Social Media Advertising Likes You

Posted on 25 July 2010 | by Christina Quist

Social media advertising might be uncharted territory but Facebook proves that it’s not what you know, but who you know, that sells.

According to a recent Nielsen/Facebook report, if my friends like it, I’m more likely to buy it. Survey data from 800,000 Facebook users was analyzed recently to study different responses to more than 125 Facebook ad campaigns from 70 different brand advertisers.

The result? Personalization sells. The joint report, Advertising Effectiveness: Understanding the Value of a Social Media Impression, concluded that consumers trust their friends more than anyone else. The study looks at how “earned” media (advertising that is passed along or shared among to friends and beyond) and social advocate contribute to campaigns.

While there was significant value generated from a basic page ad, the results suggest that a personalized ad (that indicates which friends like a particular product) increased brand awareness by 60% and moreover increased purchasing intent 4 times.

And you thought peer pressure was a junior high phase.