Study: YouTube Shining Star Of Paid Social Campaigns, Earning 14% Conversion Rate

Video has stolen the social ad spotlight once again. According to a study released last week from AoL Platforms, YouTube out-performed all other social networks when analyzing paid social ad campaigns.

AoL Platforms claimed YouTube was the most effective social platform for introducing new products, and generated a 14 percent conversion rate.

Facebook trailed YouTube, earning a ten percent conversion rate. Twitter was the least effective platform for the front-end of a campaign, instead offering more value during the middle of the sales funnel.

Funnel Position by Social Network:

Using analytics pulled from Convertro’s customer base during Q1 of this year, AoL analyzed 500 million clicks, 15 million conversions and three-billion impressions to evaluate the effectiveness of social media ad campaigns, as well as comparing social to other marketing channels.

According to the study’s findings, marketers that included paid social media ads in their overall advertising spend saw an increase in sales attached to ad dollars.

[blockquote cite=”AoL Platforms Myth-Busting Social Media Advertising Study”]Marketers that allocate ad spend to social channels see a nearly 25 percent lift in the number of sales generated by advertising, compared to sales generated by organic, non-paid marketing touchpoints.[/blockquote]

While social media helped drive more sales, the study claimed it’s overall performance  was “middle-of-the-road” compared to other marketing channels. Email generated the highest conversion rate at 6.08 percent, out-performing affiliate, social and display.

Conversion Rate by Marketing Channel: