A nationally-represented sample of qualified social media consumers reveals they are not only aware of Sponsored Social messages, but also find them highly effective: Over one in three adult online users age 18-70 have seen a Sponsored Social message in the past year. Overall, consumers estimate they see a total of 86 Sponsored Social messages per month across all platforms – or about three per day. Overall, about two in five consumers are seeing more Sponsored Social messages than one year ago, with highest penetration sites driving the greatest increase. Sponsored Social is perceived by social media users to be equally or more effective than TV commercials, and far exceeded banner and traditional print/radio ads in terms of effectiveness. Consumers rate the credibility, trust/respect, and actual product use of Content Creators as the key drivers to Sponsored Social effectiveness; creator popularity, fame and audience size are far less important.

1. 2015 CONSUMER
STATE OF
SPONSORED
SOCIAL
A First Wave Baseline
National Study
©2015 IZEA, Inc.

2. BACKGROUND
METHODOLOGY
2015 CONSUMER STATE OF SPONSORED SOCIAL

3. STUDY METHODOLOGY
Consumer State of Sponsored Social National Baseline Survey
HOW WHO WHAT
National online survey independently managed
and executed for IZEA
• Designed and analyzed by The Right Brain
Consumer Consulting, LLC with analytic support
from Halverson Group
• Programmed and hosted by Lightspeed/GMI using
their nationally representative online panel
Nationally-representative U.S. sample of 1003
consumers age 18-70
• Balanced by gender, age, ethnicity, and geography
- no more than 15% age 50-70
• Spent 15+ hours per month online beyond using e-
mail
• All qualified respondents had to visit 1+ social
media platforms at least monthly (most much
more)
• All must have noticed Sponsored Social message/
posts/content in the past year
Survey topics:
• Social media usage (frequency, level of
engagement, profile of people followed in social
media)
• Sponsored Social messaging awareness and
volume (number of messages seen per month by
platform overall and vs. YA)
• Usage of other types of media (print, broadcast,
digital)
• Perceived effectiveness of advertising/marketing
messages across traditional, digital, and sponsored
social media
• Level of engagement in range of online subject
matter
• Perceived effectiveness of Sponsored Social
messages in specific subject matter
• Perceived drivers of Sponsored Social message
effectiveness
• Profiling variables (demos, opinion leadership, etc.)

4. Over 1 in 3 Americans age 18-70 qualified for the study
This will be the sample base for reported learning unless otherwise noted
100%
71%
67%
36%
Consumers with online access age 18-70
Online 15+ hours per month beyond e-mail
Past month social media users
Noticed Sponsored Social message in past year
Social media usage was defined as visiting 1+ of
11 social media platforms monthly.
The term “Sponsored Social” was defined in survey to ensure
accurate consumer understanding and response.*
* “Sponsored Social is when you see posts from people you follow on online platforms such as those you just indicated you visit, read, subscribe
to or follow. In Sponsored Social, part of the original content is an advertisement of some kind. It may involve the person taking a photo with a
product that is endorsing them, or the person mentioning the service or product in their blog post. These sponsorships are always disclosed
within the post – that is, the sources/writers say they are being compensated or paid to endorse the product.”

5. Relative Newbies
about 1 in 4 weekly:
Vine & Periscope
Specialty Players
About 1 in 3 Weekly:
Instagram, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Snapchat
Strong Second Tier
Over 7 in 10 in U.S. yearly, over half weekly+:
Blogs, Twitter, Pinterest
Ubiquitous
Used Weekly+ by 3 in 4 or more:
YouTube & FB
Internet consumers’ level of usage of the 11 social
media platforms studied breaks into four broad tiers.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
YouTube Facebook Blogs Twitter Pinterest Instagram LinkedIn Tumblr Snapchat Vine Periscope
3%
6%6%
8%
11%
15%
21%
24%
26%
35%
54%
20%
28%
30%
32%
39%
43%
52%52%
58%
76%
83%
25%
38%
40%
44%
46%
56%
59%60%
68%
85%
89%
37%
55%
56%56%
67%
72%72%
74%
79%
95%
99%
Yearly penetration Monthly penetration Weekly penetration Daily penetration
Note: Throughout presentation, “Regular User” = Visit Monthly+
(Base: Contact Sample who use Internet 15+ hours per month)

