The Global Advertising Trends report, published by WARC Media, a company in the same group as the Cannes International Festival of Creativity, (Cannes Lions), highlights the growing dominance of social platforms on the global media landscape, with a huge impact on the way brands reach their audiences. According to recent WARC forecasts, social media has become the world’s largest advertising channel in terms of investment, projected to reach US$247.3 billion in 2024, representing a 14.3% increase over the previous year .
Data from GWI indicates that time spent on social platforms has increased significantly in recent years, with a 50% growth since 2014, reaching a daily average of 152 minutes in 2024. Furthermore, according to data.ai, the number of Users on social platforms have increased by 169% since 2014.
“Much of social media’s success has been driven by Meta’s remarkable revival. However, social media’s dominance over budgets can also be seen in the rise of TikTok and the return to double-digit ad revenue growth on Snapchat and Pinterest. However, with this dominance comes challenges such as increasing advertising loads in social environments and the impact of AI on media planning. In this report, we present a holistic view of the global social media landscape, which shows no signs of losing momentum,” says Alex Brownsell, Director of Content at WARC Media.
These are the main insights highlighted in WARC’s Global Advertising Trends:
- Meta is on track to overtake linear TV in ad revenue by 2025
Both Facebook and Instagram grew more than 20% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2024, and Meta is forecast to earn $155.6 billion in ad revenue this year, representing a 63% share in global social spending, driven by a wave of investment from Chinese exporters and the popularity of its AI tools. According to WARC Media, Meta is expected to overtake global linear TV in terms of advertising spend by 2025.
- Investment in AI helped increase social spending
Tools like Meta’s Advantage+, which automate aspects of creative and media planning, are becoming increasingly popular with advertisers. However, some brands have complained about the erosion of campaign effectiveness. - TikTok Growth Will Slow in 2024 Amid US Ban Concerns
WARC Media predicts TikTok will earn $23.1 billion this year. The 18.3% annual increase marks a significant slowdown from the 87.8% growth rate recorded last year, despite the introduction of new search and shopping ad formats. Given TikTok’s unique popularity with Gen Z audiences, many advertisers in the US are hoping the ban doesn’t go into effect. - Snapchat and Pinterest once again record double-digit growth in ads
Pinterest is expected to see a 17.3% annual increase in ad revenue in 2024, while Snapchat is expected to grow 13.7%. This strong growth of both platforms is attributed to a reorientation and tilt towards their respective strengths. - X (formerly Twitter) ad revenue problems expected to continue into 2024
X ad revenue in 2024 is predicted to decline 6.4% globally and 5.1% in the US. However, compared to its surprising 46.4% drop in 2023, this marks something of a stabilization for the Elon Musk-owned platform, largely due to political ad spending. However, marketers remain concerned about brand safety and X’s much-publicized issues with bots. - Ad loads are increasing on social platforms
Meta has reportedly increased its ad load in Q4 2023 to 19.1%, with most Reels sessions now having seven or more ads. Platforms are looking to improve monetization “efficiency” with new search and shopping ad formats. - Social platforms are becoming increasingly homogeneous
As TikTok prepares to launch a photo-sharing app, Notes, and Meta invests in AI research tools, social platforms are converging on the advertising formats and commerce functionality they offer brands.
“AI offers incredible new opportunities for social advertisers by delivering contextual ads across multiple advertisers, but this may not be right for all brands, such as those that need to heavily consider exclusivity and adjacency,” comments Rachel Morman, global director of PHD Global Social.
- Social media outlook in the US, UK, China and APAC
US: Social media advertising spending is expected to reach $75.6 billion this year. Facebook remains the largest player, forecast to reach US$36.3 billion, followed by Instagram ($21.3 billion) and TikTok ($10.1 billion).UK: Social media advertising spend in the UK grew 15.6% year-on-year in 2023 and is forecast to reach £8.8 billion by 2025, according to the latest UK Spending Report. AA/WARC. Much of this growth is attributed to increased spending on social video formats, up 20.0% year-on-year, according to IAB UK.
China: Major Chinese social platforms have seen a slowdown in ad revenue since 2021, however, signs of positivity are emerging: video and photo sharing app Xiaohongshu, with 312 million MAUs in China, reported its first profit; and ByteDance-owned Douyin is forecast to earn $30.2 billion in ad revenue, $7 billion more than its Western sibling TikTok.
APAC: More than 70% of consumers in Asian markets, including Indonesia and the Philippines, use social media at various stages of their shopping journey. GWI data shows that social media users in APAC are 11.2% more likely than the global average to purchase a product or service weekly due to an endorsement from a social media influencer.
“The challenge continues to be enabling brands to leverage their own data and analytics to understand audiences on a deeper level, enabling personalized experiences across all media,” adds Gillian Collison, Global Director of Social at GroupM.
Global Ad Trends is a quarterly report that draws on WARC’s advertising and media intelligence dataset. It is part of WARC Media, a subscription service that provides rigorous and accurate benchmarks, aggregated and verified from 100+ trusted sources, empowering media decision makers to plan strategies with precision.
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