Facebook Says the Facebook Ads It Didn’t Sell Work Great

Here’s Facebook’s retort to people who say Facebook ads don’t work: A study that says people who see brand messages on the site spend more money on those brands, right away. The catch: The study focuses on “earned media” — the messages that Facebook users share with each other, not the ones brands pay Facebook to promote.

That’s not entirely good news for Facebook, because it may lead to more moves like the one that General Motors announced before the social network’s IPO. The new data released by the social network company was released Tuesday together with ComScore in a report that also shows how Facebook ads have helped companies including Starbucks and Target. Facebook said its research shows that 70% of ad campaigns will get advertisers a return three times what they put in, and in nearly half of all campaigns, Facebook ads get companies $5 for every $1. ComScore said that users who saw paid ads for an unnamed retail company were 16% more likely than those who didn't to make a purchase from the company's locations and made online purchases 56% more frequently. The report also showed people who "Like" Target were more likely to buy from the company 21% more frequently, and people who saw unpaid marketing messages from Starbucks made purchases from the company every four weeks 38% more often than those who didn't.