6. No matter the social media destination, once consumers
become users, they find the platform engaging.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Facebook YouTube Instagram Snapchat Twitter Pinterest Periscope Blogs Tumblr Vine LinkedIn
7.27.3
7.57.47.4
7.77.77.7
8.0
8.2
8.4
6.76.8
7.07.17.27.37.47.5
7.7
8.28.3
Total Regular User
Facebook, YouTube, and
Instagram are the highest-
rated, but all ratings
strong – especially
among “Regular Users”
who visit monthly or
more.
Consumer Interest/Engagement in Site/App Content
(Mean Score, 1-10 Scale)

7. The 11 social media platforms studied split into three tiers in terms of
the balance of “famous” vs. “regular” people followed/read.
Tier 1
Famous Skewed (60%+)
Tier 2
Generally Balanced
Tier 3
“Regular” Skewed (52%+)
YouTube
63%
37%
Vine
61%
39%
Twitter
62%
38%
Periscope
60%
40%
Facebook
57%
43%
Instagram
54%
46%
Tumblr
53%
47%
Wordpress
51%49%
Snapchat
48%
52%
Pinterest
44%
56%
LinkedIn
44%
56%
Regular Famous
Of note, Blogs are the
most “balanced” of all
platforms studied.
NOTE: Famous = Net of “Extremely” +
“Somewhat” Famous Responses

8. CONSUMER RESPONSES
2015 CONSUMER STATE OF SPONSORED SOCIAL

9. Overall, consumers estimated they see a total of 86 Sponsored Social
messages per month across platforms – or about 3 per day
On specific sites, the estimated
number of Sponsored Social
messages seen ranges from 16 –
42 on average.
Platforms with more frequently-
changing content yield higher
average number of Sponsored
Social messages seen.
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter
Instagram
Snapchat
Vine
Tumblr
Blogs
Periscope
LinkedIn
Pinterest
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
16
17
18
19
20
20
22
27
28
33
42
Total Sample Mean
Est. Mean Number of SS Messages Seen per Month
(Base : Users of Each Social Media Platform)
N/A

10. Consumers are noticing more SS messaging vs. 2014, with
Net Positive Message Volume Momentum across all platforms.
We asked
consumers if they
thought they were
seeing “More, the
Same, or Less”
Sponsored Social
messages than
one year ago.
N/A
Total Sponsored Social
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter
Instagram
Snapchat
Blogs
Pinterest
Vine
Tumblr
LinkedIn
Periscope
-30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
-25
-16
-16
-17
-15
-14
-17
-13
-13
-9
-11
-10
28
29
30
32
33
33
36
44
50
52
57
49
% Positive Shift
% Negative Shift
+39
+45
+43
+37
+31
+19
+15
+14
+13
+20
Dominant
industry
leaders
generating the
highest SS
volume
momentum vs.
year ago
Net
Momentum
+ minus -
+3
+19
2015 Momentum of Sponsored Social Message Volume

11. Most regular online consumers still engage in
a diverse media mix at least sometimes.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Social Media Online search TV Subscription TV Broadcast radio Online NP Dig/Online/Sat Radio Paper Mags Paper NP Online Mags
26%
26%
26%
37%34%29%
56%
48%
71%
42%
45%
49%
41%
44%
50%
27%
38%
27%
100%
A little A lot
Engagement Among Social Media Users Across the Media Spectrum

