Consumers Say They've Increased Social Media Messaging With Brands Since Pandemic, Find It More Positive 09/30/2021 MediaPost Communications
* This article was originally published here
Thursday, September 30, 2021
Social Advertising & Social Media Market Size 2021 And Forecast to 2028 | Facebook, Linkedin, Google Edition, Twitter – Bulk Solids Handling - Bulk Solids Handling
Social Media Advertising Market Size 2021-2028 : Growth And Analysis By Top Keyplayers | Alphabet, Facebook, Baidu, Yahoo! Inc – Bulk Solids Handling - Bulk Solids Handling
Pharma and Healthcare Social Media Market Size 2021-2028 And Growth, Analysis By Top Manufacturers | Sermo, Doximity, Orthomind, Quantiamd – Bulk Solids Handling - Bulk Solids Handling
Pharma's 'painful' social media start morphs into refined content strategies across even hipster channels: experts - FiercePharma
Amazon Counterfeit Crimes Unit Reaches Settlement with Influencers Who Ran Social Media Counterfeiting Scheme, Permanently Banning them from Amazon’s Store and Securing Financial Payments to be Donated to Support Anti-Counterfeiting Awareness - Yahoo Finance
Amazon Counterfeit Crimes Unit Reaches Settlement with Influencers Who Ran Social Media Counterfeiting Scheme, Permanently Banning them from Amazon’s Store and Securing Financial Payments to be Donated to Support Anti-Counterfeiting Awareness Yahoo Finance
* This article was originally published here
* This article was originally published here
How to Sell With Instagram Reels and Stories
Want to turn more Instagram followers into customers? Have you considered combining Reels and Stories to attract and convert? In this article, you’ll discover a strategy to sell with Instagram Reels and Stories. Why Shorter-Form Video Like Instagram Reels and Stories Matters Let’s address the obvious first question: Why do shorter-form videos like Instagram Reels […]
The post How to Sell With Instagram Reels and Stories appeared first on Social Media Examiner | Social Media Marketing.
* This article was originally published here
Wednesday, September 29, 2021
Pharma and Healthcare Social Media Market Cumulative Impact for COVID-19 Recovery Research Report 2021 | Healthcare and Medical Software, Sermo, Doximity – Bulk Solids Handling - Bulk Solids Handling
Wall Street's Ken Griffin fires back at those making #KenGriffinLied a trending topic on social media --- and Reddit rejoices - MarketWatch
How to Write a Social Media Policy (Free Template + Examples)
A social media policy is a crucial tool for any organization—even if your organization doesn’t use social media. Because your employees almost certainly do.
Bonus: Get a free, customizable social media policy template to quickly and easily create guidelines for your company and employees.
What is a social media policy?
A social media policy is an official company document that provides guidelines and requirements for your organization’s social media use. It covers your brand’s official channels, as well as how employees use social media, both personally and professionally.
The policy applies to everyone from the CEO to summer interns, so it needs to be easy to understand. It can be part of a wider social media marketing strategy, or it can live with onboarding materials and other company policies.
Why do you need a social media policy for employees?
An official company social media policy is an important document. It helps maintain your brand voice while mitigating social media risks. Here are some of the most important reasons to implement a social media policy.
Maintain your brand identity across channels
You likely have multiple people managing multiple accounts across multiple channels. A solid social media policy keeps things consistent and on-brand.
Protect yourself from legal and regulatory challenges
A well-crafted and enforced social policy protects you from falling afoul of rules and regulations. The consequences of breaking them can be major.
For instance, insurance company MassMutual was fined $4 million, subjected to a social media compliance review, and ordered to revise its social media policies after a trader for subsidiary MML Investors Services helped fuel the GameStop trading frenzy through social channels.
Facilitate diversity and inclusion
Kansas State University recently created a social media policy for students to facilitate inclusion and diversity on campus. Among other requirements, it bans cyberbullying and doxing, as well as “comments or conduct constituting discrimination, harassment [or] retaliation.”
Bit late on this, but this article does a great job discussing K-State's new social media policy. I was happy to be interviewed for it as a way to promote and explain the policy to students!
New social media policy offers guidance, inclusion to students https://t.co/altqMGvlGm
— Zach Perez (@ZachPerez1999) September 20, 2021
Prevent a security breach
A solid social media policy combined with proper security protocols helps protect your accounts against phishing, hacking, and impostor accounts.
Prevent a PR crisis
Unclear social policies, or an inconsistent application of these policies, caused problems for The Associated Press when they abruptly fired journalist Emily Wilder. Clearer guidelines for applying policies and steps for addressing breaches would have prevented this from becoming a significant PR concern.
My statement on my termination from The Associated Press. pic.twitter.com/kf4NCkDJXx
— emily wilder (@vv1lder) May 22, 2021
Respond quickly if a crisis or breach does happen
Despite your best efforts, a breach or crisis could still happen. Sometimes the violation or crisis comes from a part of the organization that has nothing to do with social media. You’ll still be expected to address it on social channels. A social policy makes sure you have an emergency response plan in place.
