Facebook Audience Comparison

vs.

It’s tax season again, and one thing is certain.Whether for the thrill of a refund or the agony of a bill, millions of US consumers will turn to outside help to prepare and file their 2013 taxes. For financial companies, that means big advertising budgets in hopes of even bigger returns (no pun intended).

01

In this year’s battle for tax preparation supremacy, Facebook ads will play a starring role.The most successful brands will go beyond standard demographic targeting – these days, it’s possible to micro-target Facebook audiences based on user behavior, lifestyle, and other actionable criteria to serve ads that are relevant, timely, and effective. But that begs the question – who should financial marketers be targeting this tax season? We used our own sophisticated analytics to compare Facebook audiences at the top two tax preparation brands: H&R Block and TurboTax, made by Intuit. Here’s what we found.

02

Turb

oTax

TurboTax, made by Intuit, sells popular software that helps consumers prepare and file their income tax returns online. At a glance, their Facebook audience contains predominately females in their 30s and 40s, with lower- to middle-class household incomes.

US REACH

399,580MALE

31.2%FEMALE

68.8%AVG. AGE

38.6 (36.2 Male, 39.7 Female)

AGE/GENDER INDEX (AVG FB USER = 100)

Females 35-44 211Females 25-34 166Females 45-54 136Females 55-64 130Females 18-24 98

INTERESTS/CATEGORIES INDEX (AVG FB USER = 100)

Personal Finance 944DIY/Crafts 706Bollywood 577Stay-at-home moms 335Collectibles 185

INCOME INDEX (AVG FB USER = 100)

25k-50k 33950k-75k 193<25k 4075k-100k 24 100k-125k 3>125k 1

CITIES INDEX (AVG FB USER = 100)

Louisville, KY 186Detroit 183Cleveland 162Baltimore 155Jacksonville 150

03

H&

R B

lock

In addition to in-person tax preparation services, H&R Block offers e-filing services that compete directly with TurboTax. Their Facebook audience is, on average, slightly younger than TurboTax’s and skews even more strongly female. Again, lower- to middle-class households are well-represented.

US REACH

345,060MALE

26%FEMALE

74%AVG. AGE

37.1 (35.6 Male, 37.6 Female)

AGE/GENDER INDEX (AVG FB USER = 100)

Females 35-44 193Females 25-34 180Females 45-54 163Females 55-64 113Females 18-24 77

INTERESTS/CATEGORIES INDEX (AVG FB USER = 100)

Personal Finance 1,201Real Estate 696Pets (Cats) 529Homemaker 330Expectant parents 315

INCOME INDEX (AVG FB USER = 100)

25k-50k 37750k-75k 169<25k 3675k-100k 17100k-125k 2>125k 0

CITIES INDEX (AVG FB USER = 100)

Kansas City 425Indianapolis 218Cleveland 207Memphis 198San Antonio 191

04

Key Audience Observations

No males index above 100 in either group.

Both groups are interested in personal finance, which is predictable. However, we uncovered some additional overlapping interests that were quite unexpected – it would be worth testing ads targeted to

fans in overlapping interest categories.

H&R Block’s female audience skews younger

than TurboTax’s.

TurboTax is geographically strongest in the Rust Belt,

while H&R Block is stronger in the South and Midwest.

Both groups cater strongly to middle-income consumers with household incomes between $25k and

$75K per year.

05

$

Recommendations

Test Facebook ads targeted to fans in overlapping interest categories, such as Real Estate

and Personal Finance.

Focus advertising budgets on the strongest age, gender, geographic, and income segments, while reserving some

spend for messaging tests to other audiences.

Determine whether purchase data matches with Facebook audience data. If it does, good job!

If it doesn’t, try to find out why.

06

Brand Networks offers powerful Facebook advertising solutions to help you show the right ad to the right audience at the right time.

Contact sales to learn more: info@brandnetworksinc.com

07