachasubstantialaudiencewithorganic

andviralcontent.IntheoriginalPowerofLikestudy,thetop100brandpageswerefoundto

havefriendoffanaudiencesthataverage34xgreaterthantheirfanbases3.Theultimatereach

oforganiccontentisdeterminedbyanumberoffactors,somewhichareinthebrandscontrol

(targetingofapost)andsomeofwhicharenot(suchasthenumberofpeopleonlineduringa

giventimeandthestrengthoftheirconnectiontothebrand).Researchfrom2011suggeststhat

apieceoforganiccontentmayreachasfewas16%offans.

Brandsthathaveinvestedinbuildingstrongfanbasesandcreativecanmaximizethestrengthof

theseassetsbyensuringthattheirsocially-empoweredcontentreachesabroadaudience.Ifa

givenmessagereachesonlyafractionofthebrandspotentialaudience,thisrepresentsalost

opportunityforthebrandtomaximizethevalueofitsbrandpage.Intheseinstances,brands

canuseFacebooksadplatformtoamplifythereachofagivenpieceofcontentbeyondits

naturalorganicandviralreachsignificantlyextendingthetotalaudienceforsociallyenabled

brandmessaging(stories).Astheplatformcandistributetofans,friendsoffans,andnon-fans

(peoplewithnoconnectiontothepage),paidmediaoffersbrandstheopportunitytodistribute

socially-enabledmessagingatbroadscale,regardlessofthenaturalreachforagivenmessage.

Forsmallbrandpages(


4/16

audience.However,forlargebrandpagesthevalueofamplifyingorganicandviralreach

throughtheuseofpaidmediaisnotaswellunderstood.Withpotentialorganicandviral

audiencesinthehundredsofmillions,dolargebrandpagesachievesufficientlybroadreach

usingorganicpublishingalone?Ordoespaidmediarepresentanopportunityforeventhe

largestbrandsonFacebooktosignificantlyextendthereachoftheirsocially-enabledmarketing

messages?

Inthispaper,weaimtoevaluateaudiencesreachedbybothpaidandorganicmediaamongtop

brandsonFacebooktoanswerthefollowingquestions:

DoespaidmediameaningfullyextendthetotalreachofthelargestbrandsonFacebook?

Istheaudiencereachedbypaidmediavaluabletothesebrands?ToevaluatetheextenttowhichbrandsusepaidmediatoextendreachonFacebook,wetake

twoapproaches.First,welookattheuseofpaidmediaamong100brandpageswiththe

greatestfanbasesandorganicreach.Second,wetakeamoredetailedlookintothreebrandsof

differentsizesthatranpaidmediaduringtheobservationperiodinJune.

PAIDREACHAMPLIFICATIONONFACEBOOKPLATFORMDoestheuseofpaidmediaextendtheaudiencereachedbythosebrandsthatalreadyreacha

largeFacebookaudiencethroughorganicmedia?

Toanswerthisquestion,weconsiderthemostsuccessfulpagesonFacebookthosewithtop

fanbasesandtopweeklyorganicreach.Ofthesepagesthathaveachievedleadingresultswith

bothfanacquisitionandorganicpagepublishingstrategies,wecomparethetotalreachofthose

pagesthatusepaidmediatoamplifytheiralreadysuccessfulorganicreachagainstthetotal

reachofsame-sizepagesthatrelyonorganicpublishingalone.

Toconstructgroupsforcomparison,welookatbrandpagesthatareamongthetopUS

Facebookpagesbyfancountandthatalsoreachedanorganicaudienceofatleast1Munique

usersinasingleweekinJune.Wedividetheseintopagesthatusedorganicmediaaloneduring

theweekinquestion,andpagesthatusedbothpaidandorganicmediaduringtheweekin

question.Toconstructanevenlymatchedsetof100pages,wetakethetop50organic-only

pagesandmatcheachtothepaid+organicpagewithnearestfancountsize.Inthiswayweare

abletoobservethetotalreachoftoppagesthatuseorganicmediaalonecomparedtothetotalreachofsame-sizepagesthatusebothpaidandorganicmediatogether.