12. Among the Total Sample, message effectiveness ratings for all
Sponsored Social platforms were quite high.
Sponsored Social
Message Type
Total Rater Mean
Effectiveness Score
(1-10 Scale)
Total Rater T3B%
Effectiveness Rating
(1-10 Scale)
SS message on Periscope 7.7 61%
SS message on Snapchat 7.5 58%
SS message on Instagram 7.4 56%
SS message on LinkedIn 7.3 56%
SS message on Tumblr 7.2 55%
SS message on Vine 7.2 53%
SS message on Twitter 7.2 52%
SS message on Pinterest 7.1 51%
SS message on Facebook 7.1 51%
SS message on Blogs 7.1 50%
SS message on YouTube 7.0 50%
All ratings were at
7.0 or above, with
T3Box ratings of
50%+ across each
platform

13. Outside of
television
commercials no
other form of
marketing rated
higher than a 6.9
In fact, across the 29 total marketing message types rated,
only TV commercials were rated as highly as Sponsored Social.
Marketing Message :
SS & TV Commercial
Total Rater
Mean Effectiveness Score
(1-10 Scale)
Total Rater
T3B Effectiveness Rating
(1-10 Scale)
SS message on Periscope 7.7 61%
SS message on Snapchat 7.5 58%
SS message on Instagram 7.4 56%
TV Commercial 7.3 56%
SS message on LinkedIn 7.3 56%
SS message on Tumblr 7.2 55%
SS message on Vine 7.2 53%
SS message on Twitter 7.2 52%
SS message on Pinterest 7.1 51%
SS message on Facebook 7.1 51%
SS message on Blogs 7.1 50%
SS message on YouTube 7.0 50%

14. Sponsored Social messaging is regarded by social media users 18-70 as equally
or more effective than all other forms of marketing messaging measured.
MARKETING MESSAGE EFFECTIVENESS RATINGS (Base:Total Raters)
Total Rater
Mean Effectiveness Score
(1-10 Scale)
Total Rater
T3B Effectiveness Rating
(1-10 Scale)
Sponsored Social message on Periscope 7.7 61%
Sponsored Social message on Snapchat 7.5 58%
Sponsored Social message on Instagram 7.4 56%
TV commercial 7.3 56%
Sponsored Social message on LinkedIn 7.3 56%
Sponsored Social message on Tumblr 7.2 55%
Sponsored Social message on Vine 7.2 53%
Sponsored Social message on Twitter 7.2 52%
Sponsored Social message on Pinterest 7.1 51%
Sponsored Social message on Facebook 7.1 51%
Sponsored Social message on Blogs 7.1 50%
Sponsored Social message on YouTube 7.0 50%
Social media product/brand "Like" or "Following" 6.9 47%
TV sponsorship 6.8 45%
Unpaid search result on a search engine 6.7 43%
TV embedded content 6.6 42%
Online video commercial on a website 6.6 41%
Paid search result on a search engine 6.5 41%
Print ad in a paper magazine 6.4 38%
Online, digital, or satellite radio or podcast sponsorship/underwriting 6.3 38%
Online, digital, or satellite radio or podcast commercial or product mention 6.3 37%
Embedded ad or product message on a social media stream 6.3 37%
Broadcast radio commercial 6.3 37%
Banner advertisement on a website 6.2 36%
Print ad in a paper newspaper 6.2 36%
Online newspaper ad/e-newspaper ad 6.1 35%
Online magazine ad/e-magazine ad 6.1 35%
Broadcast radio program sponsorship/underwriting 6.1 34%
Radio host/disc jockey endorsement 6.0 34%
The top 3 forms of
sponsored social
rated by mean
effectiveness are
all highly visual
platforms

15. We recognized that current users of a social platform
would likely rate advertising on that platform as more
effective than all consumers would.
So, for an apples-to-apples view, we compared message effectiveness
ratings only among users of each given platform to ratings of Sponsored
Social effectiveness among each platform’s users.