Clarify employees’ social media responsibilities
A Tennessee judge was recently sanctioned for sending inappropriate messages to women from accounts that showed him in his judicial robe. The reprimand letter states:
”Judges are expected to maintain the highest standards of conduct and dignity of judicial office at all times … There is no exception to this principle for the use of social media.”
It continues:
“You will refrain from using a picture of yourself in your judicial robe as a profile picture on any social media platform unless conducting court business.”
You can’t assume employees or associates will make the right call on social media unless you specifically spell it out. So, for example, if you don’t want them to post while wearing their uniform, say so.
Encourage your employees to amplify your brand’s message
All of that said, you don’t want to discourage employees from amplifying your brand message on social media. A clear social policy helps employees know what they can and should share on social, and what they should skip.
What should your social media policy include?
1. Roles and responsibilities
Who owns which social accounts? Who covers which responsibilities on a daily, weekly or as-needed basis? It can be helpful to include names and email addresses for key roles, so employees from other teams know who to contact.
Responsibilities to cover might include:
- Posting and engagement
- Customer service
- Strategy and planning
- Advertising
- Security and passwords
- Monitoring and listening
- Approvals (legal, financial, or otherwise)
- Crisis response
- Social media training
At the very least, this section should establish who can speak for your brand on social media—and who can’t.
2. Security protocols
As mentioned above, there are a lot of social media security risks out there. In this section, you have the opportunity to provide guidance on identifying and dealing with them.
Topics to cover might include:
- How often do your account passwords get changed?
- Who maintains them, and who has access to them?
- How often is your organizational software updated?
- What devices can be used on your network?
- Can employees use personal social accounts on office computers?
- Who should employees talk to if they want to escalate a concern?
3. A plan of action for a security or PR crisis
One goal of your social media policy is to prevent the need for a social media crisis management plan. But it’s best to have both.
Consider whether these should be two separate documents, especially if your social media policy will be posted publicly.
Your crisis management plan should include:
- An up-to-date emergency contact list with specific roles: the social media team, legal and PR experts—all the way up to C-level decision-makers
- Guidelines for identifying the scope of the crisis
- An internal communication plan
- An approval process for response
Being prepared in advance will improve your response time and reduce stress for those directly managing the crisis.
4. An outline on how to comply with the law
Details will vary from country to country or even state to state. The requirements are much stricter for organizations in regulated industries. Be sure to consult your legal counsel for this section.
At the very least, your policy should touch on the following:
- How to comply with copyright law on social media, especially when using third-party content
- How to handle customer information and other private data
- Restrictions or disclaimers required for testimonials or marketing claims
- Confidentiality regarding your organization’s internal information
5. Guidance for employees’ personal social media accounts
It took a rebuke from authorities for the judge mentioned above to learn he shouldn’t use his robes in his profile photo on personal accounts. Don’t leave employees in the dark about what’s expected of them.
Of course, you can’t get too draconian about how employees use their personal social accounts. Especially if there is no way for a casual observer to identify them as an employee of your company. Here are some common social media policy elements related to employees’ accounts:
- Guidelines about content showing the workplace
- Guidelines about content showing the uniform
- Whether it’s okay to mention the company in profile bios
- If yes, what disclaimers about content representing personal rather than corporate opinions are required
- The requirement to identify themselves as an employee when discussing the company or competitors
6. Employee advocacy guidelines
Your social media team probably speaks your brand’s voice in their sleep. And your official spokespeople are ready to answer tough questions on the fly. But what about everyone else?
Employees who are excited about their work can be some of your best advocates on social media.
But they may not always know exactly what is appropriate to say and when. For example, you don’t want an overly keen employee posting about a new product or feature before it launches. Once that feature goes live, though, you want them to have all the tools they need to share it with the world.
Some important items to include in this section of your policy are:
- Do you have an approved content library, and how can employees access it?
- Are employees allowed to engage with people mentioning the brand on social?
- How should employees deal with negative comments about the company on social, and who should they notify?
How to implement a social media policy for employees
1. Download our social media policy template
It’s free, and it asks all the questions you need to get started.
Bonus: Get a free, customizable social media policy template to quickly and easily create guidelines for your company and employees.
2. Seek input from stakeholders
You can probably get some great ideas about your unique needs from:
- your product’s power users
- the marketing team
- the social team
- the HR team
- any public spokespeople
- your legal team
Don’t forget to get regular employees involved in the discussion. After all, this policy affects all of them.
This doesn’t mean you need feedback from every single employee. But do get input from team leads, union reps, or others who can represent groups of employees to let you know about any ideas, questions, or concerns.
For example, greater consultation with staff journalists could have saved the BBC plenty of headaches when it released its new social media policy.
Among other rules, the policy states:
“If your work requires you to maintain your impartiality, don’t express a personal opinion on matters of public policy, politics, or ‘controversial subjects.’”
