Best new report, new Facebook stats, new Twitter tweets, how social killed the ad campaign, and who really influences people
1. Best new report: eMarketer
Just in time for Advertising Week, eMarketer has released a study estimating worldwide social network ad revenues will reach $5.54 billion this year, with just under half that amount, $2.74 billion, coming from the U.S. market. By 2013, non-U.S. revenues will make up 51.9% of the total, which will hit nearly $10 billion worldwide. In the U.S., social networks will make $4.81 billion from ads in '13. A clear indication that social has invaded social: Every single Advertising Week session I attended lingered on the impact of social media.
2. Best new stats for brands: Facebook
5 best fb pic
On Tuesday, Facebook's head of advertising, David Fischer, took the main stage at Advertising Week and shared new stats about the effectiveness of Facebook for brands. According to a Nielsen study released Monday, Fisher said that broadly targeted campaigns on Facebook reached 95% of the intended audience, compared to an industry average of 72%. Narrowly targeted campaigns were even more effective, reaching the right audience 90% of the time versus the online average of 35%. Impressive.
Facebook also unveiled new analytics for advertisers this week, as well as a new "premium ad unit" that combines a friend's endorsement with a separate brand message. The social networking company also had an answer for all the detractors who complain about Facebook's creative canvas: Facebook Studios, a site dedicated to very cool and very creative advertising case studies.
3. Best new Twitter account: @TwitterAds
Twitter launched an advertising-focused blog and twitter account for advertisers this week. Good thing, since Twitter now has 1,600 advertisers, according to Twitter's Chief Revenue Officer Adam Bain, who took the stage at IAB's Mixx Conference on Wednesday. He said that Twitter currently has an 80% retention rate with advertisers. He shared several examples of advertising success on Twitter, but my favorite was the one about Burberry. The luxury brand launched a fashion show on Twitter last month and realized 14% higher engagement, and a 10X lift in brand mentions. Bain told the audience that engagements on Twitter ads are being defined by clicks on links and retweets.
4. Best strong words to instill fear in the advertising industry: Ad Age
One of the most shared articles of Advertising Week came from Ad Age and was titled, "Ad Campaigns Are Dead: How the Social Filter is Making the Campaign Mentality Obsolete." In the article, Eric Wheeler says that the conventional advertising campaign could soon be a thing of the past. Social media is forcing marketers to look beyond top-down, time-limited campaign strategies and seek out lasting two-way engagement. He believes that the answer now lies in understanding the social influence of your own loyal consumers. A new Yahoo! study done in partnership with BBDO speaks to how social media has changed how brands tell stories,and in the end it says that the key to success in the future will be focusing on the relationships with consumers.
5. Best slide: Paul Dunay, Networked Insights
In keeping with Wheeler's point and the Yahoo! study, this was one of our favorite slides from the week. It was shared by Paul Dunay of Networked Insights in a Facebook session called "Will You Still Like Me in the Morning." It doesn't talk about a new social networking feature or stat about advertising. It focuses on the most important thing for advertisers: people, and who influences them.
5 best slide pic CROP
--- Dianne Molina