16. Even when looking among each medium's users only, Sponsored Social
stays at the top of the marketing effectiveness rankings.
No message types
earned higher
ratings than the
highest-rated
Sponsored Social
messages – and
most received
lower absolute
ratings.
MARKETING MESSAGE EFFECTIVENESS RATINGS AMONG USERS OF MEDIUM ONLY
Total Rater
Mean Effectiveness Score
(1-10 Scale)
Total Rater
T3B Effectiveness Rating
(1-10 Scale)
Sponsored Social message on Periscope 7.7 61%
TV commercial 7.5 59%
Sponsored Social message on Snapchat 7.5 58%
Sponsored Social message on Instagram 7.4 56%
Sponsored Social message on LinkedIn 7.3 56%
Sponsored Social message on Tumblr 7.2 55%
Sponsored Social message on Vine 7.2 53%
Sponsored Social message on Twitter 7.2 52%
Sponsored Social message on Pinterest 7.1 51%
Sponsored Social message on Facebook 7.1 51%
Sponsored Social message on Blogs 7.1 50%
TV sponsorship 7.1 49%
Sponsored Social message on YouTube 7.0 50%
Online magazine ad/e-magazine ad 7.0 48%
Print ad in a paper newspaper 7.0 47%
Print ad in a paper magazine 7.0 46%
Social media product/brand "Like" or "Following" 6.9 47%
Online, digital, or satellite radio or podcast sponsorship/underwriting 6.9 45%
TV embedded content 6.9 45%
Online, digital, or satellite radio or podcast commercial or product mention 6.8 44%
Unpaid search result on a search engine 6.7 44%
Online newspaper ad/e-newspaper ad 6.7 42%
Broadcast radio commercial 6.7 40%
Online video commercial on a website 6.6 41%
Paid search result on a search engine 6.5 41%
Broadcast radio program sponsorship/underwriting 6.5 40%
Radio host/disc jockey endorsement 6.5 40%
Embedded ad or product message on a social media stream 6.3 37%
Banner advertisement on a website 6.2 36%

17. Sponsored Social message on Facebook
Sponsored Social message on Periscope
Sponsored Social message on Snapchat
Sponsored Social message on Twitter
Sponsored Social message on YouTube
Sponsored Social message on Instagram
Social media product/brand "Like" or "Following"
Sponsored Social message on LinkedIn
Sponsored Social message on Pinterest
Sponsored Social message on Tumblr
TV commercial
Sponsored Social message on Blogs
Sponsored Social message on Vine
Online video commercial on a website
TV sponsorship
Unpaid search result on a search engine
Embedded ad or product message on a social media stream
TV embedded content
Banner advertisement on a website
Online, digital, or satellite radio or podcast commercial or product mention
Paid search result on a search engine
Online, digital, or satellite radio or podcast sponsorship/underwriting
Online magazine ad/e-magazine ad
Broadcast radio commercial
Online newspaper ad/e-newspaper ad
Broadcast radio program sponsorship/underwriting
Print ad in a paper magazine
Radio host/disc jockey endorsement
Print ad in a paper newspaper
-30 -26 -22 -18 -14 -10 -6 -2 2 6 10 14 18 22 26 30 34 38 42 46 50
-28
-24
-25
-21
-19
-19
-19
-15
-17
-15
-17
-14
-15
-14
-12
-13
-15
-11
-10
-14
-10
-12
-11
-11
-10
-10
-9
-10
-11
22
21
23
20
22
23
23
27
29
27
30
27
29
29
31
33
37
34
33
38
38
40
43
45
44
44
44
45
48
more effective
less effective
CONSUMER MARKETING MESSAGE
EFFECTIVENESS MOMENTUM VS. YEAR AGO
Sponsored Social
messages’
Momentum ranged
from +22-37%,
with + outpacing –
by a 2-3 to 1 margin
in most cases
Net
Momentum
+ minus -
Ratings can be broken into three broad tiers
+37%
+36%
+35%
+35%
+34%
+33%
+32%
+28%
+27%
+24%
+23%
+23%
+22%
+20%
+19%
+15%
+15%
+13%
+13%
+13%
+12%
+12%
+4%
+4%
+4%
-1%
-2%
-3%
-7%
Other TV & Digital
messages ranged
from +12-20% --
still growing in
perceived
net effectiveness,
but not at same
pace as SS
Traditional radio
and print ads had
low to negative
Momentum, with +
more evenly
balanced with -

