Let’s see what this week’s numbers say about online advertising, shall we?
- Meta’s digital ad revenue growth has exceeded that of Pinterest and Snap for the fourth consecutive quarter in Q2 2024, according to the company’s earnings. However, Pinterest and Snap have narrowed the gap in 2024—so far. Meta users have remained loyal to its platforms despite complaints over increasing ad loads. Last quarter, the number of users under its umbrella of apps increased 7%, while impressions and price per ad each jumped 10%, per the company’s earnings. Meta’s US ad revenue will grow 13.8% this year, reaching $64.63 billion, per our March 2024 forecast.
- As the 2024 US presidential election ramps up, investment in political advertising is reaching new heights. By some estimates, the figure could climb as high as $12bn before election day on November 5, up nearly 30% from the last presidential election in 2020. Democrats have led in spending so far, and investments are likely to ramp up in the coming weeks. Vice President Kamala Harris has moved at lightspeed to build campaign momentum on social media, using both paid and organic earned media tactics. The Vice President’s focus on digital channels reflects broader trends in political advertising. During this election cycle, digital is expected to attract $3.46bn in spend, or about 28% of total spend in the cycle. This represents a 156% uptick from 2020 levels.
- According to Mediaocean’s latest study, 56% of marketers think that CTV/streaming is the most important media and technology trend to watch for the second half of this year. Consumers are also opting for ad-supported streaming platforms and appear to be increasingly tolerant of ads. Meanwhile, it’s not as though marketers have forgotten about generative AI, which they’re also using for their own purposes. Some 55% cited it as one of the most important consumer trends they’re watching for the latter half of this year, putting it right behind CTV/streaming. As for respondents’ own uses of AI in marketing, data analysis (45%) is the most popular current use case, followed by market research (40%).
- CMOs have been saying for some time that it’s a challenge to understand changes in consumer behavior. But they might have an even bigger challenge on their hands, according to a study from Dentsu Creative: “learning to anticipate trends before they are visible to the mainstream.” In fact, almost 8 in 10 CMOs surveyed worldwide agree that they are increasingly expected to use data to provide insight on consumers today but also predict future products and propositions. Some 44% consider this a significant challenge, and an additional 35% consider it a minor challenge. CMOs are investing in various methods to gain foresight on customers and behavior trends. Almost 6 in 10 (59%) say they’re using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to predict changes in customer behaviors, while a similar proportion (58%) are leveraging social listening to proactively identify shifts in sentiment/behavior.
