Today, with the collaboration of Facebook, comScore unleashed a research report that examined the affect paid and earned Facebook media had on both in-store and online sales.  The data uncovered conflicts wholeheartedly with the recent statements made  by GM, that Facebook Ads don’t work.

For the findings, two comScore products were used to drive media exposure; Social Essentials for earned media and AdEffx for paid media.  Some of the main metrics utilized in the report were Fan Reach, Engagement, Amplification and sales.  The report tested programming targeted to Friends and Friends of Fans and leveraged the various Social Ad units that Facebook offers:

One of the key issues that brands have been overlooking is the way that Facebook works, and the steps involved, to reach goals.   Not only do brands need fans, but they must have their messages seen (hence the aforementioned Social Ads,) have users talk about content, and spread the content viraly via amplification:

When a successful campaign leverages both earned and paid media using the above channel, the results are very favorable.  One example from the report from Starbucks showed that fans of Starbucks, and their friends bought at Starbucks 38% more frequently than a control group:

A few more retailer statistics that showed the power of Facebook campaigns:

• In the four weeks after seeing Starbucks earned media messages on Facebook, fans of Starbucks and their friends overall bought at Starbucks 38% more frequently.
• Amazon Fans spent more than twice as much at Amazon as the average Internet user
• In the four weeks after seeing an ad on Facebook from a major offline US-based retailer, fans and their friends bought 56% more frequently online from this retailer.

For more information view the  downloadable white paper backs up findings with facts from major retailers like Target, Starbucks and Amazon or see the official comScore press release.

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Facebook | Facebook: Advertising | Facebook: Marketing | Social Media Marketing | Social Media Marketing: Advertising

About The Author: Greg Finn is the Director of Marketing for Cypress North, a company that specializes in social media and search marketing services and web-based application development. He has been in the Internet marketing industry for 6+ years and specializes in Social Media Marketing. You can also find Greg on Twitter (@gregfinn) or LinkedIn. See more articles by Greg Finn

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