Facebook Usage Increased After Cambridge Analytica Scandal

Many marketers panicked during Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal. I was asked many times what it all means for Facebook advertisers.  Would users flee that platform? Should we move advertising dollars elsewhere?

My gut feeling was that this scandal would be a blip, the news cycle would pass, and users would continue to use Facebook’s platforms (Facebook, Instagram and Messenger). New data suggests that is exactly what happened.

Business Insider recently published an article with some useful data. According to the article, “Facebook’s US unique users on mobile rose 7% year-on-year to 188.6 million in April, when the scandal was biting hard. Time spent on Facebook also went up. “

Deutsche Bank produced this graph showing that “ad targeting across all demos has grown” after the scandal.

Source: Deutsche Bank

According to the New York Times, “Mr. Zuckerberg said this month that the Cambridge Analytica scandal had no meaningful affect on Facebook’s business, which is expected to show sales growth when the company reports quarterly earnings this week.”

We know from our ticket buyer media usage study that 65% of people that have purchased a performing arts ticket use Facebook on a weekly or greater basis. Facebook usage for ticket buyers exceeds all other media including, print, online news, TV, and radio with the exception of broadcast TV.

Based on reach and frequency of usage, plus the ability to storytell and measure results, Facebook remains the most powerful advertising platform for arts marketers and should be the top line item in the advertising budgets for most arts organizations.

I suggest reading the full article here.