But the National Union of Journalists said they had concerns:
“The changes could constrain individuals’ ability to meaningfully participate and engage in issues that matter to them – whether that’s in their trade union, their communities or in events such as Pride.”
This could likely have been resolved before the policy came into play rather than playing out publicly after the fact.
#NUJ Michelle Stanistreet said: "It’s disappointing there was no consultation with staff unions on the social media rule changes and we’ll be raising all the concerns NUJ members and reps have shared with us when we meet the #BBC.” https://t.co/fFLqavU42k
— NUJ (@NUJofficial) October 30, 2020
As you draft your policy, don’t get caught up in tutorials or details. The nitty-gritty will inevitably change, and fast. Focus on the big picture.
3. Decide where your policy will live
We highly recommend adding your policy to your employee handbook so that new hires can work through it during onboarding.
But where will existing employees access it? Will it live on your company intranet, or shared drives? Depending on your organization’s needs, you may consider posting it to your external website as well (like the companies used as examples at the end of this post!).
4. Launch it (or relaunch it)
Whether it’s a revision or a brand new document, you’ll want to make sure everyone is aware there’s new information they need to know. Whether you announce it via internal email or at an all-hands meeting, make sure you leave plenty of room and opportunity for questions.
If you’re launching a new update, include a list of key changes and a revision date.
5. Schedule an update for next year (or even next quarter)
It’s not uncommon to see social media policies that date back to the dark ages of 2013 or 2011. (You can tell because they use buzzwords like “Web 2.0” and “microblogs.”)
Social media is in constant flux, and your social media policy will need regular updates. Networks and functionalities change, new social media sites emerge, and others fall.
Your social media policy can’t just sit in a drawer (or a Google Doc.). Those policies from the early 2010s could not have anticipated the rise of TikTok or the constant level of connection people now have with their mobile devices.
Committing to an annual, biannual, or even quarterly review will ensure your policy stays useful and relevant. At the very least, you’ll want to ensure all the details and contact information are up to date.
6. Enforce it
Creating a social media policy is great. But if no one’s enforcing it, why bother?
In May, the U.S. Postal Service Inspector General released a disappointing review of USPS social media channels.
Among other findings, the report flagged:
“… unapproved accounts for 15 post offices, nine departments, three sales teams, and multiple employees using their social media accounts in an official capacity without the proper approval.”
Why? Because they weren’t enforcing their social media policy.
The USPS then issued a “social media policy reminder” to employees and contractors “that they’re prohibited from speaking on behalf of the organization on websites, blogs and other forms of social media without permission.” They also noted that “the social media team conducts routine audits of sites that claim to represent the Postal Service.”
The lessons here relate to social listening and social media audits.
First, your social media policy should include a schedule of regular audits to identify new accounts that claim to represent your company.
Second, your team should engage in social listening. This will identify social conversations about your brand and any posts that go against your policy.
Make sure your social policy includes details of the consequences for breaching the requirements, so no one is surprised by disciplinary action if they break the rules.
Social media policy examples
Sometimes there’s nothing like a real-world example to get things going. Here are some great ones to model when creating your own social media policy.
Nordstrom
Nordstrom’s social media policy is short and to the point but covers the key details for employees.
Key takeaway: “You may be legally responsible for the content you post, so respect brands, trademarks and copyrights.”
Gartner
The research and advisory company Gartner has a solid social media policy that encourages employees to think about the difference between their personal and professional personas on social media.
Key takeaway: “While acting in your ‘professional persona’ and identifying yourself as a Gartner associate publicly, consider each and every post you make as a representation of the Gartner brand and not you as an individual.”
Dell
Dell has created a simple and straightforward policy with sound advice for anyone using social media.
Key takeaway: “All team members are encouraged to speak about the company and share news and information, but only authorized and trained spokespeople may speak on behalf of Dell Technologies and issue official company responses.”
Canadian Bar Association
It’s probably no surprise that the social media policy for an association of lawyers and other legal professionals is pretty detailed about its rules and requirements, and how they apply to relevant law. Still, the guidelines are easy to understand.
Key takeaway: “Anything you write or post online can be shared beyond the specific online community with which you are involved. Therefore, craft everything you post with the assumption it can be read by anyone.”
Government of British Columbia
This interactive, visually pleasing policy guide includes many examples and questions for employees to think about when posting to social media. It’s got the required level of policy information but gives employees agency by encouraging them to think about how their social posts affect their colleagues and employer.
Source: Government of British Columbia
Key takeaway: “Choices we make and habits we develop in our personal lives with regard to social media may not be appropriate in the work setting. Employees are trusted to make ethical choices. You’re responsible for using your best judgment and reaching out for help when unsure.”
Easily manage all your social media profiles using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard, you can schedule and publish posts, engage your followers, monitor relevant conversations, measure results, manage your ads, and much more.
The post How to Write a Social Media Policy (Free Template + Examples) appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.
