Efficient Frontier Integrates Facebook With Ad Management Platform

Online ad management firm Efficient Frontier has announced the integration of Facebook with its platform, adding to its existing offerings for search and display media. The company says the inclusion will enable advertisers to plan and optimize Facebook ad campaigns alongside their existing search and display efforts, allowing easy campaign optimization and reporting, as well as improved attribution metrics.

“Because we have an integrated platform we can see how Facebook ads interact with those in search and display,” said Justin Merickel, VP of marketing for the Sunnyvale, CA, firm. According to Merickel, trials of the platform have already revealed significant overlap between ads on the social network and ads on search engines. “People who click through on Facebook ads but don’t purchase will often go back and search later. We can report that information, and enable advertisers to act on it,” he said.

In addition, data from marketers’ search and display ad campaigns will help inform audience targeting parameters for Facebook.com ads, as well as optimizing bid prices for ad placements across the site. “Based on the data in the platform, we can model the potential of Facebook, simulate its performance, and make recommendations,” said Merickel, while stating that the platform can also distribute budgets between channels automatically, based on performance, if its customers want. “Our clients want Facebook to work for them, but also want to understand the interactions between channels,” he said.

The platform also allows marketers to create scalable campaigns with ease, Merickel said, by building out targeting parameters for Facebook ads automatically.

A number of third parties have already integrated Facebook into ad platforms, including competing search ad management providers such as Marin Software, which announced the functionality in August. Thanks to the introduction of real-time display advertising features earlier this year, however, Efficient Frontier claims its platform is the first to offer Facebook ads alongside both search and display.

Efficient Frontier has already conducted trials of the new integration with some of its existing customers, including online textbook rental service Chegg. Merickel said demand from clients for Facebook ad management has been “huge.”