Brands Invest in Facebook Advertising with New Budgets and Focus on Fan Acquisition; Mobile Search Spend up Significantly
Data Based on Efficient Frontier’s Q4 2011 Digital Marketing Performance Report
SUNNYVALE, Calif. – Jan. 13, 2012 – Brands are continuing to invest in Facebook advertising and focusing on fan acquisition. Spend in social media advertising is now additive to existing budgets rather than subtracting from other digital media channels, demonstrating the growing investment in the medium. Brands continued to acquire Facebook fans at 9% per month. Facebook spend share reached 2.7% of biddable online advertising spend in Q4 2011 and is expected to increase fan base by 2x by the end of 2012.
Search spend increased significantly in Q4 of 2011, bolstered by aggressive spending by retailers. Overall, search spend grew 14% Year over Year (YoY) in the United States, while retail specifically grew by 18% YoY and 40% Quarter over Quarter (QoQ), indicating that search is still the primary driver of digital marketing spend. While Q4 search spend increased significantly, Cost Per Clicks (CPCs) decreased 5% due to a rise in mobile advertising, where clicks are less expensive. Meanwhile, improvements in more efficient ad delivery by search engines resulted in higher click-through rates, and mobile spendbecame 7-8% of search spend compared to 2% a year ago.
This is according to Efficient Frontier, a leading performance marketing company managing more than $1.5 billion in marketing spend annually on behalf of advertisers worldwide, and its subsidiary Context Optional, one of the leading providers of social marketing management for global brands and agencies. In November 2011, Adobe Systems Incorporated announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Efficient Frontier, in a transaction expected to close in the first quarter of Adobe’s 2012 fiscal year.
“Facebook continues to be where marketers are placing new bets by adding advertising spend with a focus on fan acquisition,” said David Karnstedt, President and CEO, Efficient Frontier. “Mobile search advertising is also an area of significant investment, growing to 7-8% from 2% a year ago. We should expect both channels to grow significantly in 2012.”
Additional Report Highlights
GOOGLE MAINTAINS 80% SPEND SHAREin Q4. Yahoo/Bing clicks yielded 14% more revenue per click (RPC) than Google while also having 9% more Return on Investment (ROI) than Google. Yet Google increased click share by 2.5% YoY indicating the necessity for volume and reach from advertisers, primarily retailers, in Q4.
MOBILE SPEND specifically tablets, is becoming increasingly important for marketers as tablets account for 50% of mobile search spend and 50% of click share.
DISPLAY SPEND remains flat QoQ. However, Google’s Doubleclick increases exchange display market share by 19% YoY. Due to both inventory constraints and shifting strategies by Yahoo for their Right Media Exchange, Google extended significant share gains in biddable display.
EUROPEAN MARKETSshowed strong growth in search spend YoY. France increased search spend 70% YoY and Germany 47% YoY indicating heavier investments into online advertising in 2011. The UK has been leading the online marketing industry in Europe and continues to increase search spend 19% YoY.
Outlook for Q1 2012
FACEBOOK SPEND will reach 5% of all online advertising spend by the end of 2012. As marketers improve their ability to acquire and engage Facebook fans, brands will continue to pump incremental spend into Facebook.
MOBILE SEARCH SPEND will make up 16-22% of all paid clicks by the end of 2012. As more mobile devices with full Internet browsing capabilities enter the market, mobile experiences become more robust. This is driving a shift of consumer usage from desktops to mobile devices, ultimately causing mobile advertising to become a key focus for marketers in 2012.
SEARCH SPEND will increase 15-20% in 2012 in the United States. Similar growth is expected internationally, however, the macro economic conditions in Europe may significantly affect this growth.
SEARCH CPCS will further decrease by 4%. The increase of mobile advertising and mobile search spend will contribute to this reduction. Search engine innovations by Google to provide more effective ad delivery will also continue to decrease CPCs.
YAHOO/BING will continue to pursue more ad inventory. Although Yahoo/Bing clicks continue to have better RPC (Return-Per-Click) and ROI, the search engine still needs to increase reach to improve market share. Advertisers are eager to take full advantage of the higher performance Yahoo/Bing provides, but are still looking to do so at scale.
DEVELOPMENTS IN OTHER SOCIAL PLATFORMS such as Google+ and LinkedIn will have a positive impact on social spend and the growth of this competitive space. However, Facebook will still remain the dominant social network and social publishers for advertisers in 2012.
Research Methodology
This analysis was completed based on data from Efficient Frontier search engine marketing customers and the resulting Efficient Frontier Customer Index. The Efficient Frontier Customer Index represents a subset of Efficient Frontier clients who have spend data for six consecutive quarters or more whose resulting SEM metrics are then normalized to average industry category contributions established by multiple third party data providers. The Efficient Frontier Customer Index consists of a fixed sample of large scale U.S. search engine advertisers across multiple sectors, including finance, travel, retail and automotive. The Efficient Frontier Customer Index sheds light on trends in search engine spending and performance on a year-over-year (YoY) and quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) basis.
Our analysis of Facebook performance was based on data from both the Efficient Frontier and Context Optional platforms. A client index representing over 15 advertisers and 20 million fans from a multitude of verticals including retail, entertainment, CPG and Finance was built from a subset of advertisers, brands and fans managed through the platforms. Advertiser and user behavior was then analyzed for three quarters beginning Q4 2010.
To download the full report, visit: http://news.efrontier.com/QuarterlyDigitalMarketingReports_GlobalQ42011Report.html
About Efficient Frontier
Efficient Frontier is a leader in online digital marketing, managing search marketing, display and social media campaigns for advertisers and agencies around the world. Efficient Frontier currently manages over $1.5 billion in annual digital marketing spend on behalf of its clients globally.
In May 2011, Efficient Frontier acquired Context Optional, the leading provider of social marketing management solutions for global brands on the leading social networks, including Facebook and Twitter. Context Optional’s Social Marketing Suite enables global enterprises to build, manage and measure their brand presence, and engage their fans to increase mindshare, word of mouth, customer loyalty and website traffic. Together, Efficient Frontier and Context Optional offer a complete solution for brands to acquire, activate and drive value from fans on Facebook and Twitter.
Efficient Frontier is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in New York, Chicago the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and India, and technology licensing partnerships in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. Context Optional is headquartered in San Francisco. Efficient Frontier is a privately held company with funding from Redpoint Ventures and Cambrian Ventures. For more information on Efficient Frontier, visit http://www.efrontier.com and for Context Optional visit http://www.contextoptional.com.
Media Contact:
Jennifer Stephens Acree
JSA Strategies
Jennifer@jsastrategies.com
310-780-3331
Micha Thomas
JSA Strategies
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
310-498-9011
Company One of First To Give Brands the Ability to Manage their Google+ Pages
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – November 15, 2011 –Context Optional, an Efficient Frontier company that creates compelling social media marketing solutions for brands, today announced that its Social Marketing Suite will support Google+ Pages, making it easier for brands to manage their interactions with customers on Google+. This new offering expands Context Optional’s platform into new social marketing channels and introduces an innovative dynamic Circle creation tool, +Circle.
“We’re excited to be part of the Google+ Pages trial because it provides our clients with another channel to connect with their customers,” said Craig Stoe, Vice President of Product Management, Context Optional. “We believe that our platform’s unique ability to dynamically target followers based on engagement will significantly increase the use and virality of pages for brands.”
With this new offering, global brands and their agencies will be able to effectively streamline publishing to Google+ Pages by making it easier to create Circles as well as manage them. The new integration introduces +Circle, an innovative tagging system that allows brands to dynamically create Circles and target followers on Google+ Pages based on post engagement. Google+ Page features will be widely available to Context Optional clients once there is full access to the program.
Context Optional’s platform streamlines the management of multiple pages and Circles. Additionally, it will track engagement metrics across all Pages under management and include the ability to drill down into per-Page and per-Post analytics for deep insight into publishing and engagement strategies.
About Content Optional and Efficient Frontier
Efficient Frontier is a leader in digital marketing, managing search, display and social media campaigns for advertisers and agencies around the world. Efficient Frontier currently manages more than $1.5 billion in annual digital marketing spend on behalf of its clients globally.
In May 2011, Efficient Frontier acquired Context Optional, the leading provider of social marketing management solutions for global brands on the leading social networks, including Facebook and Twitter. Context Optional’s Social Marketing Suite enables global enterprises to build, manage and measure their brand presence, and engage their fans to increase mindshare, word of mouth, customer loyalty and website traffic. Together, Efficient Frontier and Context Optional offer a complete solution for brands to acquire, activate and drive value from fans and followers.
Efficient Frontier is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in New York, Chicago, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, India and Australia and technology licensing partnerships in Japan and Hong Kong. Context Optional is headquartered in San Francisco. Efficient Frontier is a privately held company with funding from Redpoint Ventures and Cambrian Ventures. For more information on Efficient Frontier, visit http://www.efrontier.com and for Context Optional visit http://www.contextoptional.com.
Media Contacts:
Jennifer Stephens Acree
Jennifer@jsastrategies.com
310-780-3331
Micha Thomas
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
310-498-9011
Search on Tablets is Up Significantly and Now Accounts for Half of Click Share on Mobile Devices
New Mobile Data From Efficient Frontier Highlights Trends
SUNNYVALE, Calif.– November 9, 2011 – Today, Efficient Frontier, the leading global digital marketing company, announced the release of new data on the mobile search industry published in a report from Macquarie Group.
Among the key findings:
“After years of false predictions, it looks like 2012 really will be the year of mobile,” said David Karnstedt, CEO of Efficient Frontier. “We are seeing incredible demand from our client base for mobile search advertising and today’s report demonstrates the strides mobile has made led in part by incredible rates in tablet adoption.”
Demonstrating momentum in the tablet market, tablets took up 43% of the mobile device spend share in the last 3 months from August to October 2011. Additionally, Cost Per Click (CPC) of mobile phones is 108% compared to desktop search but tablet CPCs are 85% compared to desktop. This represents an opportunity for marketers to capitalize on opportunities in the tablet market. Click-through rates of mobile phones and tablets are 166% and 137% that of desktop, respectively.
“As an update to our last report in March, mobile ad spend continues to be a sector with a lot of momentum because of increased consumer usage in both smart phones and tablets,” said Ben Schachter, Senior Analyst, Macquarie Securities. “With continued innovation in mobile and tablet technologies and more user friendly form factors, ROI on mobile devices will continue to rise as consumers increase their usage for research and purchases.”
The study also found some interesting consumer usage patterns among desktop, mobile phones and tablets. Comparing the spread of traffic throughout the day, all devices start to show increase usage at 8 A.M. when people start their day. However, in the evenings, the patterns are different. Mobile phones peak first at 7 P.M., followed by desktop at 8 P.M. and then tablets at 10 P.M. This may be explained by people tend to leave work at around 7 P.M. and use mobile phones when they are on the way home. Tablets are used when people wind down at home towards the end of the day watching TV hence its traffic peak the latest among the three types of devices.
Outlook and Recommendations
The average consumer is using multiple devices during the purchase cycle. This fragmentation will increase and advertisers will have to ensure a good consumer experience on all devices. Advertisers will best serve their interests by focusing on three fronts.
