Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg used some of her time during the social network’s fourth-quarter earnings call Wednesday to offer statistics and specific examples in support of the company’s advertising growth.
Lisa Raphael (left), the social media producer at Katie Couric's daytime talk show Katie, is one of our featured speakers in Mediabistro's upcoming Social Media Marketing Boot Camp, an online event and workshop starting June 6, 2013. Lisa will share a case study on how the hit show uses Twitter to build interest and buzz around upcoming segments. Learn more about our our twelve event speakers and register here. 
Facebook commerce provider Ecwid said Monday that Facebook-driven purchases from its small and midsized retail clients during the 2012 holiday shopping season more than doubled when compared with the period prior to the holidays.
Facebook users who noticed an unusually strong presence by retail giant Walmart on their mobile news feeds over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, including Black Friday and through Cyber Monday, weren’t imagining things: The Wall Street Journal reported that over a 72-hour period, Facebook and Walmart rolled out the largest mobile campaign in the retailer’s history, consisting of 50 million ads on the social network.
Brands on Facebook have been advertising aggressively during this holiday season, knowing that people are willing to buy. New figures released by Kenshoo Social show that people are also more willing to like, comment on, and share Facebook ads around this time. The study found that the return on ad spend for U.S. retailers from Facebook ads hit $10.95 on Cyber Monday, and direct sales revenue through Facebook ads on that day spiked to 129 percent over the daily seasonal average.
If you’ve been following any of AllFacebook’s posts about Black Friday, holiday shopping, and Facebook, it’s probably no surprise to you that Walmart was the most popular U.S. page on Facebook in November, according to new stats from Socialbakers. Walmart also posted one of the most engaging photos.
On Black Friday, I posted an update on Facebook with an affiliate link to Amazon’s product page for Razor scooters. Nearly two weeks later, Dec. 6, this update was still showing up in the feeds of friends, only the post had been changed slightly, with a sponsored designation. This is a prime example of Facebook’s domain sponsored stories in action.
Facebook commerce provider Ecwid has a client base made up of mostly small and midsized businesses, so it came as no surprise that Ecwid touted the Black Friday and Cyber Monday Facebook success of those types of businesses.
As millions of people opened their wallets last weekend for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, brands’ Facebook pages also experienced success. Walmart, which was bombarded on Facebook with criticism for opening at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving, was actually the most successful brand on the social network during the two shopping days, according to Socialbakers. Amazon, Macy’s, and Toys “R” Us also earned kudos for fan growth and engagement.
The holiday shopping season also marks the heaviest advertising, marketing, and promotional period of the calendar year, and Facebook is no exception, using the end of the year to push advertising on the social network.
Facebook advertising and marketing developer Optimal called out four brands for their engagement growth during the period from Nov. 13 through 26: French’s, Gerber Childrenswear, Toys “R” Us, and Students First.
