Entertainment, food and drink dominate Facebook advertising sales 

Tuesday, 11th October 2011 by Kate Billinghurst

A report released by TBG Digital has shown that companies in entertainment, food and drink sectors are buying up the most Facebook adverts,

The report indicates that the social network is becoming increasingly popular with companies looking to get their brand message across to users and that it is being used more and more by companies in their managed emarketing strategy.

Rather than being used for direct sales, it appears companies are now looking to use Facebook as a tool to increase brand image the report has shown. The levels of advertising impressions bought by companies in the above sectors, including those in beauty, automotive, and games, rose 117 per cent between the second and third quarters in 2011.

Based on an analysis of 255 billion advertising impressions from a total of 216 companies, the report found that the cost for display ads on Facebook, charged per 1,000 impressions increased 33.6 per cent in the quarter ending in September. This is in comparison with the same quarter of the previous year while the cost was also up 7.1 per cent from the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, managed pay per click advertising increased 7.3 per cent in the third quarter of 2011 comparison with 2011 rates although it did decrease 10.8 per cent between the second and third quarters of 2011.

Simon Mansell, CEO at TBG Digital, says on the company's website: "There is a growing belief across the media sector that social media advertising could displace more traditional forms of advertising and has the potential to drive additional revenue streams.

"TBG 19s own experience has shown that effective social media advertising requires new technology and a mindset that embraces a new approach and methodology."

The reason behind the increased use of Facebook is said to be an increasing desire from companies to target consumers while they are in a more relaxed state of mind.

Living Streams "Improving clients' profitability through better use of the internet"