Although social media ad spends and CPC returned to pre-pandemic levels in Q3, user behaviors are undergoing a monumental shift. That means digital marketers have some homework to do to catch up, writes Yuval Ben-Itzhak, CEO, Socialbakers.
There has never been a more turbulent time for digital marketers than the first three quarters of 2020. The coronavirus pandemic had a huge impact on social media users and the brands that seek their attention. The good news is that we have seen some remarkable developments in Q3 that point to a new sense of normalcy, stability, and recovery.
The first and most promising development is that social media ad spend is soaring. Globally, ad spend on social media rose by more than 56% in Q3 2020, returning to pre-pandemic levels. This lift shows that brands once again have a healthy confidence in the effectiveness of digital channels, and many are now doubling down on their investment in the online ad content.
At the same time, worldwide cost-per-click (CPC) also took a sharp upturn in Q3, reaching its highest point since 2019. The opportunities to take advantage of discounted CPC brought on by the first wave of the pandemic are now mostly gone. Digital marketers may not welcome these higher costs, but it is a positive sign in the long run. The correction in CPC costs overall signals a return to stability.
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However, although ad spending and CPC may have rebounded, an entirely new normal is emerging in other areas. As you might expect during a pandemic, there have been some dramatic changes in user behavior over the last three quarters. For instance, online engagement with Daily News and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) have more than doubled. And the popularity of long and very long videos is skyrocketing.
Let us take a deeper look into the latest metrics and trends.
Global Social Media Ad
In Q3 2020, the worldwide social media ad spends rose to nearly double what it was during the lowest point of the pandemic in late March. The biggest recovery took place in North America (up 61.7%), Central America (up 55.6%), and Western Europe (up 50.4%). Across all industries, the average spends rose by 38.9%, with the largest increases in FMCG food (up 61.3%), auto (up 59.4%), finance (up 35.3%) and ecommerce (up 27.5%). From a brand perspective, adspend rose by 27.6% compared to the same period in 2019.
CPC
At $0.168, Q3 global CPC was at its highest point since the end of 2019. That is a steep 42.4% jump since the end of the previous quarter. Latin America saw the largest increase in CPC, with a 42.4% rise. Western Europe and North America also showed a strong rebound in CPC with a rise of 30.8% and 19.5%, respectively. Across all brand accounts, CPC increased by 32.1% to $0.140 in Q3. That is the highest it has been since December 2019.
Audience Behavior
Social media users adjusted their daily habits during the pandemic, and Q3 engagement metrics tell us where they went. On both Facebook and Instagram, the categories of Daily News and NGOs were popular destinations. Daily News interactions rose 103.3% on Instagram and 57.8% on Facebook, while NGOs interactions rose 112.9% on Facebook and 31.2% on Instagram. There was also some interesting outlier behavior, depending upon which platform people were using. For instance, perhaps because of the lockdowns and social distancing caused by the pandemic, travel industry interactions on Instagram decreased by 31.2%. Yet, at the same time, Facebook users generated a significant 60.9% increase in travel industry interactions.
Another shift was in the time of day when people were active online. An analysis of European Facebook pages showed that audiences are spending more time online in the morning. The number of fans online at 5 a.m. Friday increased by 98% in September than March, and similar increases were seen on every weekday. These shifts in behavior are very important for marketers to take into consideration when planning campaigns in the current climate.
One trend, many users, seemed to agree upon was a preference for videos over other social media formats. In fact, in Q3, the longer the video runtime, the greater the reach and interactions it generated among Facebook users. Very long videos (over five minutes) was the top-performing format on Facebook in terms of both reach and interactions. These very long videos gained a 70.4% higher reach than the second-place format of long videos (over 65.194 seconds but shorter than five minutes).
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Do Your Homework
The big takeaway from these Q3 social media trends is that digital marketers have some homework to do. Although ad spend and CPC are stabilizing, the way that users behave online is undergoing a monumental shift. This represents both a challenge and an opportunity. Brands that are able to pivot with changing consumer attention to digital channels will succeed. Now more than ever, the ability to closely monitor, measure, and improve digital experiences will bring the highest engagement, the most loyal relationships, and have the biggest impact on business.