* This article was originally published here
Want to Buy TikTok Followers? Here’s What Happens When You Do
Thinking about buying TikTok followers? I get it. In this instant-gratification world, of course it’s tempting to buy the metrics you want.
If we as a society have developed the technology to order a pizza with an emoji on Twitter, why shouldn’t I be able to become TikTok famous with the click of a button?
Organic growth just takes so much time and you want a nice juicy follower list nowwwww!
Bonus: Download the free 10-Day Reels Challenge, a daily workbook of creative prompts that will help you get started with Instagram Reels, track your growth, and see results across your entire Instagram profile.
TikTok has been downloaded more than two billion times, and has 100 million active users in the U.S. This is the place to see and be seen, but it’s increasingly challenging to stand out from the crowd or cement yourself as a TikTok power user.
So it’s really no surprise that dozens of businesses have popped up to sell TikTok follows and likes — a shortcut to TikTok success would leave so many more hours in the day to watch wholesome families dancing to “Blinding Lights.”
The question is: does it actually work? Does buying TikTok followers really help your brand — or does it have the potential to do the opposite, and harm your social media reputation?
Based on dozens of episodes of Behind the Music, our previous experiment about buying Instagram followers and most of human history, we had a sneaking suspicion that money, even on TikTok, can’t buy happiness.
But, of course, there was only one way to find out for sure. So I whipped out the ol’ credit card and went shopping for some fresh TikTok followers. Let the grand experiment begin!
How to buy TikTok followers
It’s really not hard to buy TikTok followers. I didn’t have to go hang around by the docks at night, waiting to exchange a suitcase full of money to some guy on a yacht. (But if I had needed to do that, please let the record show that my alias would have been ‘Esmerelda Diamanté.’)
Instead, I just found a website that felt the least likely to steal my credit card information, picked the package that suited my needs and clicked “buy.”
Followers started to pour in within the hour.
Even though I knew it was fake, it still felt weirdly exciting watching my follower account skyrocket. Maybe Tatianna3838 would fall in love with my content and we’d become real friends! Anything was possible!
Where to buy TikTok followers
You can buy TikTok followers from a variety of websites. Some look like slick professional marketing resources; others are decidedly sketchy. But all offer a range of packages, usually that get cheaper by volume — the more followers you buy, the more affordable they are.
A few common options include TikFuel, TokMatik, StormLikes, Social-Viral and Social Wick, but there are dozens and dozens of websites out there all offering pretty much the same thing: an exchange of your cold hard cash for a fleeting feeling of popularity.
For this experiment, I decided to “invest” in followers from two different sites, just in case one was a scam. I treated myself to 2,500 followers from Tokmatik for $39.99 USD, and 1,000 more followers from TikFuel for the bargain-bin price of $16.47 USD.
For all the math fiends in the house, that worked out to less than $0.02 per new follower. It’s basically like I couldn’t afford not to!
How much does it cost to buy TikTok followers?
Prices vary by source, but just crunching the numbers from five random sites, it looks like you’ll pay around $3.50 on average for 100 TikTok followers, or about $21 for 1,000 TikTok followers.
| Website | Price Per 100 Followers | Price Per 1,000 Followers |
|---|---|---|
| TikFuel | $2.47 | $16.47 |
| TokMatik | $4.99 | $26.99 |
| StormLikes | $4.39 | $26.99 |
| Social-Viral | $4.39 | $22.99 |
| Social Wick | $1.32 | $13.19 |
There also are a couple of subscription plans out there if you want continued growth. With Managergram, for instance, you can spend $49 a month for 1,000 “real” followers. This package also promises you 200 views per video and 50-plus likes for each post.
But accumulating followers is one thing. Actually thriving on social media is another. And even 3,500 followers, purchased for pennies on the dollar, didn’t do anything at all to help me become a TikTok sensation. Rude, Tatianna3838!
Does buying TikTok followers work?
Buying 3,500 TikTok followers cost me $75 and was totally worthless.
Yes, buying TikTok followers did get me more TikTok followers. Because that is literally what I paid for.
Bonus: Download the free 10-Day Reels Challenge, a daily workbook of creative prompts that will help you get started with Instagram Reels, track your growth, and see results across your entire Instagram profile.
Get the creative prompts now!But that’s it.
Unsurprisingly, buying TikTok followers does not create a great audience, no matter how groundbreaking one’s content may be. My engagement was flat-out terrible.
It turns out paying strangers in Latvia or wherever to hit that subscribe button doesn’t actually build a strong and loyal fan base. And forget the “likes” or “shares” — it didn’t even translate to an increase in straight-up views.
For instance, how did this video of me juggling toilet paper to the song “Tequila” only get 151 views? What kind of cold-hearted monsters did I hire to be part of this experiment?! I want my money back!
@thetiktokdealxo
I didn’t have to deal with the sting of rejection long though. TikTok noticed pretty quickly that I was popular among the fake-accounts community and sent me a polite note that they would be culling my new followers post-haste.