18. INFLUENCING SPONSORED SOCIAL EFFECTIVENESS
We explored the relative importance of a range of factors that could influence Sponsored Social effectiveness.
Each dimension was rated on 1-10 scale, and then the Top 3 most important factors were selected by consumers
SOURCE POPULARITY/AUDIENCE/FAME
• The number of followers or readers the source/writer has
• How well-known the source/writer is
• How popular the source/writer is
• How successful the source/writer seems to be
SOURCE EXPERTISE/CREDIBILITY
• The credibility or believability of the source/writer
• The source/writer’s expertise or knowledge about the product or
brand category
SOURCE RESPECT/ADMIRATION/LONGEVITY
• How much you like/admire the source/writer
• How much you respect the source/writer
• How long you have been following/ reading the source/writer
PRODUCT EXPERIENCE/DETAIL/FIT
• Whether you can tell the source has actually tried/used the product
or brand
• How much detail the source/writer provides about the product or brand
• The fit of the product/brand with the source/writer
• Your own past experience with products the source/writer has endorsed
SOURCE SPONSORED SOCIAL APPROACH/PROFILE
• How many products/services the source/writer endorses
• The relative proportions of the source/writer’s posts that are non-sponsored
vs. sponsored
• Whether the source/writer discloses that he/she was paid for the
endorsement

19. Real product experience and a sense of content creator credibility, expertise,
and resulting respect are top-rated Sponsored Social effectiveness drivers.
Whether you can tell the source has actually tried/used the product or brand
The credibility or believability of the source/writer
Your own past experience with products the source/writer has endorsed
How much detail the source/writer provides about the product or brand
The source/writer's expertise or knowledge about the product or brand category
How much you respect the source/writer
How much you like/admire the source/writer
The fit of the product/brand with the source/writer
Whether the source/writer discloses that he/she was paid for the endorsement
How successful the source/writer seems to be
How long you have been following/reading the source/writer
The relative proportions of the source/writer's posts that are non-sponsored vs. sponsored
How many products/services the source/writer endorses
How well-known the source/writer is
How popular the source/writer is
The number of followers or readers the source/writer has
0% 4% 8% 12% 16% 20% 24% 28% 32% 36% 40% 44% 48% 52% 56% 60%
57%
58%
59%
59%
60%
60%
44%
44%
46%
46%
46%
47%
48%
50%
52%
52%
T3Box Ratings of Importance in Driving SS Message Effectiveness (10-point scale)

20. SUBSAMPLE INSIGHTS
2015 CONSUMER STATE OF SPONSORED SOCIAL

21. Est. Mean Number of Annual Penetration by Gender
Qualified males in study had generally higher annual penetration levels on
all except the most universal social media platforms (plus Pinterest).
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
YouTube Facebook Blogs Twitter Pinterest Instagram LinkedIn Tumblr Snapchat Vine Periscope
48%
65%64%
66%
75%76%
68%
80%
84%
94%
98%
27%
46%
48%47%
59%
67%
77%
69%
75%
95%
98%
Females Males (Base: Contact Sample who use Internet 15+ hours per month)

22. But once females become platform users, they visit the majority of social
media platforms more often per month than men.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
105
110
Facebook YouTube Instagram Twitter Snapchat Tumblr Pinterest Blogs Vine LinkedIn Periscope
17.2
25.1
22.5
25.6
21.122.0
33.0
49.3
41.8
65.0
76.3
16.616.7
22.1
26.1
37.1
57.3
67.3
53.6
72.6
52.1
106.4
Females Males (Base: Contact Sample who use Internet 15+ hours per month)
Estimated Mean Number of Visits per Month by Gender
Exceptions: YouTube and LinkedIn, which males
visit more often than females each month
HYPOTHESIS:
Fewer females are FT
employed than males, so they
may have more time for
engaging in social media
other than business-focused
applications.

23. When it comes to marketing message effectiveness
across media types and subject matter, women are
far more skeptical across-the-board than men.
But Sponsored Social still tops the
effectiveness list for both genders.

