Marin: Facebook ads for Christmas?

The Marin report culled data from more than 1800 advertisers and found that shoppers are looking to Facebook - and its ads - over the holiday seasons, even though they may not look to Facebook in other seasons.

"The pressure is on for retailers heading into the holiday season. Based off of what we saw last year, the stretch between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday will be critical to retailers' success as shoppers become increasingly attuned to promotional events during the holidays," said Matt Lawson, vice president of marketing and partnerships at Marin Software. "Similarly, Facebook is an advertising channel that smart marketers should not ignore as our data shows the social site taking on search-like characteristics during the holiday season."

Some interesting takeaways from the report include:

• Black Friday saw 300% more revenue from paid search ads (2011 vs. 2010)
• Cyber Monday saw a 260% paid search increase

In fact there were dramatic spikes in Facebook ad clicks over the Thanksgiving holiday in 2011. This should come as no surprise - online ads have shown significant beginning with Thanksgiving Weekend in the past, but it's important to note that researchers found Facebook saw higher click numbers on Cyber Monday than on Black Friday.

As for overall revenue, Marin's research notes an 11% increase in click volume for paid search, mobile and social ads while CPCs dropped 4%.

Tags: Facebook ad trends, Marin Software, search marketing, social marketing