1. Mobile friendly sites: With greater usage of mobile devices, brands will have to maintain a user-friendly presence across all devices. Mobile conversion rates double from their previous rates after they are optimized correctly.
2. Attribution: A purchase that begins with a mobile device often ends on the desktop. As a result, the ROI on the mobile campaign looks worse than it actually is. The smart advertiser will allocate advertising budgets across devices appropriately after accounting for attribution. Until now, this was not an urgent need as mobile traffic was a small fraction of overall traffic but this changing.
3. Tailored Advertising Campaigns: Advertisers have to reach the consumer across devices in a manner consistent with how these devices are used. For instance, mobile campaigns should focus on shorter words since query lengths are shorter.
This analysis was completed with an index built on data from Efficient Frontier’s search engine marketing customers. More than 3 billion monthly impressions representing 30 plus customers were analyzed for this report.
About Efficient Frontier
Efficient Frontier is a leader in digital marketing, managing search, display and social media campaigns for advertisers and agencies around the world. Efficient Frontier currently manages more than $1.5 billion in annual digital marketing spend on behalf of its clients globally.
In May 2011, Efficient Frontier acquired Context Optional, the leading provider of social marketing management solutions for global brands on the leading social networks, including Facebook and Twitter. Context Optional’s Social Marketing Suite enables global enterprises to build, manage and measure their brand presence, and engage their fans to increase mindshare, word of mouth, customer loyalty and website traffic. Together, Efficient Frontier and Context Optional offer a complete solution for brands to acquire, activate and drive value from fans and followers.
Efficient Frontier is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in New York, Chicago the United Kingdom, France, Germany, India and Australia and technology licensing partnerships in Japan and Hong Kong. Context Optional is headquartered in San Francisco. Efficient Frontier is a privately held company with funding from Redpoint Ventures and Cambrian Ventures. For more information on Efficient Frontier, visit http://www.efrontier.com and for Context Optional visit http://www.contextoptional.com.
About Macquarie
Macquarie Group (Macquarie) is a global provider of banking, financial, advisory, investment and funds management services. Macquarie’s main business focus is making returns by providing a diversified range of services to clients. Founded in 1969, Macquarie operates in more than 70 office locations in 28 countries and employs more than 15,000 people. Assets under management total approximately $327 billion.
Media Contacts:
Efficient Frontier
JSA Strategies
Jennifer Stephens Acree
310-780-3331
Macquarie
Paula Chirhart
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
212-231-1310
Leading Australian Digital Marketing Firm Accelerates International Growth
SUNNYVALE, Calif. and SYDNEY, Australia – October 17, 2011 – Efficient Frontier today announced that it has extended its international footprint with the acquisition of Downstream Marketing, the largest provider of digital marketing technology and services in Australia. The acquisition provides an opportunity to accelerate growth internationally as well as across emerging mediums such as social and mobile. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“The acquisition of Downstream Marketing represents a key milestone for Efficient Frontier as we capitalize on the huge market opportunity that exists outside of the U.S.,” said David Karnstedt, CEO and President of Efficient Frontier. ““By acquiring a market leader in a key growth region we will be able to provide new opportunities for our global customer base.”
Downstream Marketing has been a partner of Efficient Frontier since 2006, licensing its platform and providing search and display marketing for its clients. Downstream Marketing has captured significant market share, having grown twice as fast as the general market. They serve many of the leading digital marketers in the region including American Express, Avis, Sun Corporation, Vodafone, Westpac and Weight Watchers.
“For the past five years, Downstream Marketing has successfully deployed Efficient Frontier’s platform to manage digital marketing for our name-brand clients,” said Steve Knowles, CEO of Downstream Marketing. “We’re excited to officially join forces with them to expand our product offerings in our market as well as provide additional global reach to Efficient Frontier’s existing client base.”
Per the Australian Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), online advertising expenditure in Australia reached $2.45 billion, up 20% YOY in the 12 months ending June 30, 2011. Search was up 23% YOY, and Display was up 12% YOY. The online advertising business is on track to surpass $3 billion in 2012.
About Efficient Frontier
Efficient Frontier is a leader in online digital marketing, managing search, display and social media campaigns for advertisers and agencies around the world. Efficient Frontier currently manages more than $1 billion in annual digital marketing spend on behalf of its clients globally.
In May 2011, Efficient Frontier acquired Context Optional, the leading provider of social marketing management solutions for global brands on the leading social networks, including Facebook and Twitter. Context Optional’s Social Marketing Suite enables global enterprises to build, manage and measure their brand presence, and engage their fans to increase mindshare, word of mouth, customer loyalty and website traffic. Together, Efficient Frontier and Context Optional offer a complete solution for brands to acquire, activate and drive value from fans and followers.
Efficient Frontier is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in New York, Chicago the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and India, and technology licensing partnerships in Japan and Hong Kong. Context Optional is headquartered in San Francisco. Efficient Frontier is a privately held company with funding from Redpoint Ventures and Cambrian Ventures. For more information on Efficient Frontier, visit http://www.efrontier.com and for Context Optional visit http://www.contextoptional.com.
About Downstream Marketing
Downstream Marketing is Australia’s leading provider of digital performance marketing solutions, managing search, social and display advertising for a range of clients across the financial services, travel, technology, telecommunications and online retail sectors. Utilizing market-leading optimization technologies developed by Efficient Frontier, Downstream Marketing maximizes performance from digital marketing investment by household brands in Australia & New Zealand. Headquartered in Sydney, Downstream Marketing services clients located across Australia and New Zealand.
Media Contact:
JSA Strategies
Jennifer Stephens Acree
310-780-3331
Facebook Ads Get Increasingly Competitive in Third Quarter of 2011;
Google Regains Search Spend Market Share and Tablet Mobile Spend Booms
Data Based on Efficient Frontier and Context Optional’s Q3 2011 Digital Marketing Performance Report
SUNNYVALE, Calif.– Oct. 11, 2011 – Facebook ad Cost Per Clicks (CPCs) increased significantly in the third quarter of 2011, indicating that advertiser competition in the Facebook marketplace is rising. CPCs for the social networking giant increased 54% from Q2, reflecting more price competition on the platform. Additionally, Facebook ad spending rose 25% Quarter on Quarter (QoQ), highlighting continued investment in social by top marketers.
Meanwhile, Google regained market share for the first time since the Yahoo/Bing alliance in the United States, and search spend increased by double digits in the US and key international markets. In separate analysis, tablets captured 77% of all retail mobile ad spend in September 2011.
This is according to Efficient Frontier, a leading performance marketing company managing more than $1 billion in marketing spend annually on behalf of advertisers worldwide, and its subsidiary Context Optional, one of the leading providers of social marketing management for global brands and agencies. This data and specific industry trends were released today in the Digital Marketing Performance Report for Q3 2011.
“This quarter, we continued to see Facebook make gains as a ‘must have’ for marketers as they try to maximize their fan base reach. Additionally, the rise in mobile search spend – especially among tablet users – was striking,” said David Karnstedt,President and CEO, Efficient Frontier. “As an industry we’re still discovering the power of social media and mobile as marketing channels but the time for brands to integrate these into their overall digital marketing strategies has clearly come.”
Additional Report Highlights
Brands Double their Fan Base on Facebook YoY
Advertisers see the value in significantly increasing their investments in social. Strategies to maximize fan reach with Sponsored Stories and acquire new fans with Facebook ads are contributing to spend growth. 84% of Facebook engagement can be attributed to Likes, which are credited to Facebook advertising. Today, brands increase fan count 9% per month on average, doubling their fan base YoY.
Google regains market share from Yahoo/Bing
As search spends increase and advertisers look to scale in volume, Google won back market share from Yahoo/Bing for the first time since they joined forces in the United States. This is largely due to Google’s ability to offer more inventory, despite Yahoo/Bing’s power to produce higher ROI.
Tablets capture 77% of all retail mobile ad spend in September 2011
In aspan of less than a year, mobile search spend went from 0.5% to 4.2% For retail advertisers today, mobile spend is 7% of search spend, with tablets representing 60% of all mobile impressions and clicks.
Exchange Display Spend Increases
Advertisers’ demand for display rose 7% Quarter over Quarter (QoQ) as performance continues to garner additional investment. More modest gains on a same-advertiser basis are expected while new advertiser demands for exchange buying options remain high.
Broad-Based Search Is Up Across Most Sectors
● Retail: Spend was up 21% YoY, resulting from a rise in impressions and CTR YoY.
● Finance: Finance is trending similarly to retail in terms of high spend growth with 19% YoY. Consumer demand and CTRs are showing positive trends, but there was a 7% drop in CPCs.
● Auto: The downward trend of consumer interest in the automobile sector seen last quarter continues in Q3 with a 14% drop YoY. CTRs have improved markedly by 19%, while the search spend has remained relatively the same YoY.
International SEM Analysis
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, spend grew 20% YoY while ROI rose 18%, indicating that U.K. advertisers are shifting ad spend to online media where they are better able to measure Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). ROI appeared to remain relatively steady over the last four quarters, showing a significant jump in Q3. After a closer look at all three months of Q3, this spike is likely a result of a rise in ad spend and late bookings from the travel sector.
Meanwhile, Google maintains a higher spend share in the U.K. even though Yahoo exhibits a higher click share indicating lower returns on Yahoo. Google’s spend share increased 2.5% YoY as a result of the announcement and subsequent delays of the Search Alliance between Yahoo and Bing. Interestingly, both Yahoo and Bing exhibit a higher click share than spend share, signifying less expensive CPCs.
France, Germany, Australia, Japan
Contrasting the UK, Google has seen market share reverses in some international markets. In France, Google’s market share is down nearly 4% quarter on quarter, most of which was lost to Yahoo.
Likewise in Germany, Google lost just over 1% of share to Yahoo. But unlike France, Yahoo’s click share is much less than its search share. This could be to higher CPCs on Yahoo due to better quality traffic, but also more reliance on more expensive head terms. Advertisers on Google may bid on a broader set of cheaper tail keywords that lowers average CPCs.
The reverse is true in Australia. Again, Yahoo has made a small gain in spend share to 6.2% (from 5.5%), but its click share is far higher at 9.7%. The implication is that CPCs are lower on Yahoo compared to Google.
Google made gains however in Japan, taking more than half the search share (51.9%) pushing Yahoo into second place. There’s a considerable disparity on click share, with Google taking 59.5%, from which we can assume that CPCs are lower compared to Yahoo.
Outlook for Q4 2011 & Q1 2012
Facebook CPCs will continue to rise 30-40% QoQ.
Advertisers will continue to increase investments to acquire, engage and monetize Facebook users, driving more competition on the Facebook ad platform. A steady rise in engagement rates YoY and the development of new Facebook analytics will allow advertisers to monetize and gauge ROI of Facebook users more effectively.
Facebook will emerge as a more significant part of marketers’ media mix.
An evolving platform and new success metrics that mirror traditional marketing channel metrics will allow advertisers to invest more comfortably in Facebook ads. New tools such as Context Optional Analytics integrated with Facebook’s Insights API provide advertisers with clearer benchmark metrics and solid social KPIs making Facebook advertising more attractive to cautious advertisers.
Yahoo/Bing will focus on increasing inventory to regain spend share from Google.
