Internet Advertising Bureau UK (IAB UK). Lotame. Partnerize. Rakuten Advertising.

Consider how the leading social media platforms perform on the dimensions of ad relevance and ad experience. According to Business Insider Intelligence’s June 2020 “US Digital Trust Survey,” Instagram (4.72) and Pinterest (4.64) scored highest on a 1–5 scale on ad relevance. Pinterest also scored well on ad experience (4.70), just behind LinkedIn (4.80).

NewFronts recap: Exclusive content on ad-supported platforms, shoppable shows, and creator-driven video content on social media were three major trends we saw at the NewFronts this past week.

As Facebook continues to hone its Shops platform and the others improve their checkout functionality and publish more shoppable ads, it will be easier and easier for new social buyers in Australia to embrace the concept. As we have seen with ecommerce overall, once a shopping option becomes mainstream, if often develops a momentum of its own.

eMarketer senior analyst at Insider Intelligence Ross Benes discusses Netflix's Q4 earnings and market position. He then talks about whether lesser-known streaming services can make some noise, YouTube's shoppable videos, and how Peacock's exclusive streaming deal with WWE Network can make its content offering more attractive.

Amazon featured shoppable CTV video ads in its IAB Digital Newfronts presentation, for example. And Walmart offers activations including the ability to sponsor placements across in-store TV walls—a unique option that combines the branding possibilities of a large digital out-of-home ad with the fact that shoppers are already in-store and can be directed to purchase a product right then and there.

Though social commerce conversions will remain a challenge, the mid-funnel opportunity is growing. Instagram’s continued rollout of shoppable content features is helping brands and influencers spotlight product content and forge a better path to purchase. Pinterest has also introduced features to make it easier for retailers to upload and promote product content. And video-first platforms Snapchat and TikTok are both testing shoppable content features.

New features like livestreaming shopping and shoppable ad formats from creators and brands will also help increase the number of customer touchpoints in 2021. What it means for marketers: Despite the hype, most US consumers won’t make a purchase via social media in 2021.

New features like livestreaming shopping and shoppable ad formats from creators and brands will also help increase the number of customer touchpoints in 2021. Here’s what marketers should do:. Focus further up the funnel. Social media’s role in generating brand awareness and demand for products isn’t going away.

Instagram's new Explore page ads will bring more opportunities for marketers—but they also raise concerns about the limit of organic reach, which some claim has already happened in the Instagram feed. Savvy marketers have established best practices to get their content featured on Explore, but when ads are introduced, it could become more challenging to appear there organically.

Their platforms are powered by the combination of high-intent keyword searches and shopper data, giving them an even better ability than their duopoly counterparts to target the right customers with ads. And advertisers are voting with their wallets.

eMarketer senior forecasting analyst Oscar Orozco shares our latest ad spend estimates for Instagram and the platform’s focus on opening new ad inventory.

eMarketer senior forecasting analyst Cindy Liu examines our social ad spend estimates and why we increased our US forecast for Facebook.

The response showed that influencers had as much sway over purchases as newsfeed ads (17%) and ads on ephemeral stories (16%). Influencers are even more effective with young people, according to Wunderman Thompson Commerce, which polled US and UK children and teens in July 2019.

As such, device operators have introduced an array of new ad formats, including interactive ads and shoppable ads. One of the challenges for marketers is producing creative that is compatible with various devices. Creative advertising is not just a buzzword in China. In fact, it is being supercharged in the current competitive environment.

And a similar model seems to be emerging in the West, after ecommerce site Shopify announced in October that it was partnering with micro-video app TikTok to create “shoppable video ads.”. IoT payments. A growing number of consumer hardware and automotive companies are embedding payments options into their products to increase customer engagement.

Retail media has revolutionized the search ad market, where most of the focus still is. But display and video ads that target consumers higher in the funnel are becoming a more important part of the mix, and technological innovation is ushering in new ad products that bring together the best of branding and the best of performance marketing.

New features like livestreaming shopping and shoppable ad formats from creators and brands will also help increase the number of customer touchpoints. Here’s what marketers should do:. Focus further up the funnel. Social media’s role in generating brand awareness and demand for products isn’t going away.

Social media usage, advertising, and commerce will reach new levels in 2021, presenting big opportunities for brands to engage consumers.