So what’s the big lesson here, besides the fact that Tatianna3838 will not be invited to my birthday party after all?
If your goal is to build a community, increase your reach to future customers, make conversions, drive traffic, go viral, or spread your message to an interested audience — a.k.a. the reason any brand starts a social account in the first place — don’t bother buying followers. Just cut out the middleman and light your money on fire.
3 reasons NOT to buy TikTok followers
1. They’ll ruin your engagement rate and your chances of getting on the ForYou page
Not only will your fake followers not give you any likes or comments (and they definitely won’t be doing any Duets), the massive discrepancy between your number of followers and your engagement will look particularly gruesome.
This will imply to the TikTok algorithm that your content is probably not worthy of sharing around in the For You feed, which will hurt your opportunities for organic growth.
Better to have a smaller number of real, honest-to-goodness fans who obsess over everything you do than a huge follower count who all just sit there silently. Quality over quantity!
2. They won’t last long
While it’s not technically against its terms of service, TikTok does not want you to buy followers.
All of the social media platforms want real people creating and interacting with real content. Bots and pay-to-play accounts are not helpful in building a fun, community-focused online ecosystem. So if your followers are flagged as being bots or fakes, they’ll eventually get removed… which means you may just find yourself shopping for friends again.
3. You’re not fooling anyone
Maybe you thought that having a big juicy number above “followers” would impress someone — your other fans, your competitors, brands you’re keen to work with — but the reality is, this ruse only works for a few seconds.
Any semi-experienced social user is going to quickly deduce that your popularity is a sham. I mean, just look at my list. Multiple people named “Tik Toker.” A suspicious lack of profile pictures. Notes from TikTok telling me they’ve been removed for suspicious activity.
All things that are going to be pretty hard to explain to a potential brand partner or prospective client. Busted.
What to do instead of buying TikTok followers
There are so many better ways to build your TikTok following, and none of them involve shopping sprees.
Authentic, organic growth comes from great content, strategic posting schedules, and digging into the analytics to get to know your audience on every level.
Yeah, it’s gonna take time, and creativity, and probably a little bit of sweat (just me?), but the results are true-blue followers who like you for you, and not just your money. As a great philosopher (J.Lo) once said: “Love don’t cost a thing.”
Ready to roll up your sleeves and get to work? Here’s our complete guide to getting followers on TikTok the right way.
Bonus: Download the free 10-Day Reels Challenge, a daily workbook of creative prompts that will help you get started with Instagram Reels, track your growth, and see results across your entire Instagram profile.
The post Want to Buy TikTok Followers? Here’s What Happens When You Do appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.
* This article was originally published here
Growth Opportunities in the European Online Fashion Market to 2025: Multi-Channel Demands Immersion through Social Media - PRNewswire
AI In Social Media Market 360-Degree Research Report with Prominent Players like Adobe, Amazon Web Services, Inc., Clarabridge, Converseon Inc., Filed, Google LLC, Hootsuite Inc., HubSpot – Stillwater Current - Stillwater Current
How to Promote a Flash Sale on Facebook and Instagram
Do you run flash sales? Wondering how to promote your flash sale on social media? In this article, you’ll discover how to promote short-term sales with organic posts and paid ads on Instagram and Facebook. Why You Need a Different Approach for Promoting a Flash Sale Everyone loves a flash sale. Limited-time offers and short-term […]
The post How to Promote a Flash Sale on Facebook and Instagram appeared first on Social Media Examiner | Social Media Marketing.
* This article was originally published here
Influcencer-Powered Social Media Marketing Services Market Report 2021 Market SWOT Analysis,Key Indicators,Forecast 2027 : IMA – Bulk Solids Handling - Bulk Solids Handling
Tuesday, September 28, 2021
[STUDY] Facebook Ads VS Instagram Ads: 137,228 Paid Social Posts Show What Kind of Social Media Ads Generate the Best Results
![[STUDY] Facebook Ads VS Instagram Ads: 137,228 Paid Social Posts Show What Kind of Social Media Ads Generate the Best Results](https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/content/images/2021/09/Study-ads.png)
Social media marketing is an area in which brands endow a big deal nowadays, because of its capacity of rapidly and easily connecting them to their targeted audiences.
So, when you’re in charge of managing marketing budgets, the pressure is huge, especially if we think about massive brands that invest in digital, maybe more than in any other field. In this case, we’re talking about social ads.
Every marketer knows to which two social platforms the marketing budget is directed to when it comes to social media ads.
And, as a result, an important question that immediately pops up is which ones perform better, both in getting the results wanted, as well as in optimizing costs.
Follow me in this initiative of doing a comparison between Facebook ads vs Instagram ads and let’s see let’s discover the secrets of a successful social media ads optimization campaign!
Although brands invest more money in Facebook ads, in 2021 Instagram’s ad increase had a greater growth compared to Facebook.
Facebook ads vs Instagram ads: which ones perform better?