We believe that U.S. search spend will increase 15% YoY in Q4 2011. Advertisers love the stronger performance and high ROIs they are getting from Yahoo/Bing, but as they look to scale with larger ad budgets they will not be able to increase volume due to a lack of inventory. Yahoo/Bing will need to focus on expanding inventory, while maintaining high-quality traffic.
Mobile will account for 7–10% of all paid search spend by the end of Q4 2011.
Recently, Google announced that keyword quality scores for mobile campaigns will be influenced by websites’ mobile optimization. The ability to attribute conversions across devices (mobile, tablet, desktop) is now possible with the development of the Google+ network that keeps users logged in to the Google ecosystem. Advertisers should invest time into looking at tablet traffic and conversions, while optimizing websites for mobile.
A copy of the full report can be downloaded at:http://news.efrontier.com/Q32011Report.html
Research Methodology
This analysis was completed based on data from Efficient Frontier search engine marketing customers and the resulting Efficient Frontier Customer Index. The Efficient Frontier Customer Index represents a subset of Efficient Frontier clients who have spend data for six consecutive quarters or more whose resulting SEM metrics are then normalized to average industry category contributions established by multiple third party data providers. The Efficient Frontier Customer Index consists of a fixed sample of large scale U.S. search engine advertisers across multiple sectors, including finance, travel, retail and automotive. The Efficient Frontier Customer Index sheds light on trends in search engine spending and performance on a year-over-year (YoY) and quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) basis.
Our analysis of Facebook performance was based on data from both the Efficient Frontier and Context Optional platforms. A client index representing over 15 advertisers and 20 million fans from a multitude of verticals including retail, entertainment, CPG and Finance was built from a subset of advertisers, brands and fans managed through the platforms. Advertiser and user behavior was then analyzed for three quarters beginning Q4 2010.
About Efficient Frontier & Context Optional
Efficient Frontier is a leader in online digital marketing, managing search marketing, display and social media campaigns for advertisers and agencies around the world. Efficient Frontier currently manages over $1 billion in annual digital marketing spend on behalf of its clients globally.
In May 2011, Efficient Frontier acquired Context Optional, the leading provider of social marketing management solutions for global brands on the leading social networks, including Facebook and Twitter. Context Optional’s Social Marketing Suite enables global enterprises to build, manage and measure their brand presence, and engage their fans to increase mindshare, word of mouth, customer loyalty and website traffic. Together, Efficient Frontier and Context Optional offer a complete solution for brands to acquire, activate and drive value from fans on Facebook and Twitter.
Efficient Frontier is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in New York, Chicago the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and India, and technology licensing partnerships in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. Context Optional is headquartered in San Francisco. Efficient Frontier is a privately held company with funding from Redpoint Ventures and Cambrian Ventures. For more information on Efficient Frontier, visit http://www.efrontier.com and for Context Optional visit http://www.contextoptional.com.
Media Contact:
Jennifer Stephens Acree
JSA Strategies
310-780-3331
Micha Thomas
JSA Strategies
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
310-498-9011
News: Social marketing management company, Context Optional, is launching in Europe following its acquisition by Efficient Frontier in May. It has already won two new clients ahead of its launch - GOVoyages and Eurosport. GOVoyages already works with Efficient Frontier.
Context Optional has a number of international clients with significant presences in Europe, including Hyatt, Live Nation, Cathay Pacific and Expedia (also a client of Efficient Frontier).
European HQ: Its new European headquarters are with Efficient Frontier in London, with additional offices in France (Paris) and Germany (Hamburg).
European team: The European team is headed by Marc Blinder, Context Optional’s VP European Operations, who has come over to London from the company’s international headquarters in San Francisco.
Combined power of Context Optional and Efficient Frontier: Context Optional’s European launch is part of its aggressive international expansion plans. Since the company was formed in 2006, it has fast established solid credentials in the US, where it works with Fortune 500 brands such as Hyatt, Allstate and Safeway to help them build, manage, monitor and measure their brand presence across the social web. It offers the first solution to combine moderation, publishing, app-building and analytics onto a single platform, and the combined power of Context Optional and Efficient Frontier means that brands can now manage and optimise their social media campaigns – from fan acquisition to fan engagement and retention – through a single company.
Strong relationship with Facebook: Context Optional has been developing on Facebook’s Preferred Developer Consultancy Program since the day it launched.
Social media ‘firsts’: Context Optional has also achieved a number of social media ‘firsts’, including creating Facebook’s most popular branded application, Travel Channel’s Kidnap; the first branded Pages application on Facebook for OpenTable; the first moderation tools for Facebook Brand Pages; and the first ‘RT to win’ Twitter competition.
Quote from Marc Blinder, VP European Operations, Context Optional: “Brands are now considering social media as part of their long-term marketing strategies. Social media is less ‘how do I do this’ and more ‘how do I build a sustainable social presence for the long term’. Long-term engagement has a far greater impact on fan behaviour and interaction with the brand. Our platform gives brands deep insight into their customers’ behaviour, which then informs sales, product development, customer service and engagement strategies.
“Imagine being able to integrate your marketing right from the first time a consumer sees your advert – whether that’s over display or search – through to your engagement with that consumer as a fan. And then imagine being able to scale that to millions of fans, using technology. That’s possible now with the combined might of Efficient Frontier and Context Optional.”
Quote from Jerome Laurent, Marketing Director, GoVoyages: “Customers are using social media to search for great deals, learn about new products and contact us for customer service. We are launching Context Optional's tools to help us develop long-term engagement with our consumers in France and Spain. As a consumer-focused business, you simply can’t afford to ignore your customers on social media channels.”
Quote from Gretchen Fox, VP Social Media, LiveNation / Ticketmaster: "In our industry, fans have tremendous passion about the artists they love to see, the teams they root for and the events they attend. Our goal with social media is to engage with our fans and give them ways to connect with each other around their entertainment experiences. On average, every time someone shares a ticket they purchased with their Facebook friends we see approx $5 return in revenue. Encouraging sharing and conversation are key to us for driving both engagement and ticket sales. We use the Context Optional Social Marketing Suite to manage hundreds of Facebook pages and Twitter profiles to maximize our social media efforts in a scalable way."
Quote from Thomas Hauchecorne, Social Media and Gaming Product Manager, EUROSPORT New Media:“We engage with Eurosport fans in 59 countries using 20 different languages. It would be almost impossible to do that manually. Context Optional’s geo-targeting capabilities allow us to deliver relevant updates to sports fans wherever they live.”
Facebook advertising increases: Research from Efficient Frontier and Context Optional released in July shows the rapid growth of Facebook as an advertising medium for brands. Facebook advertising cost-per-click (CPC) increased by 22 percent in the second quarter of 2011, and Facebook CPCs are expected to reach 80 percent growth in a year, by the end of 2011. (The full report is available here.)
About Marc Blinder, VP, European Operations, Context Optional: Marc began his marketing career in the rough and tumble world of California politics. After more than five years of experience in offline marketing, Marc helped design and build a mobile social network from the ground up with Mobileplay. Marc’s experience as President of Mobileplay gives him a insider’s view of the importance of data-driven decision-making and maximising marketing ROI that he brings to crafting creative social marketing solutions for customers. Since working at Context Optional, Marc has worked on some of the most successful Facebook campaigns of all time including Kohl’s Cares for Kids and Expedia FriendTrips. Marc holds a B.A. with high honors in Political Science from Princeton University.
More details / spokesperson:Marc Blinder is available to speak to journalists and bloggers. To speak to him, please contact Kate Hartley, Carrot Communications, on 0203 178 5052 / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
More information on both companies is available from www.efrontier.com and www.contextoptional.com.
Notes to editors:
About Efficient Frontier
Efficient Frontier is a leader in online performance marketing managing search marketing, display and social media campaigns for advertisers and agencies around the world. Efficient Frontier currently manages more than $1 billion in annual marketing spend on behalf of their clients globally. Founded in 2002, Efficient Frontier pioneered the application of modern portfolio theory for search engine marketing and today combines its core predictive modeling algorithms and bidding technology with comprehensive strategic and tactical value-added services. The largest and most sophisticated advertisers and agencies partner with Efficient Frontier to achieve and sustain optimal campaign performance and growth in highly complex and competitive marketplaces. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in New York, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and India, and technology licensing partnerships in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. Efficient Frontier is a privately held company with funding from Redpoint Ventures and Cambrian Ventures. For more information, please visit http://www.efrontier.com and subscribe to the Efficient Frontier blog at blog.efrontier.com.
http://www.facebook.com/efrontier
About Context Optional
Context Optional is the leading provider of social marketing software and services to global brands and advertising agencies. The company provides marketers with comprehensive solutions to build, manage, monitor and measure brand presence across the social web to meet their acquisition, engagement and retention goals. By combining a leading technology platform, industry expertise, and comprehensive analytics into an integrated approach, Context Optional delivers the most effective social CRM and marketing solutions to Fortune 500 brands and agencies. Context Optional is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in New York. For more information, please visit http://www.contextoptional.com.
http://twitter.com/contextoptional
http://www.facebook.com/contextoptional
For more information or to speak to Marc Blinder, please contact:
Kate Hartley
Carrot Communications
+44 (0)203 178 5052 / +44 (0)771 406 5233
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Data Based on Efficient Frontier and Context Optional’s Q2 2011 Digital Marketing Performance Report
Sunnyvale, Calif.– July 12, 2011 – Advertising on Facebook continued to get more competitive in the second quarter of 2011, with Cost Per Clicks (CPCs) increasing by 22% from the first quarter of 2011. Brands that are actively acquiring fans on Facebook are on course to double their fan base Year on Year (YOY) by October, demonstrating an increasingly competitive marketplace for consumers’ attention. Meanwhile, search spend was up 8% in the second quarter of 2011, but down from 17% YoY in the first quarter, likely due to advertisers focusing on Return on Investment (ROI) instead of volume, as well as the continued slower-than-expected global economic recovery.
This is according to Efficient Frontier, a leading performance marketing company managing more than $1 billion in marketing spend annually on behalf of advertisers worldwide, and its subsidiary Context Optional, the leading provider of social marketing management for global brands and agencies. This data and specific industry trends were released today in the first joint Digital Marketing Performance Report for Q2 2011.
“Facebook advertising is moving from a ‘nice to have’ to a ‘must have’ for global brands, which is illustrated by their increasingly competitive marketplace,” said DavidKarnstedt, President and CEO, Efficient Frontier. “We believe that Facebook CPCs will continue to rise at a double-digit pace for the remainder of the year, so brands would be wise to add social media marketing to their overall digital marketing spend sooner rather than later.”
Facebook comments have a viral effect
An analysis of 10 million fans managed by Context Optional demonstrated that for every brand post, there was an average of 100 comments in response. However, brands with more fans received additional interactions. For every 17,000 additional fans generated, the brand received one more comment per post. This demonstrated that there is a viral effect to having more fans as this creates more direct responses (from existing fans) and also indirect responses (from friends of fans).
Facebook spend mostly incremental
Facebook constitutes approximately 5% of search budgets, though for some advertisers this can peak at 25% during time-sensitive, offer-led promotions.In the entertainment category there are some large advertisers who solely advertise on Facebook. This hints that there are new advertising budgets from the gaming and dating sectors going to Facebook, which would not have gone into Search otherwise.
