Social Commerce Will Supercharge Holiday Sales, Smartly.io Research Reveals

Native & Programmatic AdvertisingWeb & Social Prospecting Tools

By STS News Desk On Nov 7, 2019

Social Commerce Will Supercharge Holiday Sales, Smartly.io Research Reveals

48 Percent of US Consumers Are Considering Purchasing Products Seen in Social Media Ads for Holiday Gifts

Smartly.io, the leading social media advertising automation platform, announced new research outlining where and why consumers engage with social media ads to make holiday purchases. Based on 1,000 US consumer responses from a Dynata survey, the results indicate that consumers not only recognize that social media presents a new way to shop for holiday gifts, they are also more likely than ever to purchase those gifts after being influenced by social advertising.

Increasing social media spend
Amazon and other online retail marketplaces are dramatically altering the holiday shopping landscape, with PwC’s 2019 Holiday Outlook report indicating 54 percent of US consumers plan to shop online in 2019. As shoppers continue to spend more time online, their propensity to use social media to browse and purchase gifts is growing as well. In fact, Smartly.io found that 57 percent of holiday shoppers feel social media ads help them source new gift ideas, and 48 percent are considering purchasing from an ad on social media this year. Further, of those who plan to purchase, 40 percent said they are likely to spend at least $50. This underscores a substantial opportunity for retail and brand marketers to incorporate more paid social into their holiday campaigns.

“Brands have a tremendous opportunity to leverage social media ads this holiday season for authentic storytelling that will drive more revenue during the most critical time of year,” said Robert Rothschild, VP and global head of marketing for Smartly.io. “Consumers are flocking to highly visual platforms like Instagram and Facebook as new marketplaces to find holiday gifts – and they expect digital ads they encounter there to blend seamlessly into their browsing and shopping experience. Regardless of whether they have converted from social media ads in the past, 2019 is the tipping point year where those consumers are ready to buy. The brands who stand out from the pack are, ironically, those who design their ads to be as unobtrusive to the consumer as possible, and conform to the native content each placement has.”

Cultivating strong creative
When asked about the top factors influencing their decision to buy a product through a social media ad, 35 percent of consumers indicated that a compelling or engaging video, animation or image mattered most to them – ahead of other factors like customer testimonials (32 percent) or influencer participation (26 percent). Brands that create and deliver visually engaging social ads and use a combination of both video and still images will likely see their campaigns resonate with shoppers, spurring them to convert quickly.

Smartly.io automates every step of social advertising to unlock greater performance and creativity. We combine creative production and ad buying automation with outstanding customer service to help 600+ brands scale their results – not headcount – on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. We are a fast-growing community of 350+ Smartlies with 16 offices around the world.