Branded content on social media drives advertising action

Tumblr Makes Brands Cool

Branded content on social media drives action for advertisers

Auckland, 22 December 2015: New research has found social media is driving higher levels of brand engagement and brand recall compared to traditional advertising, with Tumblr users more likely to buy and recommend entertaining brands. Yahoo’s new Social Norms: The Status of Social in 2015 report highlights the impact of new opportunities for advertisers on social media as users engage with branded content online.

The Social Norms study found that content is a key priority for social media users – especially if that content is entertaining, informative and amusing. When it comes to engaging with the content, 61% of social media users claimed that gestures (like/follow/share) demonstrated their level of ‘passion and love’ for the content with share being the most impactful.

The study also revealed that social media users are savvy to branded content, with almost one in two social media users recalling such content in the last 30 days. This is particularly true for younger consumers (14 – 34 year old) who had higher recall of branded content, relative to older (35 – 65 year old) users. Strong branded content also encourages consumers to take action, with 63% of social media users more likely to ‘try brands that I haven’t tried before if they share interesting content’, and 61% buying more from brands that ‘entertain me’.

Paul Sigaloff, Commercial Director for Yahoo said, "Our new Social Norms report really highlights the value of social media for advertisers online. Not only are consumers more open to branded content on social media but they readily engage with it when it is entertaining and informative. From a Yahoo perspective, it's fantastic to have hard numbers to show the value of Tumblr for brands; we already know that the platform is incredible valuable for advertisers but the numbers show just how much potential it offers brands who want to engage audiences online."

Not all brands are created equal, and of all the social media platforms tested, the ‘share’ gesture was used most commonly on Tumblr. The launch of Tumblr in New Zealand and Australia earlier this year has demonstrated the clear value for advertisers, and this research supports that one in two social media users think more highly of brands simply because of their presence on Tumblr. The majority of Tumblr users (55%) regularly searched for content, with respondents 29% more likely to purchase and 36% more likely to recommend a brand that shared interesting and entertaining updates on Tumblr.

Peter Hammer, Head of Insights and Analytics for Yahoo said, “This research highlights content is a key priority for social media users, and that the different gestures such as ‘like’, ‘follow’ and ‘share’ offer different ways for consumers to demonstrate their passion for that content. It’s great to see that Tumblr users are more likely to engage with content via the highly-impactful share gesture, and that the audience are more likely to take action after seeing branded content.”

Tumblr users were found to be more engaged; with a greater number of users visiting the platform daily (+13%) and 37% more users engaging in ‘longer’ (20+ minutes) sessions when compared to the competitive social media average. Tumblr consumers were also more mobile, attracting 15% more users on smartphones. With a growing presence in New Zealand, Tumblr is making an impact among social media users and offers significant potential for advertisers to be able to deliver engaging content for their target consumers.

ENDS

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