Bing/Yahoo! gained 3.4% points of spend share from Google since Q4
Bing’s continued focus on higher quality and higher monetized traffic is paying off. Last quarter it was noted that the ROI on Bing/Yahoo! was better than Google. Bid management technology such as that used by Efficient Frontier has enabled advertisers to take advantage of that by moving budgets as appropriate. However, in international markets where the search alliance has not yet been implemented, Google’s dominance continues unabated, with the exception of Japan.
Broad-based search is up across most sectors
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, spend grew 7% YoY, reflecting advertisers’ confidence in the continued expansion of e-commerce. ROI fell slightly by 3% compared to last year but remains steady quarter-on-quarter. A more detailed look in the Q2 2011 data shows that the ROI was the highest in April in this quarter, being 3-4% higher than the other two months, corresponding to the Easter holiday season and the warm weather.
France, Germany, Australia, Japan
In France, Google has gained 1% market share from Bing and Yahoo! from the previous quarter. In Germany, Yahoo! is losing out to Google, down from 6.4% in Q1 2011 to 5.1% this quarter. This is also a significant quarter in Australia, where Google broke through the 92% share with an increase of almost 3%. However, their click share was only 90.6% and Yahoo!’s click share was 9.4%, making the cost efficiency on Yahoo! much greater than on Google. The Google/Yahoo! share trend has been the opposite in Japan, where Yahoo! gained an almost 4% share from Google in the last quarter.
Facebook CPCs will continue to rise at double-digit pace
Even if CPCs increase at 20% per quarter for the remainder of the year, this will still result in an 80% growth in a year. This could reasonably equate to a doubling of Facebook’s revenue from marketplace ads. Also, with marketplace ad CPCs increasing and already-active brands exploiting the channel, advertisers should immediately focus their efforts on acquiring new Facebook fans, as well as exploiting new ad formats such as Sponsored Stories to find further efficiencies.
Advertisers will increase understanding of Facebook channel
Continued testing and investment in Facebook will see advertisers evaluate and likely increase their spend. Looking ahead, Efficient Frontier believes that advertising dollars will shift from offline media to search, Facebook and display. While we believe all online advertising channels will continue to grow, the Facebook channel will show the strongest growth in the months ahead.
Bing/Yahoo! will benefit if ROI improvements continue
The search marketplace is largely rational, so advertisers will move money towards Bing/Yahoo! to take advantage of ROI improvements. If the Search Alliance renews integration in international markets next year, non-U.S. advertisers should make the same budgeting decisions.
To download a copy of the full report, go to: http://www.efrontier.com/sites/default/files/EFCO_Q2GlobalReport_Final.pdf
This analysis was completed based on data from Efficient Frontier search engine marketing customers and the resulting Efficient Frontier’s Customer Index. The Efficient Frontier Customer Index represents a subset of Efficient Frontier clients who have spend data for six consecutive quarters or more whose resulting SEM metrics are then normalized to average industry category contributions established by multiple third-party data providers. The Efficient Frontier Customer Index consists of a fixed sample of large scale U.S. search engine advertisers across multiple sectors, including finance, travel, retail and automotive. The Efficient Frontier Customer Index sheds light on trends in search engine spending and performance on a year-over-year (YoY) and quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) basis.
Our analysis of Facebook performance was based on data from both the Efficient Frontier and Context Optional platforms. A client index representing more than 15 advertisers and 20 million fans from a multitude of verticals including retail, entertainment, CPG and Finance was built from a subset of advertisers, brands and fans managed through the platforms. Advertiser and user behavior was then analyzed for three quarters beginning Q4 2010.
Efficient Frontier is a leader in online digital marketing, managing search marketing, display and social media campaigns for advertisers and agencies around the world. Efficient Frontier currently manages more than $1 billion in annual digital marketing spend on behalf of its clients globally.
In May 2011, Efficient Frontier acquired Context Optional, the leading provider of social marketing management solutions for global brands on the leading social networks, including Facebook and Twitter. Context Optional’s Social Marketing Suite enables global enterprises to build, manage and measure their brand presence, and engage their fans to increase mindshare, word of mouth, customer loyalty and website traffic. Together, Efficient Frontier and Context Optional offer a complete solution for brands to acquire, activate and drive value from fans on Facebook and Twitter.
Efficient Frontier is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in New York, Chicago, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and India, and technology licensing partnerships in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. Context Optional is headquartered in San Francisco. Efficient Frontier is a privately held company with funding from Redpoint Ventures and Cambrian Ventures. For more information on Efficient Frontier, visit http://www.efrontier.com and for Context Optional visit http://www.contextoptional.com.
Media Contact:
Jennifer Stephens Acree
JSA Strategies
310-780-3331
Facebook advertising cost-per-clicks increased by 22 percent in Q2 2011
Facebook advertising cost-per-click (CPC) increased by 22 percent in the second quarter of 2011, according to a Global Digital Marketing Performance Report from performance marketing company, Efficient Frontier and its subsidiary, Context Optional, a social marketing management company. Facebook CPCs are expected to reach 80 percent growth in a year, by the end of 2011.
Findings of the Global Digital Marketing Performance Report include:
Efficient Frontier’s global marketing director, Jonathan Beeston, says: “The biggest increase in spend this year is on Facebook advertising. Over the year, we expect it to have grown by 80 percent from last year. Budget for Facebook advertising is mostly coming from offline media such as TV and print rather than search.
“If the Yahoo!/Bing Search Alliance renews integration outside of the US next year, then the UK will see the same effect as the US: advertisers will move money towards Yahoo!/Bing to take advantage of ROI improvements.”
Methodology
The analysis was completed based on data from Efficient Frontier search engine marketing customers and the resulting Efficient Frontier Customer Index. The Efficient Frontier Customer Index represents a subset of clients who have spend data for six consecutive quarters or more, whose resulting metrics are then normalised to average industry category contributions established by multiple third party data providers.
For the first time, the report also uses data from Context Optional (which Efficient Frontier acquired in May 2011).
About Efficient Frontier & Context Optional
Efficient Frontier is a leader in online digital marketing, managing search marketing, display and social media campaigns for advertisers and agencies around the world. Efficient Frontier currently manages well over a $1 billion in annual digital marketing spend on behalf of its clients globally. The largest and most sophisticated advertisers and agencies partner with Efficient Frontier to achieve and sustain optimal digital advertising campaign performance.
In May 2011, Efficient Frontier acquired Context Optional, the leading provider of social marketing management for global brands and agencies. Context Optional’s Social Marketing Suite enables brands to create highly customized social media interactions that generate real value from their fans – through increased mindshare, word of mouth, website traffic and customer service recovery.
The Efficient Frontier/Context Optional combination offers marketers the opportunity to unite customer acquisition and engagement, creating an exponentially greater number of brand advocates across social media properties. Together, Efficient Frontier and Context Optional offer a complete solution for brands to acquire, activate and drive value from fans on Facebook and Twitter. The united Efficient Frontier and Context Optional platforms and aligned service teams ensure flawless execution of social marketing campaigns including strategy, creative, execution and optimization.
Efficient Frontier is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in New York, Chicago the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and India, and technology licensing partnerships in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. Context Optional is headquartered in San Francisco. Efficient Frontier is a privately held company with funding from Redpoint Ventures and Cambrian Ventures. For more information on Efficient Frontier, visit http://www.efrontier.com and for Context Optional visit http://www.contextoptional.com.
Further media information:
Kate Hartley
Carrot Communications
Tel: 0203 178 5052 / 0771 406 5233
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Due to the span of our world-wide client base, Efficient Frontier has unrivaled access to digital marketing data across multiple vertical and regions. We analyze this data to gain insights into trends in digital marketing spending and performance, and develop strategies for future action.
Our findings are published in our quarterly Digital Marketing Performance Reports, and are shared with the public and the media in order to provide value in strategic decision making and improving the industry as a whole.
• Global Digital Marketing Performance Report & Infograph: Q4 2011
• Global Digital Marketing Performance Report: Q3 2011
• Global Digital Marketing Performance Report: Q2 2011
• Global Digital Marketing Performance Report: Q1 2011
• Global Digital Marketing Performance Report: Q4 2010
• UK Digital Marketing Performance Report: Q3 2010
• US Digital Marketing Performance Report: Q3 2010
• UK Search Engine Performance Report: Q2 2010
• US Search Engine Performance Report: Q2 2010
• UK Search Engine Performance Report: Q1 2010
• US Search Engine Performance Report: Q1 2010
• UK Search Engine Report: Q4 2009
• US Search Engine Report: Q4 2009
• UK Search Engine Report: Q3 2009
• US Search Engine Report: Q3 2009
• UK Search Engine Performance Report: Q2 2009
• US Search Engine Performance Report: Q2 2009
• UK Search Engine Performance Report: Q1 2009
• US Search Engine Performance Report: Q1 2009
• UK Search Engine Performance Report: Q4 2008
• US Search Engine Performance Report: Q4 2008
• UK Search Engine Performance Report: Q3 2008
• Search Engine Performance Report: Q3 2008
• UK Search Engine Performance Report: Q2 2008
• Search Engine Performance Report: Q2 2008
• UK Search Engine Performance Report: Q1 2008
• Search Engine Performance Report: Q1 2008
• Search Engine Performance Report: Q4 2007
Tests by performance marketing company, Efficient Frontier, show that Facebook advertising is starting to show real sales results for advertisers.
Efficient Frontier is running a series of tests to measure the performance of Facebook advertising against search advertising. Initial results show that Facebook performs best for brands looking to achieve specific sales conversion targets from their advertising campaigns (as opposed to branding goals), and specifically for higher-spending advertisers who combine Facebook advertising with search.
Its tests show that, for brand advertisers spending more than £2000 on performance marketing advertising (search and display), Facebook advertising gives a lower cost-per-acquisition (CPA) rate than search, becoming a more effective channel to meet CPA goals. However, audience reach in Facebook is lower than search, so the optimum spend ration between the two channels was, on average, between 60 and 75 percent spend on Facebook and between 40 and 25 percent on search.
For brand advertisers spending less - around the £1000 mark - the CPA for Facebook campaigns is marginally lower than it is for search, and so the largest proportion of budget should continue to be spent on search.
Efficient Frontier analysed the spend distribution across Facebook and search advertising, measuring the performance of campaigns on each channel alongside each other. Simulation models show the performance of each campaign at various spend levels, based on the models created by Efficient Frontier’s bidding technology. This examines how each campaign measures up against its original objective (such as gaining the most effective CPA rates, as in these test cases).
Efficient Frontier’s European client services director, Jonathan Beeston, says: “These are initial tests, and we need to do more to establish whether they will be reflected across all brands. But they do show that for the first time, Facebook is starting to perform as an acquisition or sales channel. Facebook is starting to be a real challenger in performance marketing.”
The tests were done by:
· Running two simultaneous campaigns across search and Facebook for test clients. Both campaigns were designed to work together, with similar messages and content (built to the specifications of each test client)
· Measuring the impact of each channel on conversions (focusing on sales and registrations)
· Building and optimising the campaigns on both channels, using Efficient Frontier’s Ad Builder, including testing different versions of an ad to different demographic or interest groups on Facebook
· Using automated bidding technology to assess the performance of each campaign (including the performance of each target audience group on Facebook) and bidding an appropriate amount for each ad
For more information on Efficient Frontier’s Facebook and search campaigns, see www.efrontier.com; or follow Efficient Frontier on Twitter - http://twitter.com/efrontier or Facebook - http://facebook.com/efrontier.
