Windows did our first Facebook reach block buy on October 22 for Windows7 launch. Our goal for the reach block was to increase the Windows fan base and drive awareness for the launch. Turns out we have evidence the reach block did both.
1. Grow fans; Windows saw a 100% growth in fans in the first few days after the buy. And since the fan base doubled, reach on Facebook has exploded. There is more activity, more fans posting on the Wall and more mini-feeds getting the Windows message. We count each engagement on Facebook as an impression because the viral nature of Facebook allows lots of fans to see activities on the fan page.
2. Awareness for launch. Facebook now partners with Nielsen to deliver a Brand Lift Campaign Effectiveness study. The results are very similar to what a traditional market research study would show; Were the ads effective in landing the message? What was recall? etc.
The methodology for the research is pretty simple. Data for each brand/custom metric is collected via discrete 1 or 2 question surveys delivered to eligible exposed/control respondent on the Facebook homepage. The Windows reach block was targeted at 18+ US users. There was a portion of the demographic held back from seeing the Windows ad. They served as the control group. Control and exposed groups were asked the same questions the next day.
The results looked like this
The campaign proved successful in driving ad recall, aided awareness of Windows 7 and association with the campaign message. What's interesting to us as a Social Media team is this type of advertising appears to have a double whammy – increase friends on the social network AND create awareness for the campaign with people that aren't a part of the Windows Facebook fan community.
An area of growth for this type of measurement is measuring influence. As a marketer what I really want to know is what influencers are being reached by my advertising message. If I can target the influencers with larger audiences then I can get more for my investment. I expect Facebook and Nielsen will be working to get at these very valuable nuggets in the coming months. As a first step Nielsen has done some analysis of brand lift by number of friends, but that there is much more to be done.
From my position as a brand marketer this type of data helps me understand my investment and tell my story to my exec audience – it cannot be understated how important this is.
Windows7 Social Media Case Study
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