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UNDERSTANDINGPAIDANDEARNEDREACHON
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
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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
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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(
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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
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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.
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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.
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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((
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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
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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.
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**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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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thereforerepresentapotentiallyvaluableaudienceforMajorFinancialServicesbrandtoreach
withbrandmarketingmessaging.
CONCLUSION
Collectively,thisresearchestablishesthatpaidmediaprovidesanopportunityforbrandsto
extendtheirreachonFacebooksignificantlybeyondtheaudiencetheyareabletoreachwith
organicmediaalone.Ouranalysisfoundthistobetrueevenforbrandswithsomeofthelargest
fanbasesonFacebook.Wealsofoundthatthereisawidevarianceintheamountofpaid
amplificationthatoccursforanygivenFanpagepostsuggestingthatbrandshavecontrolover
theamountofdistributionamessagereceives.Further,thisstudyprovidesevidencethatpaid
audiencesreachedonFacebookaregenerallysimilardemographicallytothosereachedusing
earnedmediaandareoftenmorelikelythantheaverageusertobeengagedwiththebrandand
itscategory.
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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.
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PER-POSTREACHrepresentsthenumberofuniquepeople,fansornon-fans,reachedbyasingle
pagepost.Fororganicper-postreach,thisincludesallorganicimpressionsofagivenpostin
newsfeed,ticker,oronthebrandpage.Forpaidper-postreach,thisincludesanypromoted
impressionofagivenpostinnewsfeedorintherighthandside.