About Efficient Frontier
Efficient Frontier is a leader in online performance marketing managing search marketing, display and social media campaigns for advertisers and agencies around the world. Efficient Frontier currently manages more than $1 billion in annual marketing spend on behalf of their clients globally. Founded in 2002, Efficient Frontier pioneered the application of modern portfolio theory for search engine marketing and today combines its core predictive modelling algorithms and bidding technology with comprehensive strategic and tactical value-added services. The largest and most sophisticated advertisers and agencies partner with Efficient Frontier to achieve and sustain optimal campaign performance and growth in highly complex and competitive marketplaces. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in New York, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and India, and technology licensing partnerships in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. Efficient Frontier is a privately held company with funding from Redpoint Ventures and Cambrian Ventures. For more information, please visit efrontier.com and subscribe to the Efficient Frontier blog at blog.efrontier.com.
If you are a journalist or blogger and would like more information on Efficient Frontier, please contact:
Kate Hartley, Carrot Communications
Tel: 0771 406 5233
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Twitter: @katehartley
Click-through rates from search results displayed on a mobile phone in the UK are 2.7 times higher than from a fixed-line computer (‘desktop search’), according to research by performance marketing company, Efficient Frontier. (This is in contrast to the US, where click-through rates from mobiles are 30 percent lower. This may be because there are fewer competitors advertising on mobile in the UK; one should bear in mind that the CTR was approximately 5 percent in the early days of display.)
The most effective keywords on mobile search relate to urgent, local or ‘cheap deal’ searches, demonstrating that - for now at least - mobile searches are mostly being used to satisfy an immediate need (searching for information on the road, or for unplanned events), rather than for background research. This is compounded by Google’s findings that one in three mobile searches show local intent. Effective keywords supporting local intent can have up to five times the click-through rate of desktop search. This is also likely to be in part attributed to the relatively low numbers of advertisers using mobile pay-per-click (PPC) search advertising, and therefore facing relatively low competition on the channel.
Growth of mobile search spend is predicted to be high: in June 2010, mobile search advertising accounted for 0.34 percent of search spend; in March 2011 this had risen to 1.70 percent (a 400 percent increase). Efficient Frontier predicts that this could rise to more than 4.2 percent by the end of the year.
Cost-per-click (CPC) on mobile is, on average, 60 percent of that of desktop search. This is likely to change, as mobile advertising increases in the UK. It tells a very different story from US research: Efficient Frontier’s research in the US shows CPC rates as, on average, 13 percent higher than desktop search (and click-through rates as 30 percent lower).
However, conversion rates over mobile are significantly lower than that of desktop search (14 percent of that of desktop search). This reflects the type of searches carried out on mobile, which are still more likely to be local or urgent information searches, rather than sales, subscriptions or registrations. It doesn’t measure offline conversion rates (footfall to local businesses) which are likely to be higher than average. Conversion rates from mobile advertising are expected to increase over the coming year, as mobile internet use shifts and mobile payment methods become simpler to use.
Recommendations for advertisers
Efficient Frontier recommends that advertisers who can satisfy local intent searches, cheap deals or urgent information (for example: retailers; travel and leisure companies such as airlines, transport operators, hotels and restaurant chains; or local attractions) start investing in mobile advertising if they haven’t already. Lower CPC rates and high click-through rates offered by mobile advertising mean that it could be a highly effective medium to drive offline footfall. (For more information on how advertisers can use mobile search, see Efficient Frontier’s insight guide to mobile search, available from http://www.efrontier.com/research/whitepapers.)
Efficient Frontier’s European client services director, Jonathan Beeston, says: “Common sense dictates that mobile advertising is an extremely effective way of local businesses reaching customers who are in the area and looking for products or services. Our research bears this out, with local intent, urgent information and cheap deals heading the list of keywords. Mobile offers great value at the moment to specific sectors such as retail and travel.”
For more information, see www.efrontier.com; or follow Efficient Frontier on Twitter - http://twitter.com/efrontier or Facebook - http://facebook.com/efrontier.
About Efficient Frontier
Efficient Frontier is a leader in online performance marketing managing search marketing, display and social media campaigns for advertisers and agencies around the world. Efficient Frontier currently manages more than $1 billion in annual marketing spend on behalf of their clients globally. Founded in 2002, Efficient Frontier pioneered the application of modern portfolio theory for search engine marketing and today combines its core predictive modelling algorithms and bidding technology with comprehensive strategic and tactical value-added services. The largest and most sophisticated advertisers and agencies partner with Efficient Frontier to achieve and sustain optimal campaign performance and growth in highly complex and competitive marketplaces. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in New York, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and India, and technology licensing partnerships in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. Efficient Frontier is a privately held company with funding from Redpoint Ventures and Cambrian Ventures. For more information, please visit efrontier.com and subscribe to the Efficient Frontier blog at blog.efrontier.com.
If you are a journalist or blogger and would like more information on Efficient Frontier, please contact:
Kate Hartley
Carrot Communications
Tel: 0771 406 5233
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Twitter: @katehartley
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Efficient Frontier Acquires Context Optional to Create the First Comprehensive Solution for Social Media Marketing
Unites Leading Advertising and Page Management Platforms to Maximize Social Marketing Impact
Sunnyvale, Calif. – May 4, 2011 – Efficient Frontier, a leading global performance marketing company, today announced that the company has acquired Context Optional, a leader in enterprise social marketing solutions. The acquisition expands Efficient Frontier’s social media offering which will combine the company’s advertising campaign management and optimization with Context Optional’s page management platform. This marks the first unified solution for managing and optimizing Facebook fan acquisition through to fan retention and engagement. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“We are excited to offer marketers a complete solution for capitalizing on the growing social marketing opportunity across Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn,” said David Karnstedt, Efficient Frontier’s CEO. “Social media marketing is more than just the initial contact with the customer and requires both compelling experiences and an ongoing dialog to realize the full potential of the interaction. The acquisition of Context Optional will create a unified platform for marketers to manage all of their social media touch points with brand enthusiasts.”
Efficient Frontier’s platform manages ad campaigns across search, display and social media, enabling customers to acquire audiences across multiple channels and optimize for better results. Context Optional’s Social Marketing Suite of products is an enterprise solution for brands to engage and retain audiences across Facebook and Twitter.
By aligning acquisition and engagement strategies, the combined company will be able to deliver a seamless and measurable user experience by integrating advertising and social marketing content. Brands will be able to more efficiently target audiences based on social engagement insights and continually refine their Facebook application experiences to better match their audiences’ interests. Efficient Frontier will also be able to provide integrated analytics to provide a more complete view of performance including virality.
“Efficient Frontier is a leader in digital marketing and our respective clients are asking us for a comprehensive solution to both acquire and build relationships with their customers,” said Kevin Barenblat, Context Optional’s Co-Founder and CEO. “This combination is recognition that social media is now indeed a powerful marketing channel in which brands are significantly investing. We're excited to be the first in the market with an integrated, enterprise solution to enable brands to effectively scale their investment in social.”
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About Efficient Frontier
Efficient Frontier is a leader in online performance marketing managing search marketing, display and social media campaigns for advertisers and agencies around the world. Efficient Frontier currently manages more than $1 billion in annual marketing spend on behalf of their clients globally. Founded in 2002, Efficient Frontier pioneered the application of modern portfolio theory for search engine marketing and today combines its core predictive modeling algorithms and bidding technology with comprehensive strategic and tactical value-added services. The largest and most sophisticated advertisers and agencies partner with Efficient Frontier to achieve and sustain optimal campaign performance and growth in highly complex and competitive marketplaces. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in New York, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and India, and technology licensing partnerships in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. Efficient Frontier is a privately held company with funding from Redpoint Ventures and Cambrian Ventures. For more information, please visit http://www.efrontier.com and subscribe to the Efficient Frontier blog at blog.efrontier.com.
About Context Optional
Context Optional is the leading provider of social marketing software and services to global brands and advertising agencies. The company provides marketers with comprehensive solutions to build, manage, monitor and measure brand presence across the social web to meet their acquisition, engagement and retention goals. By combining a leading technology platform, industry expertise, and comprehensive analytics into an integrated approach, Context Optional delivers the most effective social CRM and marketing solutions to Fortune 500 brands and agencies. Context Optional is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in New York. For more information, please visit http://www.contextoptional.com.
http://twitter.com/contextoptional
http://www.facebook.com/contextoptional
Media Contacts:
JSA Strategies
Jennifer Stephens Acree
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310-780-3331
Micha Thomas
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310-498-9011
Efficient Frontier enables marketers to measure and attribute conversion data, including clicks and impressions, across marketing channels such as Paid Search, Display, Facebook, and Organic Search.
Contact us US: +1 877.273.6669 / UK: +44 (0)20 7166 5219
Our Multi-Event Attribution functionality allows marketers to understand which events led up to a conversion. Instead of automatically attributing the conversion to the last click or impression, which may not be the most accurate approach, our platform allows marketers to choose from the following attribution rules: Last Event, First Event, Weight Last Event More, Weight First Event More, Even Distribution.
By properly allocating conversion credit to the event and marketing channel, our platform is able to optimize bidding and recommend budget allocations. Marketers can be sure that money is spent in exactly the right channels to achieve the most conversions.
Maximize Your Performance on Facebook
Efficient Frontier opens up new opportunities on Facebook by delivering automated optimization while removing much of the complexity from campaign management and reporting. Our performance management platform uses the same core technology for Facebook that is proven to deliver success in search and display. Efficient Frontier gives advertisers the powerful, algorithmic optimization required to succeed in Facebook’s dynamic auction marketplace while offering tools and reports that simplify campaign execution.
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Optimization
Efficient Frontier’s optimization technology goes beyond simple rules automation and delivers superior performance for Facebook campaigns. As in Search and Display, our Facebook portfolio optimization approach is unique in the market.
Control
Our platform puts marketers in control of Facebook advertising. We simplify the creation of successful Facebook campaigns allowing marketers to create thousands of ads in seconds.
Insights
Success with Facebook ads requires deep analysis. Our platform was built to provide both Facebook-specific reporting and the critical cross-channel view of results.
Working with Efficient Frontier on Facebook
Efficient Frontier offers both a technology-only option as well as a full-service offering that leverages the deep knowledgebase of our experienced professionals. From launching an initial Facebook effort to improving bid management and adding cross-channel performance views, the Efficient Frontier Facebook solution is ready to deliver performance.
Sunnyvale, Calif. – September 27, 2010 – Efficient Frontier, a leading global performance marketing company, today announced its new Facebook advertising offering as well as the integration of its technology platform with the Facebook® Ads API. This new offering will allow marketers to optimize Facebook in a unified platform that also includes search and display ads. Cross channel optimization of this kind is an industry first and provides marketers and agencies with a true holistic view of their online marketing campaigns.
“We’ve been working with Efficient Frontier using their platform to manage multiple channels including both search and Facebook with great success,” said Dan Rosensweig, CEO of Chegg, Inc. “Back to school season is a key time for Chegg and Efficient Frontier helped optimize our Facebook channel and was instrumental in building a successful marketing campaign this year.”
