Retailers have seen the social media advertising light. About half of retailers spend up to 50% of their ad budgets on social media. Smartly​.io and WBR Research analysts just published their latest findings on this topic and predict spending on this format will reach $65 billion this year. As Zenith analysts reported last year, social media is poised to capture one in six ad dollars by next year.

Social Media Platforms

Consumers spend varying amounts of time on social media platforms. Retailers that want to be certain of connecting with customers and prospects fear they’ll miss big opportunities if they don’t have a big presence on social media.

While some recent reports indicate that Facebook may be slowing down as a social site, marketers don’t share analysts' concerns. They know that consumers, especially baby boomers and Gen Xers, are spending time on the platform. Nearly all marketers, 96%, will increase spending on Facebook in 2020. Facebook reportedly also delivers the best return on ad spend (ROAS) for 41% of marketers.

But depending on the audience your clients is trying to reach, advertising on a different social platform may be a better investment. Nearly three in 10 marketers spend the largest portion of their social budget on Instagram. About 22% of retailers plan to increase Instagram spending this year.

In addition, 75% of marketers advertise on Twitter. Over half, 56%, plan to increase spending on the site in 2020.

The Social Media Advertising Light

With so many retailers spending their ad budgets across social sites, the biggest challenge comes from how to manage the process. Only 39% of these businesses are handling the process in-​house. This state of affairs points to big opportunity for service providers who can deliver automation. Retailers point out that getting their ads produced and delivered to the right sites is a time-​consuming and expensive process.

On the creative front, Robert Rothschild, VP and global head of marketing at Smartly​.io, says, “Investing in visual storytelling enables retail marketers to connect with consumers on an emotional and highly relevant level.” 

If you’re selling social media management services, now is a good time to review how your clients are allocating their spend across the most popular platforms. You can also show them how they compare to their competitors by running a Digital Audit on AdMall by SalesFuel. The details of that report will highlight how target audiences use specific social platforms.