Brafton has reported that Facebook ad CTRs are declining, with Webtrends indicating click-through rates dropped to 0.051 percent in 2010 as costs-per-click climb. Still, new data suggests that not all ads are created equal, and targeting discrepancies account for lower click-rates.

Brafton has reported that Facebook ad click-through rates are declining, with Webtrends indicating CTRs dropped to 0.051 percent in 2010 as costs-per-click climb. Still, new data suggests that not all ads are created equal, and targeting discrepancies account for lower click rates.

According to data from BLiNQ Media relayed by eMarketer, targeted ads greatly outperformed nontargeted advertisements. All of the ads run through BLiNQ's ad campaigns that were carefully targeted to meet brands' core demographics received organic impressions, where just 10 percent of nontargeted ads resulted in organic impressions.

Targeting involved consideration of users' demographic traits as well as “interest” information shared on profiles.

More impressions put highly targeted ads in a better position to catch clicks, and the study found that CTRs for targeted ads were 7.5 times higher. BLiNQ partners' targeted ads saw 0.15 percent CTRs, where nontargeted ads' CTRs were 0.02 percent. (Notably, these figures are above the industry average reported by Webtrends.)

The takeaway for marketers may be that targeting is needed to get the most out of Facebook advertising, and the same can be said for content used in social marketing. As Brafton reported, Brian Solis reminded Affiliate Summit West attendees that social content performs best when it caters to the “egosystem” – the idea that consumers expect relevant information to be delivered to them.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.