2. CPC values: $0.49 for Facebook ads and $1.09 for Instagram on average.
3. Facebook has the highest CTR, of 3.06% on average, compared to Instagram, which is 0.68%.
4. On Instagram, the feed is the ad placement most brands.
5. Instagram Stories are the ad placement with the highest CTR on Instagram - 0,76%
6. Facebook feed is the number one ad placement brands invest in.
Summary
Here's a sneak peek of what this Facebook and Instagram ads study will cover:
- Ad spend: an inquiry into how much brands invest in both Facebook and Instagram ads, as well as its increase from 2020 till mid of 2021.
- Which placement is better - by correlating the average click-through-rate (CTR) with the costs per click (CPC) or mille (CPM) you’ll discover which are the most efficient places where you should place your ads on both Facebook and Instagram.
- How the CPC and CPM work on each channel - you’ll understand how much you need to invest and which channel/ placement per channel is likely to offer better results.
- What to do to increase your CTR - you’ll find out how people respond to ads by knowing the average CTRs.
Key insights
- YoY ad spend has increased by 7,16% on Facebook, while Instagram has a greater growth, with an ad spend increase by 8,69%
- Instagram ads are more expensive, having a double CPC than Facebook ads.
- For ads that have conversion goals, Facebook is the go-to platform, for having a 3.05% average click-through-rate, compared to 0.67% which is Instagram’s.
- On Instagram the main focus on ads is in the Instagram feed - it has both the highest CPC, of $1.86 and CPM, of $7.27.
- Instagram stories is the ad placement that converts the most on Instagram, having an average CTR of 0.76%.
- Facebook Stories have the highest CPC - $0,55.
- Facebook Feed is the king of ad placements: brands invest the most in it, and has both the highest CMP ($5.18) and the highest CTR (4.70%).
1. YoY ad spend in 2021: brands invest with 7,16% more money on Facebook and with 8,69% more money on Instagram.
Given the fact that it’s one of the oldest and definitely the largest among all social media platforms nowadays, it doesn’t come out as a surprise that Facebook is the number one platform that businesses invest a lot of money into.
But because we’re aiming at comparing the performance of Facebook ads vs Instagram ads, let’s cover those ads on Instagram for starters, shall we?
For being more appealing to a younger audience, to those digital natives brands dream of having in their corner, a huge amount of money is invested into Instagram advertising also.
Compared to the giant platform, the budget directed towards Instagram ads is only half of the budget allocated for Facebook advertising.
![[STUDY] Facebook Ads VS Instagram Ads: 137,228 Paid Social Posts Show What Kind of Social Media Ads Generate the Best Results](https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/content/images/2021/09/Ad-Spend.png)
The reasons for which businesses try to swim their way into their audience’s lives through Facebook and Instagram ads is because they can connect the brand with a lot of prospects in a matter of seconds, offering a great boost in the purchase process.
And that’s why brands keep increasing their social media ad spend, year after year.
But enough with the chit-chat, let’s talk numbers a bit.
With half of 2021 gone, it seems that the average ad spend on Facebook has increased by 7,16% compared to last year, while Instagram has had an even greater growth in ad spend, of 8,69%.
This can only mean that brands are increasing their attention into prioritising a greater marketing focus and budget investment into Instagram in the future, since it is, after all, the platform with the highest engagement rate at the moment.
Thus, the remaining questions are: is Instagram soon to be the platform into which brands will direct most of their marketing budgets, for creating Instagram ads? And if so, when will that happen?
2. CPC values: $0.49 for Facebook ads and $1.09 for Instagram on average.
Now that we’ve seen how much brands rely on Facebook and Instagram ads, by looking at the money put on the table for social media advertising, it’s time to go even deeper into the matter.
In order to decide if it’s a good call to invest in either Facebook or Instagram ads, you must take a look at some specific ads metrics, like the average cost per click, also known as CPC.
Up until August 2021, there were no massive fluctuations for the average CPC on Facebook, which at the moment has an average value of $0.49.
![[STUDY] Facebook Ads VS Instagram Ads: 137,228 Paid Social Posts Show What Kind of Social Media Ads Generate the Best Results](https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/content/images/2021/09/CPC-Values.png)
With Instagram, on the other hand, it’s another story.
Given Instagram’s younger audience, formed of people that not only want to check in on their friend’s lives, but also to have fun or get inspiration for different areas of interests they may have, the platform tries to offer a more authentic experience.
Which means a lesser desire to deliver social media ads that will break that more intimate feeling for the user, and as a result, a bigger price for doing it.
Compared to Facebook ads, Instagram ads have a double cost.
The prices for ads on Instagram have a tendency for increasing little by little, although for the mid of 2021, the average CPC on Instagram is $1.09, which is a value that decreased from the last quarter of 2020, when it had a peak of $1.39.
3. Facebook has the highest CTR, of 3.06% on average, compared to Instagram, which is 0.68%
After taking a look at the overall prices for social media advertising on both Facebook and Instagram, it’s time to see which are the most efficient ones.
