Astute, Inc. (“Astute”), a leading customer engagement and Voice of the Customer (“VoC”) platform, today announced the findings of its Socialbakers Social Media Trends for Q3 2020 report. The report revealed that Q3 social media ad spend rose sharply to pre-pandemic levels.
“Consumers have shifted their attention even more to digital channels this year as a result of the pandemic,” said Alex George, President and Chief Technology Officer, Astute. “This report shows that brands have adjusted to newer shopping patterns through investment in social media advertising.”
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This year’s third quarter experienced a 56% increase in global social media ad spend, which was nearly double what it was at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Spending in North America increased by 61.7%, central Europe by 55.6% and western Europe by 50.4%. Broken down by industry, spend for fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) food organizations increased by 61.3%, auto by 59.4%, finance by 35.3% and e-commerce by 27.5%.
Worldwide cost per click (CPC) spend increased by 42.4% to $0.168, which is its highest point since the end of 2019. Latin America experienced the largest spend increase (44.8%), followed by western Europe (30.8%) and North America (19.5%).
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Facebook saw notable increases in advertising compared to Q3 of last year, including 134.9% increase in North America, 49.7% in Latin America, 31.3% in western Europe and 31.2% in Central America. However, the findings show that Instagram generated more engagement. It generated 22 times more interactions than Facebook. Additionally, the total audience size of the 50 biggest brand profiles was 34.7% larger on Instagram than Facebook.
Throughout the pandemic Instagram usage and interaction remained consistent, while Facebook saw a large spike at the beginning of the pandemic. However, Facebook interactions were at their lowest point in the last 10 months at the end of Q3.
“The report demonstrates the importance of using social media and other digital platforms to reach customers during the pandemic,” added George. “It’s crucial to stay on top of buying trends, especially as we enter the holiday season.”
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