Instagram introduces subscriptions as it vies for control of the creator economy: As Instagram’s cachet diminishes among younger audiences, it hopes monetization tools will keep creators from turning to other platforms.

US retail mcommerce sales grew 41.4% during the pandemic year of 2020 and are set to double from this elevated base by 2025. This report looks at what’s driving this growth and how sellers should respond.

TikTok takes up more of its users’ time than any other social media platform in the US. This year, adult TikTok users will spend an average of 38 minutes per day on the short-video app. Twitter ranks second, with a daily average of 35 minutes, while third-place Facebook will see 31 minutes per day from the average adult user.

The explosion in vertical video is creating both opportunities and challenges for the Story format. Stories are evolving quickly on Instagram and remain a top venue for influencer activations. But Twitter’s decision to kill off Fleets shows they aren’t popular on all platforms.

Close to 75% US marketers will tap influencers for campaigns this year, up about 5 percentage points from 2021.

US marketers' interest in TikTok for influencer marketing has skyrocketed since early 2020, as the app has transformed from a novelty to a social media mainstay. Nearly two-thirds of US influencer marketers plan to use the video sharing app in 2022.

Our forecast for Instagram shoppers

In 2023, TikTok will surpass Snapchat in total US users

We define a social buyer as a social network user age 14 or older who has made at least one purchase via any social channel (such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Line, WeChat, VK, and others), including links and transactions on the platform itself, during the calendar year, including online, mobile and tablet purchases. The US will rank second in social buyer penetration at 35.9% in 2021.

In 2019, Instagram's US user growth rate will have dropped to single digits for the first time to 6.7%, down from 10.1% in 2018. Starting in 2020, and through the end of our forecast period in 2023, we estimate that the social media platform will grow slower than previously expected.

Social commerce is rising rapidly worldwide. But to what extent can the US market mirror that of China, the world leader in social commerce?

Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia allowed the lawsuit to move forward after previously stating that the FTC had not provided sufficient evidence of monopoly power or abused the power by harming competition.

Facebook, including Instagram, will net $33.48 billion in US ad revenues this year, up 12.4% year-over-year.

*Social networks will boost US mobile video ad spending this year.* In-app video advertising on platforms like Instagram and Snapchat was the main driver of growth, with new YouTube and Roku ad inventory helping, too.

As of March, all US Instagram users can add product tags to their posts—a feature that was previously only available to approved creators. Product tags allow users to link out to a product information page directly from an Instagram post. In October, Instagram expanded the ability to add “Link Stickers” in Stories to all users, allowing users to direct Story viewers to a website.