Brand Campaigns on Facebook Up 104 Percent

While Google+ gains millions of users, companies are knee deep in Facebook marketing. According to research released today by TBG Digital, the number of paid brand advertising campaigns rose 104 percent in Q2 when compared to Q1.

The Q2 study found retailers to be the fastest-growing marketing sector in Facebook advertising, accumulating 36 percent of all impressions. The second-fastest growth spurt involved finance and credit card campaigns, while jobs and education also saw dramatic gains.

In measuring campaigns for the study, conversions included everything from purchases to registering for loyalty cards to RSVPing for events. TBG’s report states there was a 435 percent improvement in conversions when brands targeted existing likes or fans compared to when they did not.

As found by an Efficient Frontier study published last week, TBG’s data reveals that Facebook advertising is getting more expensive. Reflecting campaigns run in the U.S., U.K., France, and Germany, CPM rates rose 45 percent year-over-year in Q2, while cost-per-click jumped 74 percent.

And the report seems to give credence to Facebook’s recent trumpeting of its Sponsored Stories ad option as a sales converter. Sponsored Stories decreased cost-per-acquisition by 32 percent in Q2, TBG Digital said.

To arrive at the numbers, the London-based Facebook marketing vendor used a subset of total data across 167 clients, including 200 billion impressions. TBG Digital said the research was audited by the University of Cambridge’s Psychometrics Centre.