Theresultingsetseachhaveanaveragefanbaseof10M(9.98Mfororganiconlyand10.02for

paid+organic).Thegroupsachievedsimilaraverageorganicreach(organiconly=2.87M

organicreach,paid+organic=2.91Morganicreach).However,theaveragetotalreachachieved

byeachofthegroupswerevastlydifferent:thegroupthatusedorganicmediaaloneachieved


5/16

anaveragetotalreachof2.87M,whilethegroupthatcombinedpaidandorganicmedia

achievedanaveragetotalreachof15.46M,whichisanamplificationof5xovertheorganic

reachforthosepages.

WeseethatevenforthemostsuccessfulbrandsonFacebook,amplificationofbrandcontent

viapaidmediarepresentsanopportunitytosignificantlyextendtotalreachbeyondaudiences

reachedbyorganicandviralmessagingalone.Further,thepaidaudienceforlargebrandpages

primarilyrepresentsthefriendoffan(>80%)andfannetworks(upto10%,dependenton

targeting),andassuchthesepaidimpressionscarrysocialcontextthatempowerseachpaid

impressionwiththesamesocialendorsementasanaturalorganicimpression.

AmongbrandpageswithtoporganicreachonFacebook,thosealso

using paid media amplify their total reach 5x over organic reach

alone.


6/16

CASESTUDY:INDEPTHREACHANALYSISOF3BRANDSAsthisstudyisdesignedtoinvestigatetheincrementalopportunitythatpaidmediarepresents

forthosebrandsonFacebookthathaveprovensuccesswithfanacquisition,pagemanagement,

andorganicpublishingstrategies,threecasestudybrandswereselectedspecificallyto

representtoppageperformanceonFacebookacrossadiversityofverticalsandfanpagesizes.

Threebrandswereselectedforanin-depthstudyofaudiencereach:AMajorRetailer(17M

fans),SamsungMobileUSA(9Mfans),andMajorFinancialServicesbrand(3Mfans).Asinthe

previousanalysis,pagesselectedforcasestudywereselectedfromthosebrandsthatachieve

amongthetoporganicreachforpagesofsimilarsizeandvertical.Forthesetestbrands,we

considerthreesetsofmetrics:

Totalandper-postbrandreach AudiencedemographicsandbehavioronFacebook ShoppingandbuyingbehaviorofpaidaudienceoffFacebookcomparedtoaverage

internetaudience

TOTALBRANDREACH

Forthethreebrandpages,weselectedaweekinJuneduringwhichacampaignwasrun,and

measuredpaidandorganicreachbrandreachforthatweek.

Becauseitispossibleforasingleusertobereachedbybothorganicandpaidcontentinagiven

week,wedivideeachbrandstotalaudienceintothreecategories:usersreachedthrough

organiccontentonly,thosereachedthroughpaidcontentonly,andthosereachedbybothpaid

andorganiccontent.

WeseebelowthatacrossthisspectrumoflargebrandpagesonFacebook,brandsachievea

paidreachthatis5xthesizeoftheirorganicreach,significantlyextendingtheiraudience.


7/16

In three brand pages ranging from 3M to 17M fans, paid media

reaches5xtheaudienceoforganicreach.

PER-POSTREACH

Anotherwaytomeasureaudienceamplificationistolookathowbrandsusepaidmediato

extendthelifeofasinglepieceofcontent.Inthegraphsbelow,eachbarrepresentsagiven

brandpagepostthathadbothorganicandpaiddistributionduringtheobservationweek.We

thencomparethetotallifetimeaudiencereachedbythosepostsinthe28-dayperiodthat

encompassedthetestweekforbothorganicdistribution(red)andpaiddistribution(blue).

Therelativesizesofthepaidandorganicportionsofeachpostsaudiencearetoalargeextent

determinedbyabrandsdecisions,suchashowthebrandchoosestotargetagivenpost,whenthecontentisposted,andwhetherthebrandusespaidmediatoboostapostviaNewsFeedor

ontherighthandside.Assuch,theper-postamplificationfiguresinthegraphsbelowrepresent

asetofpossibilitiesthatcanbeachievedforbrandpagesofdifferentsizesgivendifferentpage

postingandadstrategies.