We saw that Instagram ads are more expensive compared to Facebook ads, by examining the average cost per click, and we also came up with some good explanations for the findings.
But since many brands invest a huge amount of money into both Facebook and Instagram ads, optimising those marketing budgets to make sure you obtain a satisfying ROI is crucial.
That’s why we must stop and think: given their higher cost per click, are ads on Instagram the most efficient social media ads?
Well, in analysing the average click-through-rate, which is a strong indicator of how likely you’ll get the results wanted from a social media ad campaign, we discovered that Facebook ads perform way better than Instagram ads.
Actually, Facebook ads have on average a CTR of 3.06%, while on Instagram the average CTR is only 0.68%.
![[STUDY] Facebook Ads VS Instagram Ads: 137,228 Paid Social Posts Show What Kind of Social Media Ads Generate the Best Results](https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/content/images/2021/09/CTR-Evolution.png)
Now, this is not a very surprising discovery given the fact that Facebook is a platform with a longer history and with a much bigger interest in doing online advertising.
After all, it is the network that has developed far more placements for social media ads, let alone the fact that it is the first social platform that introduced them.
The last thing worth mentioning is that, from a glance, despite some small spikes, overall the average CTR for Facebook ads seems to have a decreasing direction.
4. On Instagram, the feed is the ad placement most brands
Over the years, even before being bought by Facebook, Instagram has many times wowed its users with a lot of cool and inventive features.
This has allowed marketers to tailor social ads according to their brand’s needs, and of course, the user’s as well, and also to get more creative with social media ads.
But you know what they say, oldies are goldies. And that’s exactly how brands seem to see Instagram’s very first feature, which is the feed, when it comes to preferred placements for their ads.
Though, Instagram stories are not very far behind. Since this is one of the most liked Instagram features, it is a good thing that businesses really explore its potential.
![[STUDY] Facebook Ads VS Instagram Ads: 137,228 Paid Social Posts Show What Kind of Social Media Ads Generate the Best Results](https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/content/images/2021/09/Ad-spend-Instagram.png)
An interesting thing is that the brand's most used Instagram ad placement is the feed, although it appears to have both the highest average CPC, of $1.86 and CPM, 0f $7.27.
![[STUDY] Facebook Ads VS Instagram Ads: 137,228 Paid Social Posts Show What Kind of Social Media Ads Generate the Best Results](https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/content/images/2021/09/Instagram-CPC---CPM.png)
The other placements seem to have only half of the feed’s values as follows:
- Instagram story ad sets have a an average $0,66 CPC and $3.49 CPM
- Instagram explore ads have a CPC of $0.53 and a CPM of $2.71 on average
So, on that note, we must take a look at the average click-through-rate to see if this makes any sense.
5. Instagram Stories are the ad placement with the highest CTR on Instagram - 0,76%
Well, regarding the most efficient type of ad on Instagram, that successfully converts and makes the money spent on its placement worth invested is the Instagram story ad, that has an average CTR of 0,76%.
Instagram feed, in which many brands invest the most for their Instagram ads campaigns comes second, having a slightly lower average click-through-rate, of 0,69%.
![[STUDY] Facebook Ads VS Instagram Ads: 137,228 Paid Social Posts Show What Kind of Social Media Ads Generate the Best Results](https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/content/images/2021/09/Instagram-CTR.png)
Although the difference between those two Instagram ad placements is not that big, brands can have a better chance at improving their ROI if they would adjust a bit their marketing budgets and direct more money towards the Instagram story ad placement.
Lastly, for those who were counting on placing Instagram ads in the Instagram explore section, the average CTR for this type of social media advertising is 0.47%.
6. Facebook feed is the number one ad placement brands invest in
Let’s be honest, regardless of how many cool features any social media platform may have, the feed will always be the place users spend most of their time when they are online.
That’s why just like in Instagram’s case, on Facebook as well, the ad placement in which brands invest the largest amount of money is the feed.
But there’s still an element of surprise from this analysis - the choosing of the Facebook ads placements that come in the second and third place.
It seems that in 2021 brands have acknowledged videos matter a lot. Our own latest Facebook videos study has shown why it is a type of content that performs well.
And so, businesses have started to bet on this approach, by investing some money into that ad placement that is thought especially for those users that love video, and spend a lot of time navigating through - the video feed.
![[STUDY] Facebook Ads VS Instagram Ads: 137,228 Paid Social Posts Show What Kind of Social Media Ads Generate the Best Results](https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/content/images/2021/09/Facebook-Ad-spend.png)
Because stories are a shared type of content, it makes the perfect case for identifying the differences, hence the needs and orientation of the both social media platforms for our Facebook ads vs Instagram ads comparison.
Unlike Instagram stories, Facebook stories are not that much of a focus point for businesses, being the number three priority for placing ads on Facebook.
