It has been a tumultuous year in social advertising, as brands and advertisers pulled back on paid social amid macro-economic challenges and iOS privacy updates.
So, as we head into 2023, can we expect a different story? We spoke to industry experts to get some insight into what’s to come, with brand safety, first-party data, and TikTok’s ad platform all predicted to shape the year ahead.
TikTok to draw in ad spend despite wider economic challenges
Will Ashton, CEO, Nest Commerce:
“Meta saw a gradual decline in revenues in the second half of 2022 (aside from during peak) and we expect this to continue into 2023. This is driven by a combination of competition from TikTok and a slowdown in the wider economy. However, the good news for brands is that this presents an excellent opportunity to capitalise on cheaper in-platform advertising costs.
“TikTok, on the other hand, has grown significantly in 2022 – and is likely to continue to do so in 2023. It benefits from having significant growth opportunities from new and existing advertisers scaling on the platform. TikTok is also at a different stage to Meta and therefore less exposed to economic factors.”
Emma Welland, co-founder and director, House of Performance:
“As we head into a cost-of-living crisis, where focus is on driving efficiencies and growth to survive, social platforms will become more important. Why? The nature of performance marketing means the focus is on finding your customers online and encouraging them to interact with your brand in a cost-efficient way. Whilst branding budgets may feel the pinch in 2023, we believe direct response budgets will continue as brands need to drive any activity which directly correlates to the bottom line.
“I think the diversification of social platforms revenue will continue, with platforms like TikTok continuing to rise in popularity, especially as they drive more options for brands to drive efficient returns through their ad platforms. Platforms like TikTok provide a cost efficient way to speak to new audiences due to the creative requirements being centred around user generated content that is authentic as opposed to high budget creative solutions that other marketing platforms and channels require. This low cost of entry will enable TikTok to stay on marketing plans in a recession, especially if brands are seeing return.
“I think Meta has seen a hit this year for a number of reasons, but the iOS changes have made brands doubt the incrementality of what they are seeing through these advertising channels. Over 2022 we have seen brands apply a test and learn approach to truly try and pinpoint how effective social is in their media mix. This will heavily influence investment in 2023 and beyond.”
Data-driven intelligence to rise in importance
Anthony Lamy, VP EMEA Client Partnerships, VidMob:
“This year we witnessed ad revenue decline across social platforms as a direct result of signal loss. In the coming year, as companies make investment decisions with maximum campaign impact in mind, creative data will play an even greater role in measuring and justifying revenue across platforms and ensuring all spend is accounted for.
“In order to win in this revamped ecosystem, brands will need to stand out creatively and find ways to deliver creative that drives impact. Using data driven insights allows brands to build creative based on what they know will work, rather than having to guess. For example, our previous analysis of Snap Ads showed …….