The quiet period is now over and Facebook (META) has come out swinging, rushing to the defense of its besieged ad business. You just know they’ve been chomping at the bit for weeks.
The Wall Street Journal reports that comScore has released a study “partly commissioned” by Facebook and essentially claiming that yes, the social network’s ads are effective. Research suggests that becoming a fan of a brand does lead to your purchasing that brand more often. The firm tracked Starbucks fans and found they and their friends bought 38 percent more frequently than a control group that didn’t see the marketing.
Facebook’s head of measurement and insight was not shy in assessment of the results. He told the Journal they proved “it’s a myth that Facebook advertising doesn’t work.”
He suggested it was more a matter of perception:
Mr. Smallwood acknowledged the company has been told by some of its biggest clients that it wasn’t doing a good enough job of showing the value of advertising on the site. “We heard we have to do a better job of demonstrating this x scale,” he said, noting that releasing the study was part of a larger effort to prove that paid and unpaid advertising on Facebook leads to consumer spending.
So, guys, now that you can talk: How about that mobile strategy?