The new integration of Facebook’s APIs into Efficient Frontier’s platform helps marketers succeed by delivering automated optimization while removing much of the complexity from campaign management and reporting. The platform simplifies the creation of successful Facebook campaigns by allowing marketers to create thousands of ads in seconds. It also allows marketers to more easily target ads to new audiences using Facebook’s segmentation including interest, likes, age, gender, and geography.
Efficient Frontier’s proprietary technology enables marketers to get a higher ROI for their digital advertising spend. The Efficient Frontier platform uses sophisticated predictive modeling and simulations that enable superior bid optimization across digital marketing channels. The platform also provides specialized and scalable automation to manage clients’ accounts at the portfolio level and an easy-to-use, customizable dashboard with advanced reporting and analytics capabilities. Since 2002, Efficient Frontier has managed more performance marketing campaigns than any other company in the world.
“While other players in the market may now provide Facebook advertising to their clients, they are not truly optimizing across the other channels to improve performance in search, display and Facebook,” said David Karnstedt, CEO of Efficient Frontier. “Our platform provides this integration – and at scale which is an industry first. We are excited to help marketers like Chegg fully realize the potential of their online marketing campaigns.”
About Efficient Frontier
Efficient Frontier is a leader in online performance marketing managing search marketing, display and social media campaigns for advertisers and agencies around the world. Efficient Frontier currently manages more than $1 billion in annual marketing spend on behalf of their clients globally. Founded in 2002, Efficient Frontier pioneered the application of modern portfolio theory for search engine marketing and today combines its core predictive modeling algorithms and bidding technology with comprehensive strategic and tactical value-added services. The largest and most sophisticated advertisers and agencies partner with Efficient Frontier to achieve and sustain optimal campaign performance and growth in highly complex and competitive marketplaces. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in New York, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and India, and technology licensing partnerships in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. Efficient Frontier is a privately held company with funding from Redpoint Ventures and Cambrian Ventures. For more information, please visit http://www.efrontier.com and subscribe to the Efficient Frontier blog at blog.efrontier.com.
Efficient Frontier was acquired by Adobe and is now a part of Adobe’s Digital Marketing Business Unit. Learn more about Adobe at http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/.
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Efficient Frontier will be presenting at these upcoming events.
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Social Role-Playing: Brands as Story Tellers
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JSA Strategies
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310-780-3331
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Carrot Communications
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Efficient Frontier’s search engine optimization service is a powerful complement to our digital marketing platform. By optimizing your site to achieve top natural search engine rankings for targeted keywords, SEO can increase your reach within the search engine results pages, providing maximum exposure alongside your paid search ads.
Achieving top organic search rankings is the result of on-going site improvements and link building efforts. With over 100 factors considered in the rankings algorithm, finding the right mix of on and off-site factors is a process that requires constant attention and effort from an experienced search engine optimizer.
The ability to develop a high-level SEO strategy for what needs to be done globally in the long term and then determine the most imperative actions, the ones that will provide the most immediate results, is critical to long term SEO success. Efficient Frontier’s SEO implementations employ high-quality, sustainable optimization strategies based on thorough data collection and analysis.
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Our optimization efforts focus on all aspects of your business, from on-site SEO best practices to disciplines such as website design, usability and visitor conversion. Efficient Frontier will help you to create a technically sound and user-friendly experience on top of optimized content and back links that will in turn increase natural search rankings, boost traffic, and raise conversions for your site.
Our team will perform an in-depth site analysis to diagnose problems with on-site optimization factors; competitor research to identify factors influencing your vertical; and develop a “reputation profile” based on off-site factors. Using data from this research, we will develop a targeted strategy and work with your team to implement this strategy quickly and effectively.
Control
Our overall goal is to help our clients integrate SEO into the organizational processes the drive the growth of their online presence. We do this through personalized knowledge transfer, so that the tactics and strategies can be scaled across the organization. By providing solutions that can be utilized throughout the various technological, editorial, publishing, and promotional processes, search engine optimization becomes a scalable, viable long-term effort that is “baked in” at every step.
Insights
At the core of all of Efficient Frontier’s SEO services is a technology backbone to automate day-to-day tasks and perform thorough data collection, which allows our team of highly skilled optimizers to focus on strategy development and implementation. We utilize industry leading SEO technology to track progress and collect the data we rely on to build successful SEO campaigns. This gives our clients greater insight into their SEO strategy and provides incredible flexibility in tracking and reporting.
While Efficient Frontier’s superior technology helps marketers manage their campaigns effectively, there are many decisions and tasks that benefit from expert human oversight. In support of our clients' goals, Efficient Frontier offers a full suite of service teams to understand client needs, match client business goals to optimization techniques, and prioritize activities based on maximizing return on investment. Our teams of highly trained services personnel are available to translate individual business requirements into superior digital marketing performance.
As a result of varying needs across our customer base, Efficient Frontier has a range of service offerings available. Our teams of digital marketing professionals are available to provide any level of service up to full-service management of your marketing via our platform. Our services include daily monitoring and bid optimization, ongoing and 90-day planning, training, performance reporting, on-demand simulations, and strategic reviews and recommendations.
Our teams are also available to perform comprehensive Campaign Execution Services, consisting of:
Alternative approaches to the full-service team structure include smaller, tightly focused teams around bid management, ongoing optimization, and Q & A with clients, or services limited to software support for clients who are able to resource full executional teams themselves.
Our sales representatives can help determine the right service level for your organizational needs.
Sunnyvale, Calif. - August 23, 2010 - Efficient Frontier, a leading global performance marketing company, today announced a relationship with one of Japan's premier advertising agencies, CyberAgent. Under the agreement, CyberAgent will use Efficient Frontier's technology platform along with their account services to deliver successful digital marketing campaigns for their clients. This addition brings Efficient Frontier's current spend under management to more than $1 billion globally.
"We are pleased to announce our strategic relationship with CyberAgent, a true leader in the Japanese market," said David Karnstedt, President and CEO of Efficient Frontier. "This is a great addition to our roster of global agency partners. Our technology helps leading agencies like CyberAgent better optimize their clients' digital marketing campaigns."
CyperAgent joins Efficient Frontier's current global agency partners, including Agency.com and RPA in the U.S., Essence Media in the UK, and Downstream in Australia. Agency partners leverage Efficient Frontier's scalable platform and unparalleled experience in delivering industry-leading performance.
Efficient Frontier's proprietary technology enables partners to get a higher ROI for their digital advertising spend. The Efficient Frontier platform uses sophisticated predictive modeling and simulations that enable superior bid optimization across digital marketing channels. The platform also provides specialized and scalable automation to manage clients' accounts at the portfolio level and an easy-to-use, customizable dashboard with advanced reporting and analytics capabilities. Since 2002, Efficient Frontier has managed more performance marketing campaigns than any other company in the world.
"The Japanese market is unique, and we needed someone with a global presence to work with on behalf of our clients," said Yasuo Okamoto, Director at CyberAgent. "Efficient Frontier's solution does just that and we look forward to working with them to maximize returns on behalf of our clients."
http://twitter.com/efrontier
http://www.facebook.com/efrontier
Efficient Frontier is a leading digital performance marketing company managing search and display optimization for large-scale marketers around the globe. Founded in 2002, Efficient Frontier pioneered the application of modern portfolio theory to Search Engine Marketing. Today, the company combines its core predictive modeling algorithms and bidding technology with comprehensive, value-added services to manage more than $1 billion in annual spend globally. The largest and most sophisticated advertisers and agencies partner with Efficient Frontier to achieve and sustain optimal campaign performance and growth in highly complex and competitive marketplaces. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in New York, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and India, and technology licensing partnerships in Japan and Australia. Efficient Frontier is a privately held company with funding from Redpoint Ventures and Cambrian Ventures. For more information, please visit http://www.efrontier.com and subscribe to the Efficient Frontier blog at blog.efrontier.com and follow on Twitter at http://twitter.com/efrontier.
Press Contact: Jennifer Stephens Acree
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
310-780-3331
Efficient Frontier helps marketers get their display marketing to perform, applying their proven approach to optimization and continuing to provide control and insights to our customers. Efficient Frontier’s media partners, including Google and Yahoo, deliver over 95% reach and high quality inventory within the biddable display ad exchanges. With both reach and quality in auction markets, advertisers can now capitalize on display as a performance channel. And with Efficient Frontier’s real time bidding and access to a wide array of targeting data, advertisers can scale performance display well beyond retargeting.
Contact us US: +1 877.273.6669 / UK: +44 (0)20 7166 5219
Optimization
Efficient Frontier uses the same Portfolio Approach to optimization in display used for search. The key pieces of Efficient Frontier optimization in display are:
Control
Advertisers have complete control of display via the Efficient Frontier dashboard. From building and managing audience segments to controlling the media to be bought, the Efficient Frontier platform puts advertisers squarely at the helm.
Insights
Advertisers must make key decisions about objectives, budget, and allocations using the right insights. The Efficient Frontier platform provides unparalleled depth of insights:
Efficient Frontier's platform helps the largest and most complex advertisers in the world lead successful search engine marketing campaigns. With nearly a decade of proven success, Efficient Frontier manages more than $1 Billion in spend across 250 global clients. Our platform operates at massive scale, setting more than 5 million bids a day across more than 120 million keywords.
Efficient Frontier is the pioneer in applying Portfolio Theory to search marketing optimization, using mathematical models to weigh risk and return across numerous events. While the portfolio approach automates bidding, our platform UI always provides full visibility into bid decisions and an ability to control bidding directly as required. And the models we build provide accurate forecasts that give clients insights into future performance.
Contact us US: +1 877.273.6669 / UK: +44 (0)20 7166 5219
Optimization
Efficient Frontier’s portfolio optimization is proven to outperform rules based technologies. Our platform is field-tested to scale and handles more keywords than any other methodology. The key pieces of Efficient Frontier optimization in search are:
Control
Advertisers have complete control of their search programs via the Efficient Frontier dashboard. From building and managing campaigns, keywords, and creatives to setting performance goals for optimization, the Efficient Frontier platform puts advertisers squarely at the helm.
Insights
Advertisers must make key decisions about objectives, budget, and allocations using the right tools. The Efficient Frontier platform provides unparalleled depth of insights:
Competition for market share is fierce. And campaigns are more complicated than ever with millions of keywords, geo-targeting, content options, and copy testing. For close to a decade, Efficient Frontier’s technology has helped some of the largest and most complex advertisers in the world lead successful SEM campaigns.
Data Based on Efficient Frontier's Q1 2010 U.S. Search Engine Performance Report
Sunnyvale, Calif. - April 13, 2010 - In Q1 2010, the Search Engine Marketing (SEM) industry posted solid year on year (YoY) growth of 20% and a quarter on quarter (QoQ) decline of 8%, which was less than half of the decline posted last year. This is according to Efficient Frontier, a leading performance marketing company with more than $900 million in global client spend annually. This data and specific industry trends were released today in the company's Q1 2010 U.S. Search Engine Performance Report.
"The performance marketing industry is off to a strong start in 2010," said David Karnstedt, President and CEO, Efficient Frontier. "We saw strength across the retail, finance and autos categories and initial signs of a comeback in travel. We continue to believe that the search sector will approach gains of 20% year over year."
