NEW YORK ? Host of the Social Activity Summit appssavvy unveiled data factoring in level of engagement, conversion rates and cost that found paid search and social activity advertising to be the best-performing types of ads.

The Social Activity Index is appssavvy?s first report measuring the effectiveness of social activity advertising and comparing it to other types of digital advertising. The study claims that social activity ads across online and mobile perform 11 times better than static display ads and two times better than rich-media ads.

?We can now say definitely that social activity works phenomenally well?in fact, it outperforms banners by 11 times and rich media by 2 times based on conversion rates, engagement rates and cost,? said Robert Victor, vice president of product management and strategy at appssavvy, New York. ?Social activity comes in a little bit lower than paid search, which makes sense, because search has a level of intent, and social activity has a level of intent as well, but a different kind.

?Social activity has reached a maturity point where you understand that what you?re spending your money on works and is valuable,? he said. ?You now have a real set of actionable data, which can be used the same as with static banners, but applied to new media.?

Consumer behavior on the fixed and mobile Internet has undergone a significant shift with the astonishing growth of social media. Consumers now spend more time online and on mobile devices performing social activities than they do on email, content portals and instant messaging combined.

For marketers to understand the new opportunities for reaching target consumers via social and mobile, they must understand people?s behavior, including their social actions. That can help brands to deliver contextually relevant ads based on what consumers are doing rather than what they are viewing, per Mr. Victor.

Appssavvy has dubbed this new segment of brand advertising within display ?social activity advertising.?

Based on the results from social activity campaigns run on the appssavvy Social Activity Platform, Mr. Victor claims that social activity advertising is among the most effective ways to drive brand engagement.

The results of study found that social activity advertising outperforms both standard display ads and rich-media ad formats. While paid search came out on top, social activity advertising was a close second, per appssavvy.

Social activity advertising
Mr. Victor said that social activity advertising serves ad impressions against events rather than specific content.

Publishers and application developers can identify ad-enabled activities, similar to how they might designate space on a Web page for traditional ad inventory.

When consumers complete a particular activity, they see a social ad. These ads can combine brand messaging through video and interactive media with social calls-to-action such as sharing or liking on Facebook or following on Twitter.

Mr. Victor said that the most successful social activity ad units immerse themselves within the flow of activities that occur naturally within a Web site, application or game.

Users performing an activity are presented with a contextually relevant ad, styled similarly to unbranded activities, that integrates the brand within the activity stream.

Measuring social activity
Mr. Victor said that the appssavvy Social Activity Index tracks the cost-weighted impact of online advertising mediums by measuring Equivalent Display Impressions (EDI).

EDI is calculated for a given ad type by first weighting its engagement rate to the click-through rate (CTR) of display advertising, then discounting the difference in performance based upon differences in the equivalent cost per impression (eCPM), per the report.

Translating Social Activity performance and cost to EDI demonstrates that social activity outperforms standard display advertising by 11 times and doubles the performance of rich media, according to appssavvy.

Mr. Victor cited two reasons why social activity ads perform at high levels.

First, social activity advertising places brands and ads within interactive, social content that tends to have a loyal and engaged audience. This lets marketers participate in naturally occurring activity to drive engagement with their brands, and to deliver ads based on both context and intent.

Second, marketers can deploy social activity ads with various calls-to-action. In addition to clicks to URLs, video views and other interactive elements, social activity ad units can convey other calls-to-action such as sharing to Facebook or tweeting.

These branded calls-to-action can pair with the functionality and layout of the Web site, game or application. Ideally they will enrich, rather than interrupt, user experience.

When executed property, social activity advertising translates into consumers taking actions to interact with brands, including clicking through to a brand Web site or fan page, viewing a video, or engaging with interactive elements of the ad creative.

Tracking all of these interactions such as sharing the ad with their friends, liking a page on Facebook and following a brand on Twitter could lead to the establishment of social activity advertising benchmarks, per appssavvy.

Observed CTRs on ads following social activities averaged 1.4 percent, according to appssavvy. Interaction rates with video and other rich media elements averaged two percent, per the report.

Additionally, appssavvy claims that social activity ads average a share rate of 2.1 percent, meaning that 2 percent of all social activity advertising impressions result in branded content being shared to social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

Mr. Victor said that sharing provides a brand with significant added value through earned media impressions to friends, followers or connections on social networks, which extends the reach of campaigns and drives organic engagement with branded content.

While online advertising has remained relatively unchanged of late, the emergence of mobile and social media has driven huge changes in consumer behavior.

Appssavvy claims that social activity advertising gives brands access to previously untapped ad inventory and provides a new way to engage with customers at a time when they are actively involved with relevant activities.

?We?re moving beyond the experimentation phase with social activity?we?re moving from introduction to the growth phase, not only because we have data available, but because more and more budgets are moving toward social activity?because it works,? Mr. Victor said. ?The value is reaching someone when they are performing a particular activity?the best way to engage with someone is while they are engaging in social actions such as checking in.

?Media is measurable, but does not take consumers? actions?social activity?into account,? he said. ?I have no idea what a check-in is actually worth?what is the difference between activities?

?How is choosing a status, a very personal activity, different from a game where I?m spending 78 minutes clicking and sharing and interacting with other people? We launched the Social Activity Index to answer those questions.?

Mr. Victor

Final Take
Mr. Victor