Social sells for big brands

ClickZ News recently surveyed the online marketing campaigns of six major brands including 1-800-Flowers, 20th Century Fox, Ford, Levi's, Mazda, and ADT.com on the influence of social advertisements on the brand. Some marketers are hesitant to increase ad spending in social platforms, because it can be hard to measure their effectiveness - however, these brands saw big changes in their 2011 sales.

1-800-Flowers, for example, recently implemented a social app through which customers can purchase flowers directly through Facebook. Their Mother's Day campaign alone saw a rise of approximately 4,000 purchases when they offered a special 15 percent discount through the app, along with 50 "free" Facebook credits.

Levis blue jeans advertisements on Facebook helped to increase foot traffic in retail outlets by as much as 400 percent. For 20th Century Fox, their rich media advertisements for the 2010 Oliver Stone film, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, featured Facebook video ads, which are credited with raising the box office profits by as much as $4 million during the opening weekend alone.

"Of the examples released ... Mazda's may stick out the most," Christopher Heine explained to ClickZ News. "According to the automotive brand's U.K division, a recent 20 percent Check-In Deal discount resulted in a 34 percent sales lift on the model being offered. The geo-social effort was regional."

Part of Mazda's success can be attributed to the fact that marketers used geo-targeting methods in combination with social media advertising. By geo-targeting a social campaign, marketers can ensure that they're getting the most qualified outreach for their advertising dollars and increase the chance of boosting sales.

Facebook microTargeting by Semcasting can help marketers reach out to the right online users where they live and work, thereby maximizing their sales. Using information available to the public, the platform identifies and qualifies social media users by using over 750 data variables and patented predictive modeling methods to create a "look alike" model of qualified customers. Then, Facebook microTargeting determines when and where these individuals are most likely to be using Facebook, ensuring that the ads are always placed before those who will benefit from them. Using Semcasting's advanced social marketing technology, marketers can limit their investment while increasing their outreach and sales.