April 4, 2012 by Sam Laird on Mashable
Facebook users in 
South Dakota, Tennessee and Colorado click through ads on Facebook at record rates. In South Dakota, Facebook users click on ads at a rate of 174% the national average.
South Dakota, Tennessee and Colorado click through ads on Facebook at record rates. In South Dakota, Facebook users click on ads at a rate of 174% the national average.Meanwhile, residents of Vermont, Alabama and Indiana are the least likely to take the bait. In Vermont, the click-through rate (CTR) is 57% the national average.
This is according to data provided exclusively to Mashable by marketing agency TBG Digital, which works with high-profile clients including jetBlue, Heineken and Coca Cola.
TBG analyzed more than 7.6 billion Facebook ad impressions from its client base during December, January and February. Here are the top and bottom 10 states for CTR, according to TBG’s data:
While the click-through data is powerful information for online marketers, TBG CEO Simon Mansell cautions that it’s not the be-all end-all for advertisements.
What people do after they click on ads, for example, is among a host of other factors that determine an ad’s ultimate success.
“It’s like any data — useful to know but you shouldn’t look at it in isolation,” Mansell told Mashable in an interview.
And where does Facebook earn the most money off the ads it hosts? Not surprisingly, South Dakota — the state with the highest click-through rate — has the highest cost per thousand impressions (CPM), at 190% the national average.
Vermont — where people click on ads with the least frequency — has the lowest, at 53% the national average.
Here are TBG’s top and bottom 10 states for CPM:
There are obvious parallels between the states that have the highest CTRs and CPMs. But Mansell says, the lists aren’t more proportional as a result of variables in the Facebook ad-bidding process. Facebook charges on a cost-by-click basis. Advertisers who gain more clicks are allowed to buy ads for discounted rates.
What’s most interesting about these data to you? Let us know in the comments.