Weseethatacrossthethreebrands,theaveragereachamplificationforasinglepieceof

contentrangesfrom2xto24x.Withinthis,however,isabroadrangeofamplificationfigures

Major&Retailer& Samsung&Mobile&USA&Major&Financial&

Services&

Paid&reach&only& 67,611,540&& 82,039,567&& 33,669,817&&

Both&Paid&and&Organic&reach& 10,697,054&& 16,833,446&& 4,455,407&&

Organic&reach&only& 4,250,483&& 3,373,758&& 2,294,109&&

AmplificaKon&of&paid&over&organic& 5.2& 4.9& 5.6&

0&

20,000,000&

40,000,000&

60,000,000&

80,000,000&

100,000,000&

120,000,000&

Audience(reached(by(Paid,(Organic,(and(Both((


8/16

forsingleposts.IndividualpostsfromSamsungandMajorFinancialServicesbrandachievedup

to90x,140x,andeven350xamplification(paidreachdividedbyorganicreach)overtheir

lifetimes.ThesedataalsoshowthatMajorRetailer,Samsung,andMajorFinancialServices

brandeachhadcertainpostsinwhichlifetimeorganicreachoutpacedlifetimepaidby2xto4x.

Takentogether,thesedatasuggestthatbrandscanandshouldtunetheirpostingthoughtfully,choosingtoinvestinpaidamplificationforsomepoststoaddressabroadaudiencethrough

advertising,whileutilizingotherpostsprimarilytoaddresstheirconnectedfansandfriendsof

fans.Forbrandswhohaveinvestedinthecreationofcontent,thisrepresentsapotentiallybig

levertoamplifyandextendthelifeofcontent.

Paidmediacanextendthereachofasinglepieceofcontentbymore

than100x.

On average, paid media can amplify lifetime page post reach

between2xand24x.

AUDIENCEDEMOGRAPHICSANDFACEBOOKENGAGEMENT

Whoisreachedbypaidandorganicmedia?Aretheysimilarintermsofdemographicsand

Facebookengagement?

Toinvestigatethesequestions,weutilizedatafromcomScoreSocialEssentialsandFacebook

internaldata.Intheremainderofthispaper,weusebothdatasourcestomeasurethetotal

brandaudiencereachedduringtheobservationweekforMajorRetailer,SamsungandMajor


9/16

FinancialServicesbrand.Facebookdatarepresentstotalpopulation,whilecomScoredata

representsFacebookuserswhoaremembersofcomScorespanel.

Agedistributionsofaudiencesreachedbypaidandearnedmediawerelargelysimilar,thoughin

somecasespaidaudiencesreachedslightlyhigherpercentagesofolderagebucketsthat

representkeydemographicsforbrands.Thepercentageofthepaidandearnedaudiencethatfallintoeachofthesixagesegmentsdifferbyanaverageofjustthreepoints.Onlythree

segmentsdiffermeaningfullybothMajorRetailerandSamsunghad~7percentagepoint

higherorganicreachamongthe13-27agesegmentcomparedtopaidexposed11.4percentof

MajorFinancialServicesbrandspaidaudiencewasin45-54yearolddemographiccomparedto

5.4percentofitsearnedmediaaudience.

**comScoredata.

ToevaluateFacebookengagementamongthepaidandorganicaudiencesegments,weuse

internalFacebookdata.Weusethenumberofpageslikedperuserandthenumberofstatus

updatespostedin28daysastwowaystodescribeagivensegmentsFacebookengagement.

Whilethepaidandorganicaudiencesagainfollowthesamegeneraldistributionofbehavior,we

seeherethataslightlygreatershareofpaidaudiencefallintolightweightFacebookuse

categories.Specifically,wefoundpaidmessageswere30-60%morelikelytoreachusersthat

haveliked100orfewpages.Similarly,paidmessageswere17-32%morelikelytoreachuser

whohadntpostedastatusupdateinthepast28days.


