Customer Experience

By Liam Dowd - March 31st, 2015

Facebook likes top social actions. Why brands are choosing Instagram over Facebook, and the future of digital ad spending.

Addicted to Messaging Apps

The latest survey from Flurry concludes: “In our latest analysis, we found that retention rates of messaging apps out-performed the average of all apps. Messaging app retention is 1.9 times better than the average for one-month retention and 5.6 times better than the average for 12-month retention. Messaging apps are used, on average, almost 9 times every day. By definition, communications apps are chatty. Add to that the convenience of the smartphone device and the fact that it is glued to your body, and you get the multiplying effect making messaging apps rule on session frequency as well.”

Facebook Likes Top Social Media Action

In their latest piece of research, GlobalWebIndex has looked at the behaviour of social media users, and concluded Facebook outperformed both Twitter and Google+ with 70% of users clicking the Facebook Like button. GWI said: “While an impressive 70% of Facebookers have clicked the like button in the past month, a much lower 33% of Google+ active users are hitting the +1 button. On Twitter, meanwhile, some 31% of active users are favouriting tweets — putting this activity outside the platform’s top five actions.”

Why Brands are Choosing Instagram Over Facebook

Brands have a long association with a number of social media networks, but it seems that Instagram has become the site of choice according to the latest research from Olapic and L2. The report offered several takeaways including using this time to explore and learn what works, while keeping the future in mind. Brands should expect that organic reach will be supplanted by pay-to-pay (see: Facebook) on Instagram, and ensure the assets and skills being erected will stand when muscle (money) replaces sweat.

Read more about how your corporation can leverage Instagram.

Blogs and Facebook Dominate Influencer Marketing

Brand advocates and key influencers have played an increasing role in how brands leverage their marketing messages to wider audiences. New research from Tomoson illustrates this point, as it concludes that when asked about the most effective platform for influencer marketing, 37% chose blogs. Facebook was next, with 25%, making it the most popular social network. YouTube, Instagram and Twitter each got 5–6%, failing to collectively add up to the power of Facebook. On average, businesses are making $6.50 for every $1 spent. 70 percent of businesses are seeing a return of $2 per $1 spent, and the top 13 percent of marketers are gaining $20 per $1 spent.

The Future of Digital Ad Spending

Spending on digital display advertising in the US will total $27.05 billion in 2015, according to new figures from eMarketer, and the market is shifting toward the leading social networks. By 2017, when US digital display ad expenditure will reach $37.36 billion, Facebook and Twitter together will account for 33.7% of the market, up from 30.2% this year. By 2017, Facebook’s portion will continue to creep upward, reaching 26.9%, and Twitter will take 6.8%. Notably, Twitter will surpass Yahoo in total US digital display ad revenues for the first time in 2015, eMarketer estimates.

In Brief…