• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, August 13, 2012

U.S. and U.K. Facebook members click on ads most often, but it will cost brands more to advertise in these countries compared with others, according to an upcoming report.

Advertisers will need to spend more time with analytics and targeting techniques to offset low ad exposure rates and reach the correct consumers.

The strategy should produce higher click-through rates (CTR) and lower CPM impressions, according to findings from the "Global Social Media Insights" study from Resolution Media, an Omnicom Media Group.

Brands need to approach Facebook campaigns differently depending on the country, especially in Mexico and Turkey, where mobile use outweighs traditional broadband. More people in Mexico access the Internet via mobile devices, compared with desktop. Of Mexico's 112 million people, Resolution Media found that 49% use a mobile phone to access the Internet, but 10% of Internet users are on Facebook. There are 35.6 million users in the country, and estimates put online spending at $159 million.

Mexico, Turkey and Brazil generate the most efficient rate for ad impressions, which means advertisers can serve ads in these markets more frequently at a lower cost. The cost-per-click (CPC) model becomes a better bidding option when linking payment to performance. Mexico, Turkey and India have the lowest CPCs. The two former not only have the lowest CPCs, but also the highest CTR.

The average CTR for Facebook ads in Mexico and the United States ranges between 3% and 4% compared with India between 4% and 5%, and Italy about 4%.

The average cost per thousand for Facebook ads in Mexico and Turkey come in a little more than half a cent. Brazil jumps to a little more than 1 cent, and India, France, Austria, Italy and others rise to more than 1.5 cents. The United States sits at more than 3 cents.

Countries making the cut for the month-long study reached 100 million ad impressions from ads uniquely targeted from each.

Each country also does better or worse based on the amount of times an ad serves up. In the first Social Media Insights report, Resolution Media revealed the con­version rates drops significantly after the sixth ad impression. With exposure rate metrics, Switzerland, Austria and Italy produce better results. Italy generates a high CTR, showing this market provides lower prices during initial tests.

"Brands wanting to test Facebook in the European market might want to start with Italy because there's a low cost per entry," said Bryson Meunier, director at Resolution Media. "It would make more sense than starting with Great Britain, where there's a lot more competition. There's a lower lost per entry and the ads are more likely to hit the right frequency with high click-through rate."

India also produces low CPCs, highest CTRs, high exposure rates and low maximum recommended bid amounts. Indian users engage with Facebook ads heavily and it is easy to target the right audiences in India.