10/16

**internalFacebookdata

InresearchentitledUsingReachtoDriveImpactpresentedtothe2011ARFAudience

Measurement6.0Conference,Facebookfoundthatlightweightusersrespondmorestronglyto

marketingmessages.Lightweightusersinthisstudywere1.5xmorelikelytorecalladsinthe72

hoursfollowingadexposurecomparedtoheavyweitghtusers4

.Takentogether,thesedatasuggestthatpaidmediarepresentsandopportunityforbrandstoreachmoreresponsiveusers

inkeydemographicswithbrandmessages.

Paidandorganicaudienceshavesimilaragedistributions.

Paid audience are slightly lighter Facebook users than organic

audience.

SHOPPINGANDBUYINGBEHAVIOROFPAIDAUDIENCE Finally,weconsiderthequestion:istheaudiencereachedbypaidmediavaluabletobrandsin

termsofshoppingandbuyingbehavior?

Toanswerthisquestion,weusedcomScoresUSonlinebehavioralpanel.comScoresopt-in

panelpassivelycollectsonlinebehaviorsuchassitevisitationandengagement,onlinespending,

searching,andvideostreaming.ForthisanalysiscomScoreidentifiedpanelistswhowere

exposedtopaidmediaduringtheselectedweekinJune.comScorethenprofiledtheonline

activitiesconductedbytheseaudiencesduringthemonthofJune.

Weassessthevalueofpaidaudiencetobrandsintermsofcategoryandbrandengagement.

Becauseofthebreadthofthepaidaudiences,totalinternetpopulationrepresentsthemost

meaningfulcomparisonsetintermsoftheseengagementmetrics.Asaresult,wehaveindexed

paidaudienceagainsttotalinternetpopulationforbothcategoryandbrandengagement

metrics.

Here,weconsidermetricsthatrepresentdifferentlevelsofengagementintermsofinternetsite

categoryvisitationandtimespent,OnlineBuyingPowerIndex(measuredbytotaldollarsspent

perbuyeronaverageacrossthesegmentindexedagainsttheaveragedollarsperbuyerforthe

totalInternetpopulation),andvariousotherconversionmetricsthatwerepertinenttoeach

advertiser/brand.

ForMajorRetailer,weevaluatedbothonlineandofflinetransactionsanddollarsperbuyer

spentatMajorRetailerForSamsung,thefocuswasonSamsung.comreachandengagementas

4NewResearchTechniquesandApproaches,PartA:"UsingReachtoDriveImpact"

BSmallwoodandSBruich,Facebook,presentedatARFAudienceMeasurement6.0

Conference,June132011.


11/16

wellassearchesconductedcontainingthetermSamsung.ForMajorFinancialServicesbrand,

welookedatthepercentageoftheaudiencereachedbypaidmediathathadbeenactivewitha

MajorFinancialServicesbrandcard(i.e.madeanonlinetransactionorcheckedaMajor

FinancialServicesbrandstatementonline),aswellasMajorFinancialServicesbrandspayment

shareamongtheothertopothercreditcardcompanies.Ineachcase,wecomparepaid

audiencetothetotalinternetpopulation.

MAJORRETAILERPAIDMEDIAAUDIENCE

TheaudiencereachedbyMajorRetailerpaidmediaaremorelikelytobeheavieroverall

internetusers,spendingnearly2Xmoretimethantheaverageinternetuser.Thisaudience

spendsmoretimeonEntertainmentandRetailsites(indicesof172and135),andhashigher

visitationratesinmostcategories,particularlycategoriesrelevanttoMajorRetailersuchas

Apparel(172),ConsumerGoods(146),Coupons(153),DepartmentStores(157),andRetail(118)

5.Interestingly,theMajorRetailerpaidmediaaudienceisnomorelikelytovisitsocialmedia

sitesthantheaverageinternetuser(indexof102fortheSocialMediacategory).

