Social Media Update Q2 2020

In 2020, social media has become a key part of people’s daily lives. A good number are highly addicted to social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Whatsapp, spending a significant amount of time on these platforms. As a result, businesses and marketers are flocking social media platforms in the hope of connecting with their target customers.

Over the last few years, social media platforms have become multi-million dollar businesses connecting millions of people worldwide. However, the competition has been very high, and content overload is starting to become an issue. Nonetheless, having a social media marketing strategy has become crucial for any business that wants to stand out in 2020.

How Social Networking ad Spending is Doing

When it comes to marketing, the social media landscape in 2020 is changing fast, so marketers must stay updated on the latest social media statistics and trends. In terms of social networking ad spend, Facebook is still dominating as it remains the most used platforms by customers and marketers.

In the second quarter of 2020, over 85% of marketers were using Facebook to market their brands and products. Even better, over 60% of Facebook users follow or like at least one brand on this social media platform. However, social media advertising is yet to reach its full potential due to the harsh economic conditions worldwide.

In Q2 and beyond, low ad prices continue to persist amid slow economic recovery, testing the ability for marketers to manage small ad budgets.

How Social Media Advertising has Changed

Though users remained highly engaged in social media in Q2 than in Q1, many marketers pulled back their ad expenditure. In March, Facebook’s CPM ad pricing reduced by over 50%, with Snapchat also reporting reduced growth in Q2 based on their year-over-year growth.

As marketers continued pulling down their spending, some companies were highly attracted by the lower ad prices. As a result, businesses in industries like technology, telecommunication and consumer packaged goods continued spending on advertising to reach customers whose spending habits had changed.

In Q2, CPMS remained depressed, and industry experts believe the trend might continue until later in the year subject to the recovery of the US economy. There’s also significant volatility depending on the targeting criteria, industry vertical and other factors.

Marketers’ Social Media ad Expenditures in Q2

In April, there were significant declines in social media ad spending, though things started getting somewhat better in May and June. Nonetheless, things are nowhere near-normal levels. However, business executives and industry experts are optimistic that the situation will improve for the remaining part of the year. That’s despite the huge uncertainties surrounding ad pricing.

Advertisers are also shifting away from performance-oriented ads and embracing brand messaging as the main strategy. As such, marketers can gain empathy based on the consumers’ state of mind until the US economy fully recovers. That helped marketers manage their constrained budgets in Q2, with social media ad budgets declining by over 25% between March and June this year.