Facebook more efficient in driving impact than TV, says study

Speaking to Campaign Asia-Pacific, Reynold D’Silva, group head of FMCG, tech, telco and media brands for Facebook Southeast Asia, said that while more and more marketers agree that advertising on the social media platform is effective, some questions remain.

“The question that keeps coming up from clients is how does Facebook compare to TV?” he added. “This is why we partnered with Millward Brown to conduct this study to enable marketers to make informed decisions.”

The CrossMedia Research study, which uses the agency's proprietary methodology and tool, found that Facebook generates incremental reach (8 percent) over TV as well as other digital platforms in Asia-Pacific.

In addition, the study found that

• Facebook is 400 percent more cost efficient than TV
• Facebook is 150-200 percent more efficient than other digital channels
• Facebook is able to drive impact across the funnel
• Ads on Facebook are 200 percent more efficient in driving impact compared to TV

“So essentially what the study found is that for every dollar spent on Facebook, you get 200 percent higher brand impact than the same dollar spent on TV,” said D’Silva.

In late September, Facebook launched a product that lets advertisers plan, buy and measure video ads on the social-media platform using total rating points (TRPs).

The TRP is Facebook's version of GRPs (gross rating points), which have been used for TV ad planning and measurement since the 1950s.

Asked about how the TRP’s introduction has helped the company is coaxing more advertising dollars onto its platform, D’Silva said that it has been “very effective.”

On 4 November, the platform reported that Facebook videos notch more than 8 billion views daily, double what the average view count was back in April and eight times the amount of daily video views the platform had in September 2014.

On Facebook, a view is counted if the video is played for at least three seconds.

“The ease of reach and measurement via TRPs has enabled many advertisers to better gauge effectiveness,” D’Silva added.

Asked about what the reaction from broadcasters would be to the results of this study and the push from Facebook for more advertising dollars from TV budgets, D’Silva pointed to the value proposition the platform holds.

“We have a very good proposition for traditional broadcasters, as a great way of creating awareness around their programming,” he said. “Facebook is a great platform for content.”

The effectiveness of Facebook as a marketing channel can be tied to the simple that fact the platform targets individuals not households, said D’Silva.

The study found that 49 percent of users are looking at related content on one of their devices while watching TV.

This can be looking up more information on the current TV show, talking to friends on social media about the programme they are watching or following up on a TV ad.

However, 51 percent of simultaneous use is looking at unrelated content. This can be anything from killing time during commercial breaks on social media to looking at an unrelated brand website or booking the next summer holiday to the beach.

In addition, measurement can now be based on people’s behaviour across devices—not via cookies. While cookies were the best option at one time, technology has evolved, making measurement more valuable, accurate and efficient.

As a result a lot of marketing effort is wasted, with 23 percent of broad target and 73 percent narrow target digital campaigns being off-target.

In contrast, Facebook, targets real individuals, caters to their personal tastes and helps them find the products they are genuinely interested in.

“People-based marketing is more accurate,” said D’Silva. “And Facebook is more accurate because we reach real people, as opposed to broad groups that traditional broadcasters reach.”

The company claims that an average Facebook campaign accuracy is 85 percent while other digital platforms have an average campaign accuracy of 65 percent.

The company also offered the following tips for brands looking to get the most out of their efforts on the platform:

• Ensure sufficient investment into Facebook to maximise the impact
• Ensure at least 50 percent reach within campaign
• Ensure a frequency of least two posts per week over an eight week campaign
• Constantly check and evaluate your campaign progress

Up next: Tapping into mobile behaviour and how telcos are making the mobile marketing shift