While just 15 percent of global Facebook users are in North America, the region accounts for nearly half (48 percent) of the Facebook advertising spend. In a new report that analyzed over 200 Facebook marketers, Marin Software says advertisers are under investing in Facebook in regions outside of North America.
North America’s user share is expected to shrink to 12 percent of Facebook users by 2015, while the Asia-Pacific region’s share is expected to grow from 28 percent to 32 percent of global users by 2015. Asia-Pacific already has more Facebook users by volume than any other market but captures just 11 percent of ad spend, 5 times less than in North America.
Marin also found higher engagement rates in both Latin America and the Middle East and Africa. Latin America generates the highest Facebook ad click-through-rates (CTR), 33% higher than North America and 54% higher than Western European markets. At 66 percent of internet users, Latin America also has the world’s highest percentage of Facebook penetration.
The report suggests that “businesses have traditionally underestimated the potential business value in marketing to Facebook users outside of NAM and WEUR”. Companies selling internationally should now be looking to expand their Facebook advertising campaigns to those regions to take advantage of lower costs-per-click, higher click-through rates and growing user bases. Of course, unless marketers see ROI from Facebook in these markets, today’s spend-to-user ratios aren’t likely to change much. The full report can be downloaded here.
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