Vertical Industries see range of Engagement on Facebook.

When analyzing the engagement, clickthrough rates and cost per click (CPC) of Facebook campaigns, the results, broken down by industry, give a unique view into how well social media marketing works and how cost effective it is for certain industries.

Facebook advertising-solutions company AdParlor analyzed the CPC and clickthrough rates on Facebook for more than 1,000 ad campaigns purchased through the company between September 1, 2011, and February 27, 2012.

The analysis found that some industries see more interest from consumers on Facebook than others. Industries typically perceived as more exciting saw a higher average daily CTR, with ads for movies and entertainment performing nearly five times as well as those for banking services.

Not surprisingly, given the low engagement the finance industry garners on Facebook, merchant and banking services had the highest CPC rate, at $1.24, according to AdParlor. While these merchant and banking services have a low average clickthrough rate, 0.025%, many financial services companies are increasing the dollars they put toward online advertising and marketing overall, which will perhaps further increase their CPC rates but potentially make the industry’s presence on Facebook more effective.

Research from social media marketing company SocialBakers backs up the AdParlor data. The company analyzed engagement rates on the Facebook pages of companies worldwide from December 6, 2011, to January 4, 2012. SocialBakers based its findings on the number of “likes” and comments the page received and divided the number by total fans.

Airlines and automobiles saw the highest engagement rates, with 0.33% and 0.36%, respectively. However, when looking at companies’ rates of response to consumer posts on Facebook, automobile companies were more likely to ignore their fans, exhibiting only a 9.56% response rate. Airlines, many of which have become familiar with dealing with customer service on social media sites, continued to have high response rates, at 44.66% overall.

Engagement* and Response Rate** on Global Company Facebook Pages, by Industry, Dec 6, 2011-Jan 4, 2012

By paying attention to engagement rates, CTRs and cost per click, marketers can determine the best strategy for advertising based on their specific industry, particularly as they try to maximize the marketing potential of Facebook.

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