Global retail ecommerce sales will decelerate to a 16.5% growth rate in 2020. Even as consumers transitioned en masse to ecommerce during the pandemic, the drag caused by multiple recessions internationally has reduced the overall outlook.

At Havas Media Group, 25% of US clients paused social ad spending in March, said Jessica Richards, global head of social. Clients of other agencies also paused. At LQ Digital, 25% of clients stopped ad spending entirely “with no sign of when that will come back,” said Greg Allum, vice president of paid social and display advertising.

TradingView raised $298M as new investors flocked to its platform which combines trading tools with a social network. Adding social media components is key to keeping retail investors engaged.

Social media platforms are betting on social audio as part of the creator economy: Live audio is becoming less about the platforms that started the trend as more big firms launch creator-focused features.

Social remains one of our consistent marketing channels. Early on, I think one of the biggest benefits of something like Facebook was being able to see people's real-time reactions to new products and messaging. Those platforms are always going to play an important part in our marketing mix—mass distribution of social media messaging, then seeing what resonates best and refining accordingly.

“While you won’t see a big drop in Facebook spending overall, you might see a bit more growth in the other social platforms that benefited from last year’s Facebook ad boycott.”. The big takeaway: Some advertisers may pull back spending due to negative public perceptions of the platform, but those pullbacks have so far tended to be temporary.

As with other social networks, Twitter’s user base grew unexpectedly this year as pandemic-driven stay-at-home orders drove up social media usage overall.

On today's episode, we discuss how Prime Day performed versus last year, what kind of a halo effect took place, and whether Amazon was able to capture the back-to-school spending. We then talk about augmented reality's ability to help shoppers, what WhatsApp Shops might look like, and how many folks said social media content resulted in them buying products. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch.

Four years from now, eMarketer estimates that mcommerce will account for over 10.4% of all retail sales in the US. To take advantage of that growth, retailers will need to double down on their efforts to find and serve a mobile audience.

On today's episode, we discuss how advertisers are adjusting as the pandemic eases in the US, whether Facebook Live Shopping can get off the ground, online shopping's deceleration, if faster delivery can really help retailers compete with Amazon, what to make of Snapchat's fourth-generation augmented reality glasses, and how much time we really have to enjoy life. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior analyst Sara M. Watson, analyst Daniel Keyes, and analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch.

Trailing behind are paid search (14%), display advertising (13%), and paid social and video (12% each).

Since its launch in 2017, Peace Out Skincare—known for its Acne Dot patches—has been rapidly expanding its business through an exclusive partnership with Sephora, as well as its own direct-to-consumer (D2C) business.

The pandemic has been a learning curve for many marketers, including Elana Gold, who began her role as Del Monte’s newly appointed global CMO in the midst of it.

In our June 2020 “Facebook Flash Survey” conducted by Bizrate Insights, only 18.7% of US social buyers said they paid for their most recent social purchase directly through a social app’s checkout process versus 57.8% who completed the transaction on the retailer’s website.

On today's episode, we discuss Twitter's "Super Follows" and "Communities" features, what annoys online shoppers, whether a foldable iPhone is coming, if Paramount+ can fit into people's media diets, Instagram's new Live Rooms offering, where to find a true wonder of the world, and more. Tune in to listen to the discussion with eMarketer principal analysts Jillian Ryan and Yoram Wurmser, and analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch.

The 150-year-old company tapped independent agency Burns Group to help with a “Just for Fun-ZZZ’s” campaign on TikTok, which aims to create a virtual festival experience as consumers continue to social distance. We recently spoke with Andrew Long, head of marketing at Simmons, about the campaign and the company's new direct-to-consumer (D2C) site.

There have been some standout findings, one of which is the overall increase in new buyers. There are lots of new service trials happening. Another thing we saw is cocktail culture coming home. Specifically, there’s been phenomenal growth in liqueurs and cordials, as well as mixers and bitters.

As lockdowns slowly lift in the US, retailers face a changed shopping landscape. With lingering fears over renewed outbreaks, many consumers are wary of returning to stores.

Athletic apparel seller Vuori is dipping its toes in a new advertising realm with its first-ever TV commercials—an opportunity to spotlight its high-in-demand product category, as many consumers are gravitating toward activewear amid the pandemic.

Whistleblower Frances Haugen shed light on multiple regulatory solutions to rein in Facebook’s algorithms, which she blamed for a rise in misinformation and teen harm.

Twitch’s market dominance is under the microscope after a data breach exposes security flaws, payouts: More leaks could be on the way and could lead Amazon to face scrutiny from regulators and its own users.

Japan has always been somewhat behind other countries in Asia-Pacific when it comes to adoption of the major worldwide social networks, with the exception of Twitter.

International Data Corporation (IDC). MIT Technology Review Insights. Performics. Pew Research Center. Splunk. Winterberry Group.

For global corporations, a regional outlook is also critical when targeting buyers. As the virus, the associated lockdowns and economic impact hit different regions in different phases, B2Bs need to be careful and monitor their global strategies every day to understand where to pull back or go in more aggressively, Software AG’s Macdonald said.