Comparedtotheaverageinternetuser,thoseexposedtoPaidMediaindexhigherone-

commercespendingoverall.Comparedtotheaverageinternetuser,usersexposedtoMajor

RetailerpaidmediaonFacebookspent:

3timesmoreintheGiftCertificates/Coupons,Flowers/GiftsandSports/Fitnesscategories

2timesmoreintheBabySupplies,Handhelds/PDAsandPortableDevicescategories Nearly2timesmoreintheBooks/Music,EventTickets,VideoGames/Consoles

categories

20percentmoreintheApparelandFood,BeverageandCPGcategories

WhenlookingatoverallBuyingPowerIndex(BPI)6,usersreachedbyMajorRetailerpaidmedia

overindexedsubstantiallycomparedtotheaverageinternetuser.The35-44and55+age

segmentsofthepaidexposedgroupinparticular,hadaboveaverageonlinedollarsperbuyer

duringtheperiod.

ComparedtotheaverageInternetuser;thoseexposedtopaidmediaare66%morelikelytobuy

atMajorRetailer.comand45%morelikelytobuyataMajorRetailerstorethantheaverage

internetuser.

5Indicescomparethebehaviorofthesegment(usersreachedbypaidmedia)tothatof

theaverageinternetuser.Base=100.6BPIisdefinedasthetotalnumberofdollarsspentonlinebythetargetgroupof

interestduringthemonthofJunedividedbythenumberofbuyersinthesegment

(averagedollarsperbuyer).Thatvalueisthenindexed(dividedby)theaveragedollars

perbuyeracrossthetotalInternetpopulationandmultipliedby100toarriveatthe

index.Anindexover120isconsideredtobeanoteworthyover-index.


12/16

SAMSUNGPAIDMEDIAAUDIENCE

UsersreachedbySamsungpaidmediaonFacebookareheavyinternetusersoverall--theywere

morelikelytovisitsitesin85%ofthecategoriescomScoretracks.Perhapsmoreimportantly,

theyweremorelikelythanaveragetovisitcategoriesrelevanttoSamsungsproducts,

potentiallyindicatingtheyrepresentastrongtargetforSamsungads.Specifically,usersexposedtoSamsungadswere68%morelikelythantheaverageusertovisitTechnologyNews

sites,50%morelikelytovisitTelecommunicationssitesand62%morelikelytovisitConsumer

Electronicssites.

UsersexposedtoSamsungpaidmediawerealso24%morelikelytoshoponlinethanthe

averageinternetuser.TheBuyingPowerIndex(BPI)ofthepaidaudiencewasnotablyhighin

thetwoproductcategoriesmostrelevanttoSamsungMobile:MobilePhones(BPIof150)and

Handhelds,PDAs(169).

Perhapsmosttelling,comScorefoundthattheaudiencereachedbySamsungpaidmediawas

173percentmorelikelythantheaverageusertoconductsearchesthatcontainedtheword

Samsung,andwhentheydidso,theysearchedforSamsung39percentmorefrequently.

Whileitsimportanttopointoutthatonecannotdrawacausalconnectionbetweenexposure

toadsonFacebookandthissearchbehavior,onecanconfidentlyconcludethattheaudience

reachedbytheseadswashighvalueintermsofitspropensitytobeinterestedinSamsung

products.


13/16

MAJORFINANCIALSERVICESBRANDPAIDMEDIAAUDIENCE

TobetterunderstandwhetherusersreachedbyMajorFinancialServicesbrandadsonFacebook

representapotentiallyvaluableaudienceforMajorFinancialServicesbrand,comScoreutilized

itspaneltoanalyzethisaudiencescreditcardusagebehaviors.Creditcardusageamongthe

paidaudienceisassessedusingthreedifferentmeasures:cardownership,shareoftransactions,

andshareofdollars.Eachmetricprovidesaslightlydifferentmeasureofcreditcardusage

withintheaudiencereachedbyMajorFinancialServicesbrandpaidmedia.

TheanalysisrevealedthattheaudiencereachedbyMajorFinancialServicesbrandonFacebook

was31percentmorelikelytobeMajorFinancialServicesbrandcardholder7thantheaverage

Internetuser.Whenconsideringonlinetransactions,comScorefoundthateighteenpercentof

thepaidmediaexposedgroupmadeanonlinepurchasewithaMajorFinancialServicesbrand

card,comparedtotwelvepercentofthetotalInternet(indexof147).Inaddition,comScore

foundthatMajorFinancialServicesbrandsdollarshareofonlinepurchaseswas24percent

higheramongusersexposedtoMajorFinancialServicesbrandpaidmediacomparedtoaverage.

