Brands Spent $673bn Advertising On Social Media In 5yrs

The value of social media advertising has increased significantly over the last five years, with brands across the world having spent $673 billion (£542.43 billion) on this form of promotion since 2018.

Data presented by OnlyAccounts.io to Marketing Tech News revealed the huge amount of money companies have shelled out on social media ads to make sure they hit their target market and secure sales.

Statista also reported that brands spent $73.2 billion on social media ads in 2018, with this almost doubling to $132.7 billion in 2020.

It increased by 36 per cent again the following year to $180.9 billion, and expenditure is expected to hit $207 billion in 2023. This is nearly triple the figure five years ago.

The data showed 80 per cent of total ad spending in 2023 will come through mobile adverts, reaching $170.3 billion. Just five years ago, it was a mere $53.5 billion, which demonstrates just how much more businesses rely on mobile adverts to sell their goods these days.

This is not surprising given that it is predicted 95 per cent of the UK population will be using a smartphone by 2025, up from 88 per cent in 2021.

Although those over the age of 55 are least likely to have a smartphone, their numbers are creeping up, with 78 per cent owning one two years ago. Nearly all those between 16 and 24 (96 per cent) used a smartphone for communicating.

Therefore, businesses who want to target potential, or previous, customers will be able to do so by advertising regularly on social media, which can be easily accessed on a smartphone.

Indeed, social media is just as popular as ever, with 60 per cent of the world networking online, and as many as 150 million new users having signed up in the last year alone.

The typical amount of time spent on social media every day is two hours and 24 minutes, giving people plenty of time to browse through feeds and get targeted by ads.

Statista also reported that Meta, which was formerly known as Facebook, had more than half the market share last year (55 per cent).

This is almost four times as much as LinkedIn, which is the second largest social media brand for advertising.

Having taken over Instagram and WhatsApp too, there are now 3.59 billion people around the world who are active on one of Meta’s platforms. This amounts to over three-quarters of internet users.

What’s more, 79 per cent of monthly Facebook users go on it every day, so advertisers can be confident their posts will be seen by a huge number of people.

When it comes to advertising, the average organic reach of content posted on a Facebook page is 5.2 per cent, and the social network has the potential to reach 2.11 billion people.

This is why businesses need to seriously consider their social media strategy when they chat through their marketing plans with a digital agency in Hull, as failing to do so could be a missed opportunity.