NOTE: This paper includes an updated methodology section added after the initial release.

Established as a bastion of direct response advertising and long considered the home for niche audiences, online has lagged behind other media, namely TV, as a channel for broadly messaged, brand advertising. The emergence of far-reaching publishers like Facebook, however, means that marketers now have another option for reaching consumers en masse. Likewise, the availability of true cross-screen metrics enables them to understand how digital can reinforce and complement their TV investment.

In fact, according to a recent Nielsen study commissioned by Facebook—which has more than 1 billion users globally—for certain age groups, Facebook can contribute significant incremental or duplicated reach to that of major TV networks. This was particularly true for younger demographics.