Chicago (August 13, 2012) – Kenshoo, a global leader in digital marketing software, published a new report today. “2012 Social Media Advertising Global Games” evaluates nearly 65 billion Facebook ad impressions to identify eleven critical mass countries and evaluate the performance of Facebook ads in those countries across six key “events.”

“While Facebook boasts one of the most expansive communities worldwide, its advertising opportunities have become among the most targeted ever,” says Sivan Metzger, general manager of Skai Social. “Each individual country delivers different social media performance, and understanding the key metrics and variances by location and vertical can help brands develop successful Facebook advertising strategies.”

Key highlights of the report and associated recommendations for advertisers include:

  • Countries with high Facebook penetration represent great opportunity for advertisers. Mexico and Turkey have as many Facebook users as broadband subscribers, indicating Facebook is used heavily via mobile devices in those countries. Savvy marketers can reach these connected populations through targeted mobile ads and take advantage of efficient Facebook cost-per-thousand (CPM) rates.
  • Facebook advertising is extremely popular in the United States and United Kingdom. These countries have the highest CPM and cost-per-click (CPC) rates, reflecting increased attention and bid competition from marketers. The U.S. and U.K. also had the lowest exposure rates, meaning it’s more difficult for brands to reach their targets in these countries. For advertisers to effectively compete, they must use advanced targeting techniques and sophisticated bid algorithms and refresh creative assets often.
  • Italy is a diamond in the rough, winning the most medals of any European country. A high click-through-rate (CTR) indicates that Italians are willing to interact with Facebook ads. Italy also has a low max recommended bid from Facebook; so ads can be placed relatively inexpensively. Advertisers that want to test Pan-European campaigns can find Italy a good point of entry.

This study analyzed aggregated global data across a wide range of brands whose Facebook ad campaigns are managed through the Skai Social platform. The dataset included more than one hundred countries, but those selected for the study reached a statistical significance of at least 100 million impressions from ads that were uniquely targeted to each country.

The complete report, entitled “2012 Social Media Advertising Global Games,” including detailed charts, definitions and insights, can be downloaded at www.Kenshoo.com/GlobalGames.

About Skai Social

The mission of Skai Social is to illuminate the value of social media for brands through dynamic technology. Skai Social delivers a global social marketing platform for advertisers and agencies to achieve tangible business results as effectively and efficiently as possible. Through Skai Social, marketers can create and optimize scalable social advertising campaigns while leveraging sophisticated measurement capabilities for owned paid, and earned initiatives across all channels. Please visitKenshoo.com/Social or Facebook.com/KenshooSocial for more information.

About Skai

Skai is a digital marketing software company that engineers technology solutions for search marketing, social media and online advertising. Brands, agencies and marketing providers use Skai Enterprise, Skai Local and Skai Social to direct more than $25 billion in annual client sales revenue. The Skai Universal Platform delivers automation, intelligence, integration and scale to make better marketing investments. With campaigns running in more than 190 countries, Skai clients include CareerBuilder, Expedia, Facebook, KAYAK, Havas Digital, Hitwise, iREP, John Lewis, LendingTree, Resolution Media, Sears, Starcom MediaVest Group, Tesco, Travelocity, Walgreens and Zappos. Skai has 16 international locations and is backed by Sequoia Capital and Arts Alliance. Please visit www.Kenshoo.com for more information.

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