Paid Social Trends 2017 Q3

This quarter’s edition of the Quarterly Paid Social Trends Report shows strong overall adoption, spend, and performance. These positive trends were driven in part by the launch of more advanced ad capabilities–everything from stronger targeting and better ad units to more advanced self-serve buying methods and placements–which served not only to enhance ROI, but also to increase advertiser interest in the platforms as we head into 2018.

Expanding from the inaugural report released last quarter, this pre-holiday edition of the report includes spend data for not only Facebook and Instagram, but also for Pinterest, Snap, Inc. and Twitter. The analysis also includes performance figures for Facebook and Instagram.

Selected key insights from the Q3 2017 report include:

• Platforms were busy with updates. During Q3, six platforms released more than seventy-five updates.
• Spend is up. As anticipated, Q3 spend is up 22% compared to Q2 of 2017, and 78% YoY compared to Q3 2016.
• Performance improves. The combination of platform updates and increased spend and adoption drove improved performance despite heavier competition.
• Budget trends varied widely by platform. Overall spend increased, but  individual social platforms saw radically different budget trends.
• Adoption of Pinterest and Snap is on the rise. Spend on these platforms may be down, but total brand adoption is up.
• Snap, Inc. saw a 60% YoY drop in CPM. In addition to the corresponding drop in advertising revenue, Snap, Inc. is also experiencing slow (2.9%) QoQ user growth; but there’s an app redesign on the horizon that might help.
• Video makes big YoY gains. A year after Facebook became a “video-first” company, spend on social video ad placements has grown substantially–41% YoY compared Q3 of 2016.

Download the full report for more details about what’s happening now in paid social, what to expect in 2018, and what you can do today to start the New Year off on the right foot.