7. Facebook placements costs: Facebook stories have the highest CPC of $0.55, while Facebook feed has the greatest CPM values - $5.18
We just saw earlier where brands stand when it comes to choosing different Facebook ad placements to have their budgets directed towards.
But as any digital marketer that has the mind in the game knows, when picking those up, a series of factors need to be taken into consideration, and metrics like the average CPC and CPM analysed.
Talking about the average CPC, here are some fascinating discoveries:
- on Facebook, stories are the ad placement with the highest CPC, of $0.55,
- Facebook right column has an average of $0.38 cost per click
- Facebook feed only reaches an average CPC of $0.26
- Facebook video feeds has a $0.13 cost per click on average
Well, this is surely an interesting hierarchy. After seeing these numbers, a quick analysis of the average CTR is needed, as it will reveal if and where businesses nowadays need to adjust their social media advertising strategy.
![[STUDY] Facebook Ads VS Instagram Ads: 137,228 Paid Social Posts Show What Kind of Social Media Ads Generate the Best Results](https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/content/images/2021/09/Facebook-CPC---CPM.png)
Let’s not forget that since your business goals for different ad campaigns can be so many, the metrics you’ll have to prioritise in monitoring will have to be different as well.
If you're thinking on a big scale, and especially when your primary objective is to generate awareness for your brand, an important metric you should look at is the average CPM.
So, on a brief note, let’s have a glimpse of how the numbers for the average cost per thousand impressions aka cost per mille for look like different Facebook ads placements:
- Facebook feed: has an average CPM of $5.18
- Video feeds: its average CPM is $2.48
- Facebook stories: a $1.08 CPM on average
- Facebook right column: an average CPM of $0.38
8. Facebook Feed has the highest average CTR of 4.70%, followed by Facebook video feed, with an average CTR of 2.06%
All in all, a brand’s ultimate goal is to make its customers convert. Actually conversions make for almost a quarter of the main campaign objectives brands set for their social media ads.
And by taking a look at each Facebook ad placement’s potential of converting, it becomes pretty clear why the marketing budgets are divided the way they are.
![[STUDY] Facebook Ads VS Instagram Ads: 137,228 Paid Social Posts Show What Kind of Social Media Ads Generate the Best Results](https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/content/images/2021/09/Facebook-CTR.png)
The first two positions for the best placement on Facebook ads are actually the Facebook ad placements in which brands invest most of their social media advertising budgets into, as in:
- Facebook feed, that has an average CTR of 4.70%
- Facebook video feeds, on which the values indicate an 2.06% average CTR.
In terms of performance, those two types of Facebook ads are followed by:
- Facebook right column: with an average CTR of 0,15%
- Facebook stories: with an average click-through-rate of 0.09%
We knew on Facebook the story type of content is not so popular among the users, despite killing it on Instagram.
But what comes as a surprise is that Facebook stories is surpassed even by the Facebook right column as an ad placement in terms of a greater CTR.
Who would have seen that coming, especially given the Facebook story's higher CPC and CPM? 👀
Methodology
The findings of this study are based on the analysis of 35,336 Facebook ads and 56,485 Instagram ads within the January 2020 - August 2021 timeframe.
In the section below you’ll find both an estimated ad spend per region and a CPC per region as this is calculated based on the data pool that exists in our tool's records.
![[STUDY] Facebook Ads VS Instagram Ads: 137,228 Paid Social Posts Show What Kind of Social Media Ads Generate the Best Results](https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/content/images/2021/09/estimated-ad-spend-in-region.png)
To obtain a general understanding of the ad spend, CPC, and CPM, all currencies were exchanged to US dollars.
![[STUDY] Facebook Ads VS Instagram Ads: 137,228 Paid Social Posts Show What Kind of Social Media Ads Generate the Best Results](https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/content/images/2021/09/estimated-cpc-in-region.png)
Ad placement refers to all the available spaces where the social media platforms can display paid advertising
- For Facebook were analysed the following placements available through Facebook’s API, and also in Socialinsider’s database: Facebook feed, Facebook stories, Facebook video feeds and Facebook right column
- For Instagram, the following placements available through Instagram’s API,
and also in Socialinsider’s records were: Instagram feed, Instagram stories and Instagram explore
Ad spend means the estimated amount of money spent on advertising campaigns on Facebook and Instagram.
Socialinsider defines cost per click (CPC) by dividing the total cost of clicks on an ad by the total number of clicks the ad has obtained. The average CPC becomes the sum of all ad CPCs, divided by the total number of ads.
Socialinsider defines the cost per mille (CPM) as the cost per a thousand impressions. As defined by Facebook, CPM measures the total amount spent on an ad campaign, divided by the number of impressions, multiplied by 1,000.
The number of ad impressions represents the number of times an ad was displayed on screens.
Click-through-rate (CTR): shows the percentage of people who clicked on an ad, and is calculated by dividing the number of link clicks on an ad, by the number of impressions.
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* This article was originally published here
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