Social Media Marketing Market Intelligence

Industry Outlook & Drivers

 Global Market Outlook on Social Media Marketing

• The global social media marketing spend was valued at $84–86 billion in 2019 to $102 billion in 2020, growing at a CAGR of 18.8 percent. Social media spend increased by 56.4 percent in Q3 versus Q1, growth is majorly triggered by COVID-19 outbreak that has led to increased digital consumption and advertisement over social media platform

• Social media is the third largest advertising channel, where North America is spending high on social media channels by contributing to around 30–40 percent. Online video and mobile ad spending growth are fueling the overall digital marketing spend growth in North America and Western Europe.

Impact of COVID-19 on Social Media Marketing

Globally, social ad spend increased post March 2020. North America’s ad spend increased by 60 percent, where other regions central America and Europe by 50 percent post pandemic. Facebook and Instagram are the most active social media platform across globe post COVID-19.

• Paid search advertising and video advertising are the way forward for brands, amid COVID-19 crisis

• As consumers stay at home, out-of-home marketing becomes obsolete, and key events are postponed or pushed into a virtual environment

• Facebook Live was the most engaging format for business and received double the interaction from any video format

• Mobile ad engagement has increased by 15 percent during pandemic. Brands are focusing on pop up ads on mobile apps and social media platforms

• Online shopping has increased exponentially, high traffic and conversion was recorded from social media platform links and influencer marketing

• There has been a reduction in monthly fees, due to service not being required or delivered. In some cases, agency contract fees have dropped by 80 percent, due to lack of hours worked. In most cases, retainers are still being paid as contracted, but will be reconciled later during review meetings based on delivery and performance

• 60 percent advertisers are changing their brand message focused to mission-based marketing and cause-related marketing 

Global Social Media Marketing Market Drivers and Constraints  

The growth of online video content and ease of incorporating social media platforms for brand engagement and target audience reach are driving factors for marketers to adopt social media advertising. Platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, generates high ROI and features, like sponsored posts, Live videos, Stories, posts drive traffic and increase sales.

Drivers

Increase in Usage of Social Media Management Tools

Advertisers are increasingly using technology-based platforms to plan and buy, to have better reach and receive higher impressions. Social media listening tools are used to streamline and consolidate marketing campaigns, which, in turn, increases brand engagement.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is the new age advertising with high engagement and conversion rates among marketers. It is prevalent on social platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook, where it allows marketers to deliver brand messages in a wide range of formats –tweets, post, video, story to reach target audience in a broader level.

Constraints

Measuring Social Media ROIMeasuring social media ROI is different from traditional marketing. It is challenging for marketers to calculate the value of a tweet/post shared compared to click on an ad. Implementing a specific business goal and social media strategy in place helps in measuring the ROI efficiently.

Social Media Marketing Demand Market Outlook

Average industry ad spend on social media increased by 38 percent in Q3, with a significant increase in categories, such as FMCG(61 percent), auto (59 percent), finance (35 percent), and e-commerce (27 percent).

Demand Trends

North America

• The FMCG s ector is hi ghly spending on s ocial medi a and influencer marketing up to 50 percent of their marketing budget pos t COVID-19

• FMCG companies realize high ROI by engagi ng with i nfluencers than tradi tional advertising post COVID-19

Europe

• FMCG companies in the UK s pends on average $18,600 and had observed high s al es increase to expense ratio at 70 percent i n Q3-Q4

• Brands are us ing i nfluencers and social medi a pl atforms, l ike Facebook, to target a s peci fic group of audience during COVID-19

Asia

• APAC wi l l continue to be the mos t domi nant region, in terms of s ocial medi a us ers i n 2020. Twi tter and YouTube are the domi nant s ocial media channel used i n APAC by consumers

• Local ized targeting by FMCG brands are maj orly done via s ocial medi a platforms, l i ke Instagram and Youtube