Report Highlights: Q1 2010 Executive Summary
Spend Growth Exceeds Expectations
In Q1 2010, the search marketing sector slowly roared back, building on a fourth quarter 2009 that posted solid sequential and year on year growth. YoY spend was up 20% with a light seasonal pull-back in QoQ spend of 8%, less than half of the previous year's sequential drop.
Search query and click volumes are up substantially YoY while Cost per Click (CPC) remains relatively stable. Overall, return on investment (ROI) in search was up 4% YoY as consumers returned to purchasing with a more favorable economic outlook.
Retail Keeps the Accelerator On Beyond the Holidays
In Q4 2009, spend in the retail sector grew 17% YoY and 46% QoQ. Building on that momentum, retail spend grew 32% YoY in Q1 with a relatively tame seasonal 27% QoQ decline. CPC grew 10% YoY after a 9% YoY decline in Q4, suggesting strengthening advertiser demand.
Query volume was up 73% YoY in Q1 2010, clearly depicting that consumers' shift to shopping online shows no signs of abating. Rather, the light post-holiday Q1 abatement in query volume suggests that the online channel is a consistent part of day-to-day life rather than a one-off spike during the holidays.
SEM Strength Expands in Finance and Autos
Both the finance and automotive sectors saw a return to health this quarter as spend increased 9% YoY. Large query volume increases in automotive, up 29% YoY, highlight a renewed consumer interest in the new and used cars.
Travel showed initial signs of a comeback as spend grew 38% QoQ in the seasonally strong first quarter. Travel CPCs and spend were down just 4% YoY, the most favorable YoY comparison in several quarters. The numbers for the various sectors included:
Search Engine Share Growth Goes Bing, Bing, Bing
After a pause in growth during Q4, Bing renewed its market share gains in Q1 2010 as it increased its click and spend share to 5.5% and 6.5%, respectively. These represent YoY gains of 45% in both click and spend.
In contrast to Bing's growth, their partner Yahoo! saw further losses in market share across both clicks and in spend. Yahoo!'s share of clicks fell to 20.5% from 24.2% in Q1 2009 and 22.7% in Q4 2009. Additionally, Yahoo!'s share of spend fell to 18.7% from 21.3% in Q1 2009 and 22.7% in Q4 2009. Yahoo!'s Q1 2010 numbers represent a 15% YoY click share loss and 12% YoY spend share loss.
Google expanded its dominant position in Q1 closing in on 75% share of both spend and clicks. Return on investment on Google is up 16% YoY on slightly lower CPCs and improving conversion rates. Overall, clicks were up 8% YoY and 4% sequentially (QoQ).
Outlook for 2Q10 and 2H10
Advertiser Spend Trends
Efficient Frontier believes that SEM growth will approach 20% YoY for the full year 2010. There are several reasons for this prediction including: 1) Impression volumes are higher in all sectors as compared to a year ago indicating greater consumer interest; 2) CPCs have made a broad recovery indicating greater demand and larger budget appetites from advertisers; 3) Broader economic conditions appear to have stabilized, a trend that will result in a lift in consumer purchasing and companies advertising online.
Search Engine Landscape
The search engine landscape is experiencing shifts in both click and market share as Bing continues to emerge. Unfortunately for their broader partnership, Yahoo!'s loss in share is Bing's gain. There is also no sign of Google's growth abating as they close in on 75% share of spend and clicks.
Research Methodology
This analysis was completed based on data from Efficient Frontier search engine marketing customers and the resulting Efficient Frontier's Customer Index. The Efficient Frontier Customer Index represents a subset of the company's clients with spend data for six consecutive quarters or more, whose resulting SEM metrics are then normalized to average industry category contributions established by multiple third party data providers. The Efficient Frontier Customer Index consists of a axed sample of large scale U.S. search engine advertisers across multiple sectors, including Nance, travel, retail and automotive. The Efficient Frontier Customer Index sheds light on trends in search engine spending and performance on a year-over-year (YOY) and quarter-over- quarter (QOQ) basis.
The complete U.S. Search Engine Performance Report: Q1, 2010, is available for download from the Efficient Frontier website at:
http://www.efrontier.com/research/search-engine-report/Q1-2010
http://twitter.com/efrontier
http://www.facebook.com/efrontier
About Efficient Frontier
Efficient Frontier is a leading digital performance marketing company managing search and display optimization for large-scale marketers around the globe. Founded in 2002, Efficient Frontier pioneered the application of modern portfolio theory to Search Engine Marketing. Today, the company combines its core predictive modeling algorithms and bidding technology with comprehensive, value-added services to manage more than $900 million in annual spend globally. The largest and most sophisticated advertisers and agencies partner with Efficient Frontier to achieve and sustain optimal campaign performance and growth in highly complex and competitive marketplaces. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in New York, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and India, and technology licensing partnerships in Japan and Australia. Efficient Frontier is a privately held company with funding from Redpoint Ventures and Cambrian Ventures. For more information, please visit http://www.efrontier.com and subscribe to the Efficient Frontier blog at blog.efrontier.com.
Press Contact: Jennifer Stephens Acree
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
310-780-3331
Data Based on Efficient Frontier's Q1 2010 UK Search Engine Performance Report
London, April 15, 2010 – In Q1 2010, the UK Search Engine Marketing (SEM) industry posted solid year on year (YoY) growth of 21%. This is according to Efficient Frontier, a leading performance marketing company with more than $900 million in global client spend annually. This data and specific industry trends were released today in the company’s Q1 2010 UK Search Engine Performance Report.
“Search marketing trends are a good indicator of the health of the overall economy and this looks like a good start to the year. The political party that is elected next month will certainly have some economic momentum behind them,” said Jonathan Beeston, European Client Services Director.
Spend Growth Exceeds Expectations
In Q1 2010, the search marketing sector roared back building on a fourth quarter 2009 that posted solid sequential and year on year growth. Year on Year (YoY) spend was up 21%. There was however a light seasonal pull-back in Quarter on Quarter (QoQ) spend of 6%. Query and click volumes are up substantially YoY and Cost per Clicks (CPC) continue to decline. Overall return on investment (ROI) in search is up 6% YoY as consumer’s return to purchasing with a more favourable economic outlook. Strong consumer demand is driving search marketing growth above the expected 10-15% 2010 outlook.
Is Bing about to Bang?
Bing is starting to see the effects of its Q1 offline advertising campaign in the UK as it gained spend share this quarter from Google while Yahoo! remained flat. Spend share in Q1 2010 increased to 4.7% which represented YoY and QoQ gains of 9%. Bing also saw the highest increase in impressions and clicks QoQ out of the search engines and saw a 9% increase in click share on last quarter. Although improving, click share is still down 38% when compared to the same period last year. It is interesting to note that Bing’s gain in spend share is at a much slower pace than in the U.S.
In contrast to Bing’s growth in spend and click share, their future partner Yahoo! saw further losses in market share across both clicks and in spend. Yahoo!’s share of clicks fell to 10.3% from 12.8% in Q1 2009. And Yahoo!’s share of spend fell to 8.1% from 9.8% in Q1 2009. Yahoo!’s Q1 2010 numbers represent a 19.5% YoY click share loss and 17% YoY spend share loss. However QoQ they have stabilised their spend share and improved their click share, indicating that Yahoo!’s traffic quality initiatives of the last few months are taking an effect.
Despite losing some quarterly click and spend share to Bing and Yahoo! it was only Google who gained in share YoY. Google strengthened its dominant position by increasing spend and click share to 87.2% and 86% respectively in Q1 2010. This demonstrated a YoY increase in spend and click share of 5.7% and 1.5%.
Google’s ability to deliver Return On Investment (ROI) for advertisers has remained stable over the last year while it has dropped on both Yahoo! and Bing by 9% and 23% respectively. When compared to last quarter, Bing improved in delivering ROI by 5.5% while Yahoo!’s ROI deteriorated 6.2%.
Advertiser Spend Trends
Q1 2009 posted a weak quarter in terms of SEM spend trends resulting in a favourable YoY comparison for Q1 2010. The result is that we will likely need to temper our enthusiasm and expectation coming out of the strong 20% Q1 YoY growth. That being said, there are several reasons to be optimistic. One, impression volumes are higher across all engines than a year ago indicating greater consumer interest. Second, the broader economic conditions appear to have stabilised overall, a trend that will result in a lift in consumer purchasing and companies advertising online. In light of these trends, we maintain the outlook stated in the Q4 2009 report: SEM growth will exceed the current 10-15% growth expectations and approach 20% YoY spend expansion in 2010.
Search Engine Landscape
The search engine landscape is experiencing small sequential shifts in both click and market share at the expense of Google however there is no sign of Google’s growth abating YoY. Perhaps the broader Yahoo! and Bing partnership will uncover a stronger competitor to Google in time.
Research Methodology
This analysis was completed based on data from Efficient Frontier search engine marketing customers and the resulting Efficient Frontier’s Customer Index. The Efficient Frontier Customer Index represents a subset of the company’s clients with spend data for six consecutive quarters or more. The Efficient Frontier UK Customer Index consists of a fixed sample of large scale UK search engine advertisers across multiple sectors, including finance, travel, entertainment, retail and telecommunications verticals.
The Efficient Frontier Customer Index sheds light on trends in search engine spending and performance on a year-over-year (YOY) and quarter-over- quarter (QOQ) basis.
Sunnyvale, CA - April 27, 2010 - Efficient Frontier, a leading online performance marketing company, today announced its entry into display advertising with a fully integrated display and search marketing optimization platform. The new display offering includes real-time bidding capabilities, which is dynamic bidding at the impression level, as well as a proven portfolio approach to optimization. The portfolio approach allows advertisers to leverage predictive modeling to forecast performance outcomes based on overall goals.
Efficient Frontier is the first company to provide a platform that integrates biddable display with search marketing, allowing advertisers' total campaigns to be more holistically optimized for greater Return on Investment (ROI). The Efficient Frontier platform is integrated with the large advertising exchanges including Yahoo!'s Right Media and Google's AdEx. Additionally, Efficient Frontier utilizes Google's real-time bidding technology and Application Programming Interface (API) to improve results for its clients.
"By adding display to our existing search campaign with Efficient Frontier, we have seen even more highly targeted leads to our online campaign," said Stacey Doyne, External Marketing Manager, The Motley Fool. "Cross optimization is the wave of the future and we are happy to be working with an industry leader in this area."
Advertisers will have access to reporting that accurately captures, calculates, and attributes the value driven by both search and display advertising, a significant step forward in addressing one of the thorniest issues in online marketing. Additionally, marketers will be able to capitalize on Efficient Frontier's well established portfolio optimization approach now deployed for bidding across both search and display.
"The Efficient Frontier platform is a critical piece to our success as an agency with performance marketers," said Justin Hind, COO, Downstream Marketing. "Our clients are thrilled that the power of Efficient Frontier's proven solution in search engine marketing is now available in display."
Efficient Frontier's unified platform puts the buying controls for search and display in the hands of its customers. In addition to the powerful reports and optimization, clients value the forecasting and simulations that provide visibility into future performance.
"The ad network landscape is rapidly evolving and we see our entry into the biddable display market as a perfect opportunity to help advertisers increase their campaigns' reach and total effectiveness," said David Karnstedt, President and CEO, Efficient Frontier. "We are the only player in the market today that optimizes across both search and display and, for the first time, ties accurate attribution to direct action in bidding and buying."
About Efficient Frontier
Efficient Frontier is a leading digital performance marketing company managing search and display optimization for large-scale marketers around the globe. Founded in 2002, Efficient Frontier pioneered the application of modern portfolio theory to Search Engine Marketing. Today, the company combines its core predictive modeling algorithms and bidding technology with comprehensive, value-added services to manage more than $900 million in annual spend globally. The largest and most sophisticated advertisers and agencies partner with Efficient Frontier to achieve and sustain optimal campaign performance in highly complex and competitive marketplaces. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in New York, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and India, and technology licensing partnerships in Japan and Australia. Efficient Frontier is a privately held company with funding from Redpoint Ventures and Cambrian Ventures. For more information, please visit www.efrontier.com and subscribe to the Efficient Frontier blog at blog.efrontier.com.
Press Contact: Jennifer Stephens Acree
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
310-780-3331
Data Based on Efficient Frontier's Q1 2010 UK Search Engine Performance Report
London, April 19, 2010 – In Q1 2010, the UK Search Engine Marketing (SEM) industry posted solid year on year (YoY) growth of 21%. This is according to Efficient Frontier, a leading performance marketing company with more than $900 million in global client spend annually. This data and specific industry trends were released today in the company’s Q1 2010 UK Search Engine Performance Report.
“Search marketing trends are a good indicator of the health of the overall economy and this looks like a good start to the year. The political party that is elected next month will certainly have some economic momentum behind them,” said Jonathan Beeston, European Client Services Director.
Report Highlights:
Q1 2010 Executive Summary
Spend Growth Exceeds Expectations
In Q1 2010, the search marketing sector roared back building on a fourth quarter 2009 that posted solid sequential and year on year growth. Year on Year (YoY) spend was up 21%. There was however a light seasonal pull-back in Quarter on Quarter (QoQ) spend of 6%. Query and click volumes are up substantially YoY and Cost per Clicks (CPC) continue to decline. Overall return on investment (ROI) in search is up 6% YoY as consumer’s return to purchasing with a more favourable economic outlook. Strong consumer demand is driving search marketing growth above the expected 10-15% 2010 outlook.
Is Bing about to Bang?
Bing is starting to see the effects of its Q1 offline advertising campaign in the UK as it gained spend share this quarter from Google while Yahoo! remained flat. Spend share in Q1 2010 increased to 4.7% which represented YoY and QoQ gains of 9%. Bing also saw the highest increase in impressions and clicks QoQ out of the search engines and saw a 9% increase in click share on last quarter. Although improving, click share is still down 38% when compared to the same period last year. It is interesting to note that Bing’s gain in spend share is at a much slower pace than in the U.S.
In contrast to Bing’s growth in spend and click share, their future partner Yahoo! saw further losses in market share across both clicks and in spend. Yahoo!’s share of clicks fell to 10.3% from 12.8% in Q1 2009. And Yahoo!’s share of spend fell to 8.1% from 9.8% in Q1 2009. Yahoo!’s Q1 2010 numbers represent a 19.5% YoY click share loss and 17% YoY spend share loss. However QoQ they have stabilised their spend share and improved their click share, indicating that Yahoo!’s traffic quality initiatives of the last few months are taking an effect.
Despite losing some quarterly click and spend share to Bing and Yahoo! it was only Google who gained in share YoY. Google strengthened its dominant position by increasing spend and click share to 87.2% and 86% respectively in Q1 2010. This demonstrated a YoY increase in spend and click share of 5.7% and 1.5%.
Google’s ability to deliver Return On Investment (ROI) for advertisers has remained stable over the last year while it has dropped on both Yahoo! and Bing by 9% and 23% respectively. When compared to last quarter, Bing improved in delivering ROI by 5.5% while Yahoo!’s ROI deteriorated 6.2%.
Outlook for 2Q10 and 2H10
Advertiser Spend Trends
Q1 2009 posted a weak quarter in terms of SEM spend trends resulting in a favourable YoY comparison for Q1 2010. The result is that we will likely need to temper our enthusiasm and expectation coming out of the strong 20% Q1 YoY growth. That being said, there are several reasons to be optimistic. One, impression volumes are higher across all engines than a year ago indicating greater consumer interest. Second, the broader economic conditions appear to have stabilised overall, a trend that will result in a lift in consumer purchasing and companies advertising online. In light of these trends, we maintain the outlook stated in the Q4 2009 report: SEM growth will exceed the current 10-15% growth expectations and approach 20% YoY spend expansion in 2010.
Search Engine Landscape
The search engine landscape is experiencing small sequential shifts in both click and market share at the expense of Google however there is no sign of Google’s growth abating YoY. Perhaps the broader Yahoo! and Bing partnership will uncover a stronger competitor to Google in time.
Research Methodology
This analysis was completed based on data from Efficient Frontier search engine marketing customers and the resulting Efficient Frontier’s Customer Index. The Efficient Frontier Customer Index represents a subset of the company’s clients with spend data for six consecutive quarters or more. The Efficient Frontier UK Customer Index consists of a fixed sample of large scale UK search engine advertisers across multiple sectors, including finance, travel, entertainment, retail and telecommunications verticals.
The Efficient Frontier Customer Index sheds light on trends in search engine spending and performance on a year-over-year (YOY) and quarter-over- quarter (QOQ) basis.
Data Based on Efficient Frontier's Q1 2010 U.S. Search Engine Performance Report
Sunnyvale, Calif. - April 13, 2010 - In Q1 2010, the Search Engine Marketing (SEM) industry posted solid year on year (YoY) growth of 20% and a quarter on quarter (QoQ) decline of 8%, which was less than half of the decline posted last year. This is according to Efficient Frontier, a leading performance marketing company with more than $900 million in global client spend annually. This data and specific industry trends were released today in the company's Q1 2010 U.S. Search Engine Performance Report.
"The performance marketing industry is off to a strong start in 2010," said David Karnstedt, President and CEO, Efficient Frontier. "We saw strength across the retail, finance and autos categories and initial signs of a comeback in travel. We continue to believe that the search sector will approach gains of 20% year over year."
Report Highlights: Q1 2010 Executive Summary
Spend Growth Exceeds Expectations
In Q1 2010, the search marketing sector slowly roared back, building on a fourth quarter 2009 that posted solid sequential and year on year growth. YoY spend was up 20% with a light seasonal pull-back in QoQ spend of 8%, less than half of the previous year's sequential drop.
Search query and click volumes are up substantially YoY while Cost per Click (CPC) remains relatively stable. Overall, return on investment (ROI) in search was up 4% YoY as consumers returned to purchasing with a more favorable economic outlook.
Retail Keeps the Accelerator On Beyond the Holidays
In Q4 2009, spend in the retail sector grew 17% YoY and 46% QoQ. Building on that momentum, retail spend grew 32% YoY in Q1 with a relatively tame seasonal 27% QoQ decline. CPC grew 10% YoY after a 9% YoY decline in Q4, suggesting strengthening advertiser demand.
Query volume was up 73% YoY in Q1 2010, clearly depicting that consumers' shift to shopping online shows no signs of abating. Rather, the light post-holiday Q1 abatement in query volume suggests that the online channel is a consistent part of day-to-day life rather than a one-off spike during the holidays.
SEM Strength Expands in Finance and Autos
Both the finance and automotive sectors saw a return to health this quarter as spend increased 9% YoY. Large query volume increases in automotive, up 29% YoY, highlight a renewed consumer interest in the new and used cars.
Travel showed initial signs of a comeback as spend grew 38% QoQ in the seasonally strong first quarter. Travel CPCs and spend were down just 4% YoY, the most favorable YoY comparison in several quarters. The numbers for the various sectors included:
Search Engine Share Growth Goes Bing, Bing, Bing
After a pause in growth during Q4, Bing renewed its market share gains in Q1 2010 as it increased its click and spend share to 5.5% and 6.5%, respectively. These represent YoY gains of 45% in both click and spend.
In contrast to Bing's growth, their partner Yahoo! saw further losses in market share across both clicks and in spend. Yahoo!'s share of clicks fell to 20.5% from 24.2% in Q1 2009 and 22.7% in Q4 2009. Additionally, Yahoo!'s share of spend fell to 18.7% from 21.3% in Q1 2009 and 22.7% in Q4 2009. Yahoo!'s Q1 2010 numbers represent a 15% YoY click share loss and 12% YoY spend share loss.
Google expanded its dominant position in Q1 closing in on 75% share of both spend and clicks. Return on investment on Google is up 16% YoY on slightly lower CPCs and improving conversion rates. Overall, clicks were up 8% YoY and 4% sequentially (QoQ).
Outlook for 2Q10 and 2H10
Advertiser Spend Trends
Efficient Frontier believes that SEM growth will approach 20% YoY for the full year 2010. There are several reasons for this prediction including: 1) Impression volumes are higher in all sectors as compared to a year ago indicating greater consumer interest; 2) CPCs have made a broad recovery indicating greater demand and larger budget appetites from advertisers; 3) Broader economic conditions appear to have stabilized, a trend that will result in a lift in consumer purchasing and companies advertising online.
Search Engine Landscape
The search engine landscape is experiencing shifts in both click and market share as Bing continues to emerge. Unfortunately for their broader partnership, Yahoo!'s loss in share is Bing's gain. There is also no sign of Google's growth abating as they close in on 75% share of spend and clicks.
Research Methodology
This analysis was completed based on data from Efficient Frontier search engine marketing customers and the resulting Efficient Frontier's Customer Index. The Efficient Frontier Customer Index represents a subset of the company's clients with spend data for six consecutive quarters or more, whose resulting SEM metrics are then normalized to average industry category contributions established by multiple third party data providers. The Efficient Frontier Customer Index consists of a axed sample of large scale U.S. search engine advertisers across multiple sectors, including Nance, travel, retail and automotive. The Efficient Frontier Customer Index sheds light on trends in search engine spending and performance on a year-over-year (YOY) and quarter-over- quarter (QOQ) basis.
The complete U.S. Search Engine Performance Report: Q1, 2010, is available for download from the Efficient Frontier website at:
http://www.efrontier.com/research/search-engine-report/Q1-2010
http://twitter.com/efrontier
http://www.facebook.com/efrontier
About Efficient Frontier
Efficient Frontier is a leading digital performance marketing company managing search and display optimization for large-scale marketers around the globe. Founded in 2002, Efficient Frontier pioneered the application of modern portfolio theory to Search Engine Marketing. Today, the company combines its core predictive modeling algorithms and bidding technology with comprehensive, value-added services to manage more than $900 million in annual spend globally. The largest and most sophisticated advertisers and agencies partner with Efficient Frontier to achieve and sustain optimal campaign performance and growth in highly complex and competitive marketplaces. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in New York, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and India, and technology licensing partnerships in Japan and Australia. Efficient Frontier is a privately held company with funding from Redpoint Ventures and Cambrian Ventures. For more information, please visit http://www.efrontier.com and subscribe to the Efficient Frontier blog at blog.efrontier.com.
Press Contact: Jennifer Stephens Acree
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
310-780-3331
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