24. Males rate all marketing message types as more effective than females,
although the relative effectiveness rankings remain generally similar.
Top 3 Box Effectiveness
Channels Total Sample Males Females
Sponsored Social message on Periscope 62% 68% (110) 51% (82)
Sponsored Social message on Instagram 58% 66% (114) 49% (84)
Sponsored Social message on LinkedIn 56% 61% (109) 45% (80)
Sponsored Social message on Snapchat 56% 62% (111) 46% (82)
Sponsored Social message on Tumblr 56% 65% (116) 43% (77)
TV commercial 55% 62% (113) 47% (85)
Sponsored Social message on Twitter 53% 61% (115) 40% (75)
Sponsored Social message on Vine 52% 57% (110) 42% (81)
Sponsored Social message on Facebook 51% 58% (114) 42% (82)
Sponsored Social message on Pinterest 51% 59% (116) 42% (82)
Sponsored Social message on Blogs 50% 56% (112) 41% (82)
Sponsored Social message on YouTube 50% 59% (118) 41% (82)
Social media product/brand "Like" or "Following" 47% 50% (106) 43% (91)
TV sponsorship 45% 53% (118) 38% (84)
Unpaid search result on a search engine 43% 50% (116) 36% (84)
Online video commercial on a website 42% 51% (121) 31% (74)
TV embedded content 41% 49% (120) 33% (80)
Paid search result on a search engine 41% 47% (115) 34% (83)
Print ad in a paper magazine 38% 45% (118) 31% (82)
Banner advertisement on a website 38% 46% (121) 29% (76)
Online, digital, or satellite radio or podcast commercial or product mention 37% 48% (130) 26% (70)
Online, digital, or satellite radio or podcast sponsorship/underwriting 37% 45% (122) 28% (76)
Embedded ad or product message on a social media stream 37% 46% (124) 27% (73)
Print ad in a paper newspaper 36% 45% (125) 26% (72)
Online magazine ad/e-magazine ad 36% 44% (122) 27% (75)
Broadcast radio program sponsorship/underwriting 35% 43% (123) 25% (71)
Online newspaper ad/e-newspaper ad 35% 43% (123) 26% (74)
Broadcast radio commercial 34% 43% (126) 25% (74)
Radio host/disc jockey endorsement 34% 42% (124) 25% (74)
Females consistently gave
all types of such messages
lower effectiveness ratings
than men – and Sponsored
Social types were no
exception.

25. Exception: the almost universally-used YouTube, where penetration peaks at Age 18-24.
Monthly usage of most social media platforms
peaks in the 30-39 age group.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
YouTube Facebook Blogs Twitter Pinterest Instagram LinkedIn Tumblr Snapchat Vine Periscope
5%
10%11%
14%
45%
21%
44%
36%
46%
89%
85%
20%
32%
28%
36%
51%
55%54%
62%62%
86%
90%
51%
60%
67%
60%
69%
79%
77%76%76%
95%95%
30%
51%52%
45%
50%
77%
64%
74%74%
92%
95%
18%
48%
64%
52%
44%
70%
55%
67%
65%
89%
98%
18-24 25-29 30-39 40-49 50-70 **Caution: Small Sample Base for some age groups and social media platforms
Estimated Monthly Usage Penetration by Age
HYPOTHESIS:
This time-squeezed life-stage likely
makes marketing a particularly
relevant information source.

