Study Finds That Facebook Ads May Bolster Paid Search Performance

A new study from Kenshoo finds that advertising on Facebook may bolster the performance of existing paid search marketing campaigns. The research, funded in partnership with Facebook, found that users who saw an ad on Facebook and then made a purchase via a paid search link spent nearly a quarter more than those who were not exposed to the same ad.

The study analyzed search results of more than 2,500 stores of a leading retailer in the U.S. in August and September, comparing a group of users who were exposed to Facebook ads before paid search ad and those who were not.

While exposure to a Facebook ad only led to a slight uptick in click-through-rate (7%), the overall return on advertising spend (ROAS) increased substantially. According to the report, the paid search campaigns targeted to the group exposed to Facebook ads previously saw a 24% higher average order value than the group that was not.

Earlier this week, Dan Levy, Facebook’s head of small business, touted the company’s presence among the small business segment, saying that Facebook now has over 25 million active small business pages on its platform. Facebook has long held out the small business segment as one of the big potential growth opportunities for the company, and pairing the effectiveness to one of the few digital ad tools that has succeeded in the SMB market might be a winning strategy. Kenshoo believes that the study should encourage local businesses to invest in Facebook ads.

“Beyond being a strong channel to drive brand affinity and local foot traffic, Facebook can boost the performance of your search engine marketing,” Aaron Goldman, CMO at Kenshoo told Street Fight. “Engaging with fans and prospective customers on Facebook helps build awareness and engagement that manifests itself in search engine recognition and conversion. In other words, people remember you and are more likely to click on your search listing.”

The collaborative focus of the research comes as Facebook and search giant Google, once enemies, have had a rapprochement of sorts in recent weeks. In October, the companies announced that Google would sell Facebook advertising inventory through its real-time bidding system, DoubleClick Bid Manager.

Myriah Towner is an intern at Street Fight.