Report reveals the effectiveness of social ads

Nielsen and Facebook have released an in-depth report that demonstrates the strong effectiveness of social ads.

The report, entitled 'Advertising Effectiveness: Understanding the Value of a Social Media Impression' is the first from the companies since they announced their global alliance.

Key findings from Nielsen Brandlift studies conclude that ads with social context increase campaign effectiveness by making people more likely to notice the advert, remember its message, and increase their intent to purchase.

The organisation said this is clear evidence that ads incorporating authentic social context have a greater effect than standard display ads and result in increases in individual brand metrics.

The report is based on six months of joint research and leverages 14 Nielsen Brandlift studies.

The research shows a positive increase in effectiveness for ads that include social context - lightweight endorsements from friends displayed within the ad units themselves.

The study shows an increase in key brand metrics for marketers, including: a 1.6x increase in ad recall; a 2x increase in brand awareness; and an increase in purchase intent.

Nielsen said social context in the ad unit itself can help drive increased awareness and intent.

This form of social advocacy is of particular interest to marketers, the report claimed, since it has the potential to reach a significant portion of their target audience.

Additionally, brands that are well connected on sites such as Facebook can drive even more advocacy - the bigger the fan base, the greater the potential to generate social context in their advertising.

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