Global Social Advertising Trends 2022 Report

Looking to ratchet up your B2C advertising strategy and tactics in 2022? You’ll find some perspective in “Global Social Advertising Trends 2022,” a report from Smartly.io and WBR Insights.

The report is based on a survey of 100 respondents across North America. The respondents were B2C companies in e-commerce, CPG, retail, gaming, travel, and financial services. All respondents were director level or higher, with roles in media, digital advertising, social advertising, performance marketing, brand marketing, and e-commerce. All companies reported roughly $500 million or more in annual revenue; 49% spent $1 million to $5 million, 35% spent $5 million to $10 million, and 10% spent $500,000 to $1 million.

“Not surprisingly, digital advertising has become more important than ever, and social media is one of the primary spaces in which B2C companies are competing for customer attention and loyalty,” said the executive summary.

The report analyzes how B2C advertisers in North America are adapting their social media advertising to today’s markets and includes comparisons with last year’s numbers. The report also presents actionable suggestions on how to optimize social media advertising strategies in 2022. Below are 12 key insights from the 20-page report. For more in-depth information, download the full report.

1) Percentage of budget spent on social advertising

51% spent 50% to 75%

1% spent 76% to 90%

2) Platforms used for advertising

Facebook 98%

Instagram 94%

YouTube 88%

Twitter 71% (down 12% from last year)

TikTok 43%

LinkedIn 42% (down 20% from last year)

3) Biggest investments

44% spent the most on Instagram, while only 19% spent the most on Facebook. This represents a significant shift compared with last year, which saw only 29% spending the most on Instagram.

4) Best return on ad spend (ROAS)

46% of advertisers reported the best ROAS from Instagram (close to last year’s 42%)

5) Increasing spend

87% of advertisers planned to increase their advertising spend on Facebook in 2022, compared with 76% in 2021. However, significantly more (73%) plan to increase spending on Instagram this year, compared with 38% in 2021.

6) Automating advertising

73% said social creation and delivery involves manual processes that are often time-consuming (up 1% from last year).

7) Automation

73% automated at least part of their social media campaign creation process

31% of respondents reported using automation for social media advertising, compared with just 13% last year

8) Motion creative

47% plan to increase their use of animations and videos this year

34% plan to prioritize data-driven creative

9) Collaboration

55% said their social media advertising and creative teams collaborate effectively through all marketing stages

10) Biggest internal challenge

36% reported a lack of talent (i.e., inability to expand teams through hiring)

33% reported difficulty running campaigns in multiple social channels successfully

11) Biggest external challenge

34% cited rising costs of social media advertising and increased competition

29% said adapting to new social channels and shifting consumer behavior

12) Future goals

41% planned to spend more on social media advertising than in 2021

32% planned use more creative automation

Smartly.io is a social advertising automation company that helps more than 600 clients start and scale their social advertising on Facebook, Pinterest, and Snap. WBR Insights is the custom research division of Worldwide Business Research.