When it comes to Facebook “likes,” social network users are sending brand marketers mixed signals. An eVoc Insights study indicates 59% of Facebook users have “liked” a Facebook brand or company page in the past six months. Although this statistic may seem promising for brands, how “liking” a brand connects with consumer loyalty is still vague.

When surveyed by eVoc, 54% of users who “liked” a brand or company page on Facebook that sells a product or service said they were somewhat or much more likely to purchase from that brand. The study confirms that the most “liked” pages are for food brands, TV shows, music, movies and clothing.

Although the eVoc Insight statistic suggests more than half of consumers are agreeable toward purchasing from the brands on Facebook, consumer behavior suggests otherwise. According to a study from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, an Australia-based marketing think tank, just 1% of fans of the biggest brands on Facebook engage with the brands on the site. The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute study looked at Facebook metrics for the top 200 brands, and through an examination of activities such as “likes,” comments, posts and shares, the research group found nothing substantial to link a brand’s Facebook presence with loyalty.

Limited consumer engagement with brands on Facebook suggests there may be a disconnect between the reasons why consumers actually “like” a brand and the reasons brands think consumers are “liking” their page. When the CMO Council asked Facebook users in Q4 2011 about their expectations after “liking” a brand on Facebook, the top expectation (67%) was to be “eligible for exclusive offers.”

However, when the CMO Council asked marketers what they thought it meant when a consumer “liked” their brand page, a quarter of marketer respondents answered, “because they are loyal customers.”

The link between “likes” and loyalty remains unclear. Although consumers respond favorably about their likelihood to purchase from a brand they follow on Facebook, that’s not overly evident on their Facebook timelines. Marketers should keep in mind that for consumers, Facebook remains primarily a place to interact with peers and share experiences. Although many consumers have opened up to brands that are present on Facebook, brand marketers should not expect loyalty each time a consumer clicks the “like” button.

via : http://www.emarketer.com

As US online ad spending closes in this year on $40 billion, the bulk of that spending will go toward just a few formats: search, banners and video advertising.

These three formats will make up upwards of 80% of all spending through 2016, eMarketer predicts. Search is and will remain by far the leading format, although its share of total online ad spending will slip slightly from 2012 to 2016 as online video ad spending nearly doubles its share from 7.9% in 2012 to 15% in 2016.

Video continues to be the fastest-growing online ad format, with spending increasing by nearly 55% this year, following growth of 42.1% in 2011. Strong double-digit growth will continue throughout eMarketer’s forecast period. Growth for several other formats remains strong as well, especially with the prospect of a major national election and summer Olympic Games in 2012 to boost rates.

The continued dominance of search as the leading digital advertising format comes as little surprise, with its near-universal adoption rates among consumers and popularity on both the desktop and mobile web. Meanwhile, the continued strength of banner ads across desktop and mobile devices, coupled with a surge in video ad spending on both platforms, constitute the two most important and related storylines in display advertising.

eMarketer forms its forecast for online advertising spending though a meta-analysis of reported revenues from major ad-selling companies; results from benchmark sources the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers; and research estimates and methodologies from dozens of firms that track ad spending.

via : http://www.emarketer.com