26. The perceived effectiveness of marketing messages
also peaks in the 30-39 age group.
Top 3 Box Effectiveness
Channels Total Sample 18-24 25-29 30-39 40-49 50-70
Sponsored Social message on Periscope 62% 50% (81) 67% (108) 65% (105) 58% (94) 25% (40)
Sponsored Social message on Instagram 58% 41% (71) 66% (114) 64% (110) 58% (100) 50% (86)
Sponsored Social message on LinkedIn 56% 38% (68) 62% (111) 66% (118) 42% (75) 30% (54)
Sponsored Social message on Snapchat 56% 32% (57) 60% (107) 64% (114) 56% (100) 56% (100)
Sponsored Social message on Tumblr 56% 37% (66) 55% (98) 68% (121) 44% (79) 43% (77)
TV commercial 55% 38% (69) 53% (96) 66% (120) 49% (89) 54% (98)
Sponsored Social message on Twitter 53% 39% (74) 55% (104) 66% (125) 32% (60) 36% (68)
Sponsored Social message on Vine 52% 30% (58) 54% (104) 59% (113) 46% (88) 56% (108)
Sponsored Social message on Facebook 51% 37% (73) 56% (110) 61% (120) 38% (75) 39% (76)
Sponsored Social message on Pinterest 51% 34% (67) 53% (104) 56% (110) 54% (106) 39% (76)
Sponsored Social message on Blogs 50% 35% (70) 50% (100) 60% (120) 40% (80) 30% (60)
Sponsored Social message on YouTube 50% 37% (74) 60% (120) 59% (118) 41% (82) 42% (84)
Social media product/brand "Like" or "Following" 47% 36% (77) 57% (121) 56% (119) 36% (77) 34% (72)
TV sponsorship 45% 33% (73) 50% (111) 55% (122) 37% (82) 39% (87)
Unpaid search result on a search engine 43% 32% (74) 47% (109) 53% (123) 36% (84) 31% (72)
Online video commercial on a website 42% 34% (81) 44% (105) 54% (129) 31% (74) 22% (52)
TV embedded content 41% 31% (76) 41% (100) 54% (132) 31% (76) 28% (68)
Paid search result on a search engine 41% 33% (80) 45% (110) 50% (122) 30% (73) 28% (68)
Print ad in a paper magazine 38% 22% (58) 34% (89) 50% (132) 32% (84) 36% (95)
Banner advertisement on a website 38% 30% (79) 35% (92) 51% (134) 30% (79) 23% (61)
Online, digital, or satellite radio or podcast commercial or product mention 37% 25% (68) 35% (95) 50% (135) 30% (81) 25% (68)
Online, digital, or satellite radio or podcast sponsorship/underwriting 37% 24% (65) 40% (108) 51% (138) 24% (65) 24% (65)
Embedded ad or product message on a social media stream 37% 26% (70) 45% (122) 45% (122) 28% (76) 24% (65)
Print ad in a paper newspaper 36% 17% (47) 30% (83) 49% (136) 31% (86) 33% (92)
Online magazine ad/e-magazine ad 36% 23% (64) 32% (89) 51% (142) 26% (72) 18% (50)
Broadcast radio program sponsorship/underwriting 35% 18% (51) 33% (94) 49% (140) 25% (71) 23% (66)
Online newspaper ad/e-newspaper ad 35% 24% (69) 34% (97) 48% (137) 26% (74) 18% (51)
Broadcast radio commercial 34% 22% (65) 34% (100) 47% (138) 26% (76) 22% (65)
Radio host/disc jockey endorsement 34% 21% (62) 26% (76) 49% (144) 28% (82) 19% (56)

27. INSIGHTS & IMPLICATIONS
2015 CONSUMER STATE OF SPONSORED SOCIAL

28. Over 1 in 3 adult online users 18-70 have
seen a Sponsored Social message
in the past year.

29. KEY INSIGHTS
Social Media Engagement
• 2 of 3 adult online users age 18-70 use social media monthly
• Once consumers engage in a social media platform, they find its content quite engaging
Sponsored Social Exposure
• Messages are breaking through across all social media platforms
• On average, these adults see 3 such messages per day
Marketing Message Effectiveness
• Sponsored Social messages now rank alongside TV commercials as the most effective marketing
messages in the media mix in consumers’ minds
• SS Effectiveness Momentum metrics indicate the effectiveness has improved year-on-year
Sponsored Social Effectiveness Influencers
• The keys to effectiveness are content creator credibility, trust/respect, and actual product use and detail
• Creator popularity/fame and audience size are far less important