Takentogether,thesedatasuggestthatthepaidaudiencereachedbyMajorFinancialServices

brandrepesentactiveusersofcreditcardsandofMajorFinancialServicesbrandcards,and

7comScorepanelistsweredeterminedtobecardholdersiftheywereobservedmaking

anonlinetransactionwithaMajorFinancialServicesbrandand/ORloggedintoaMajor

FinancialServicesbrandaccountonlineduringthemonthofJune2012


14/16

thereforerepresentapotentiallyvaluableaudienceforMajorFinancialServicesbrandtoreach

withbrandmarketingmessaging.

CONCLUSION

Collectively,thisresearchestablishesthatpaidmediaprovidesanopportunityforbrandsto

extendtheirreachonFacebooksignificantlybeyondtheaudiencetheyareabletoreachwith

organicmediaalone.Ouranalysisfoundthistobetrueevenforbrandswithsomeofthelargest

fanbasesonFacebook.Wealsofoundthatthereisawidevarianceintheamountofpaid

amplificationthatoccursforanygivenFanpagepostsuggestingthatbrandshavecontrolover

theamountofdistributionamessagereceives.Further,thisstudyprovidesevidencethatpaid

audiencesreachedonFacebookaregenerallysimilardemographicallytothosereachedusing

earnedmediaandareoftenmorelikelythantheaverageusertobeengagedwiththebrandand

itscategory.


15/16

METHODOLOGYToevaluatetheextenttowhichbrandsusepaidmediatoextendreachonFacebook,wetake

twoapproaches.First,welookatuseofpaidmediaamongbrandpageswithtoporganicreach.

Second,wetakeamoredetailedlookintothreebrandsofdifferentsizeswhoranpaidmedia

duringthetestperiodinJune.

REACHMEASUREMENT

COMSCOREMETHODOLOGYANDDATASOURCES

comScoredatainthispaperwascollectedandanalyzedusingthecomScoresSocialEssentials

product,whichisameasurementservicebasedonthecompanysproprietary2millionperson

globalpanelofInternetusersfromahomeorworkcomputer(note:mobilebasedInternet

browsingisnotincludedinthisanalysis).Opt-inpanelistsprovidecomScorewithexplicit

permissiontopassivelyobservetheironlinebehavior,includingsitevisitation,searchactivity,

advertisingexposure,andonlinepurchases.Bymeasuringonlinebehaviorfortheseopt-inpanelists,comScorecanobservebothpublicandnon-publicpageswithinparticularsocial

networkssuchasFacebook.Measurementofpanelistsexposuretosocialmediamarketing

withinsocialnetworkscanbelinkedtootherbehaviorsinwhichtheyengagearoundtheweb.

DEFINITIONOFPAIDANDORGANICREACH

TOTALPAIDBRANDREACH representsthenumberofuniquepeoplewhosawbrandcontent

fromasponsoredproduct,suchasanadorsponsoredstoryfromaPagepost.Theseadscan

appearinNewsFeed,Ticker,orontherighthandsideofthepage.

TOTALORGANICBRANDREACH representsthenumberofuniquepeople,fansornon-fans,who

sawbrandcontentintheirNewsFeed,Ticker,orontheBrandPage.Thisincludesall

impressionsofanypieceofcontentgeneratedbytheBrandPage,allimpressionsoforganic

storiesaboutthebrandgeneratedbyusers,andimpressionsgeneratedwhenusersnavigateto

thebrandpageontheirown.Thisincludespageposts,userlikesandcomments,usermentions

andtags,andorganicbrandpageimpressions.


16/16

PER-POSTREACHrepresentsthenumberofuniquepeople,fansornon-fans,reachedbyasingle

pagepost.Fororganicper-postreach,thisincludesallorganicimpressionsofagivenpostin

newsfeed,ticker,oronthebrandpage.Forpaidper-postreach,thisincludesanypromoted

impressionofagivenpostinnewsfeedorintherighthandside.

Documents

Understanding Paid and Earned Reach on Facebook