Facebook’s Average CPCs Increase in the U.S. by 10% in Q4 2011
TBG Digital recently released its “Global Facebook Advertising Report: Q4 2011.” Among the major findings is that average cost per click (CPC) rose by 10 percent in the U.S.
The report measured 326 billion Facebook campaign impressions across 205 countries and 266 clients.
According to TBG Digital, the average CPC across the five major markets measured (Canada, France, Germany, U.K. and U.S.) saw an overall increase of just 1 percent from the third quarter to the fourth quarter. The U.S. alone, however, saw its CPC rise 10 percent during this time period, which “could point to demand increasing as more brands are advertising on Facebook and supply plateauing as US user growth slows,” according to the report.
CPC in the U.K. declined 11 percent from quarter-to-quarter, possibly indicating an unreached ceiling of opportunity.
Cost per thousand impressions (CPM) rates increased in the fourth quarter by an average of 8 percent quarter-over-quarter, according to TBG Digital. This means Facebook saw its CPM rise every quarter of 2011, and that CPM rose 23 percent from the first quarter.
Click-through rates (CTR) increased 18 percent during the course of 2011, “which would suggest that advertisers are building better ad creative that attracts users’ interest whilst also learning to harness the targeting options available,” according to the report.
Across the five markets, CTR increased 7 percent from the third quarter to the fourth quarter, with France seeing a 100 percent increase, and Germany seeing an 18 percent decrease. The U.S. saw its CTR decline 2 percent quarter-over-quarter.
The top five sectors accounted for nearly 70 percent of total impressions served in the fourth quarter. Finance led the way with 18 percent of impressions in the fourth quarter, up from 12 percent in the third quarter. Food and drink followed with 15 percent, retail followed with 13 percent, games finished the quarter with 13 percent and entertainment held 9 percent of impressions. All others finished with 32 percent of impressions during the fourth quarter.
Food and drink boasted the highest CTR in the fourth quarter, followed by beauty and fitness, retail, home and harden, not-for-profit, travel, computers and electronics, Internet and telecom, and games.
TBG Digital also noted that while finance brands accounted for 61 percent of impressions in offsite campaigns, they also saw higher CPCs and lower CTR.
The report also highlights that CPCs can be reduced by 45 percent if traffic is kept within Facebook via fanning and Facebook application campaigns.
Source:
