Which platform should brands invest in?
Optimising the Media Mix
Return on Ad spend by media channels
Across each of our key metrics – ROAS, reach, conversion rate and synergy with TV – the Meta portfolio outperformed other digital platforms, even if in some areas TV performed better.
Let’s take those in order. Meta was the most effective platform in driving both offline and online sales, with a ROAS of 1.8, compared to 1.2 for other digital channels and 1.1 for TV.
TV performed better when it came to reach – delivering an average total reach across the 10 campaigns of 69% – but Meta was not far behind at 59%, with other digital platforms at 43%. It’s also notable that Meta delivered higher incremental reach of 6% than the other digital platforms, which scored 2%.
The question that many marketers will have is: ‘how valuable was that reach number?’ After all, it’s no use reaching lots of your target shoppers, if no one actually buys anything. On the conversion rate, Meta was top with 22% of those who saw a message on Facebook or Instagram making a purchase. This compares with 20% for TV and 13% for other digital platforms.
This is the beauty of running the model in a single source panel. Worldpanel is able to link between the ads shoppers were exposed to, and what they went on to buy. The purchase information is collected through actual purchases from our continuously tracked panellists.
Impacts of cross-platform synergies
Of course, few campaigns these days operate on just one media channel, so what also matters is how different media channels work in conjunction with each other. Repeated messages can have a more powerful impact on our behaviour than a single communication through a single channel.
On this score, the Meta portfolio combined with TV to deliver an additional sales impact of 12%, thanks to a 43% reach overlap with TV. Other digital added 8% to sales, when combined with TV, with a 33% reach overlap between the two platforms.
Growth in FMCG/CPG categories is frequently driven by the ability to convert as many people as possible and attracting new shoppers is an important element of performance. So for many marketers, a key KPI will be the ability of each campaign to bring additional households to their brand family.
Thanks to our continuous purchase data, which shows what people have bought in the past, we can identify the cost per new shopper for our three competing media channels, using data on the number of new shoppers and information on the cost of individual ad formats.
Both digital options outperformed TV on this metric, with Meta leading the way at $3.90 per new recruit compared to $7.50 for other digital. TV was the most expensive option at $8.80.
Platform impacts on GenZ and Millennials
Finally, we come to the numbers for key groups; GenZ (up to 26-years-old) and Millennials (27-42-years old) and the number of incremental sales that each can generate. On this metric, Meta was the most powerful single media owner, responsible for 44% of media driven sales amongst digital channels across both groups. The other digital platforms contributed 56% collectively.
