“Data-Driven Thinking” is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media.
Today’s column is written by Pedro Campos, founder of Advertongue.
Social media, especially Facebook, has been the backbone of many brands’ advertising strategies for the past decade. However, new trends indicate it might fall off the favorites list soon. Many advertisers turned to Facebook because of its solid targeting capabilities and, above all, impressive usage volume. But a recent report from the tech giant shows an unprecedented decline in its daily active users. For the first time in 18 years, Facebook saw a drop of one million daily active users in Q4 2021, compared to the previous quarter.
New research reveals even more surprising insights: 21% of consumers worldwide plan to spend less time on social media in the next six months. And 36% admit they would rather visit websites with editorial content, including national, local news and lifestyle sites.
As a result, brands are shying away from social, too. So where do they go instead?
The least trusted medium
The controversy around privacy issues, spam accounts, and unethical business practices has led many users to distrust social media platforms. In fact, only 41% of American consumers trust Facebook. Twitter is at the bottom of the list at 33%.
Privacy concerns, in particular, have impacted advertisers on the platforms. Small businesses and brands relying solely on social media to acquire leads and customers have suffered. In some cases, businesses lost more than half of their revenue streams after iOS updates on Facebook.
A multichannel approach can mitigate risk
The term diversification is used a lot these days, but it’s essential. Scarred by the impact of privacy updates and the cookie demise, more brands are looking to shake up their media mix. They’re realizing it’s unsustainable to build a business on the back of one or even a couple of advertising platforms.
However, multichannel approaches come with risks and uncertainties. This truth can prevent them from stepping into uncharted territories, especially in downturn economies. The alternative, however, is stagnation, which can also be very painful.
Where to go for traffic
For brands bold enough to take the next step and diversify, the choices can be overwhelming. To start, instead of looking at potential traffic sources, marketing executives should look at their business goals and consider their company stage.
If a particular brand is still in a startup phase and only advertising on Facebook and TikTok, they might look into adding paid search, which can help boost revenue by catching the market’s “low-hanging fruit.” In other words, they’ll be able to engage audiences that are already looking for a specific product or service.
On the other hand, a more mature brand ready to scale might consider adding traffic sources such as native and display, either via traditional buys or programmatic marketplaces. These “placement sources” can take longer to deliver ROI, which makes them perfect for brands with enough cash flow to weather the storm.
Regardless of the specific route a brand takes, one thing is clear. Betting entirely on social media is no longer an option. It’s time to look more broadly for advertising opportunities.
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