The Impact of Social FeaturesToday, social is about more than just posting personal updates. Consumers use social networks to broadcast everything from what brands they like, to what TV shows they are watching and how they just voted for their favorite stars online. This opens up a world of opportunities for brands, but what does this engagement mean for brand advertisers?
To help answer this question, Yahoo! measured the brand impact for a major auto brand’s sponsorship of Yahoo!’s Academy Awards page during the 2011 Oscars.
We spoke to 1,505 online entertainment fans and measured the increase in ad effectiveness between two sponsored Academy Awards pages: one with social features (test site) and one without (control site). The social feature within the test site was a sponsored Oscar winners voting module with a Facebook sharing feature. Both sites integrated a 300x250 and a 235x60 banner ad for an auto brand.
Key Findings
Did social features around content drive increased brand perception?
- After only one exposure, 40% liked the brand more because of their sponsorship of the social features.
Did social features impact advertiser effectiveness and brand response?
- Social features around Yahoo! content significantly increased brand metrics.
- 12% increase in brand favorability
- 13% increase in purchase intent
- 41% increase in net promoter/likelihood to recommend brand
- Positive statements about the brand’s leadership, innovation and connection also grew significantly.
- “Is a leading auto brand” (15% increase)
- “Is technologically advanced” (14% increase)
- “Is a brand that cares about its customers” (17% increase)
- Among visitors of the test site, 67% knew which brand was featured – 2x higher than the online advertising norm.
Did influencers respond to ads with social features?
- Brand metrics especially increased among influencers*
- 15% increase in influencers’ total unaided ad awareness
- 100% increase in influencers who stated that the auto brand “cares about its customers”
- 45% increase in influencers who stated that the auto brand was “fun”
* Influencers = respondents who selected 4 or 5 (on a 5-pt scale) to at least 3 out of 5 influencer/attitudes statements.
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