Consumer behaviors will be shaped by continued uncertainty, heightened in an election year, and cultural trends spilling over into commerce (think Krispy Kreme and Ozempic). Retailers that lean into tech advancements and get back to basics will win.

Despite a slowdown in smartphone sales, innovations in advertising, commerce, AI, and even device form-factors will drive mcommerce and mobile advertising growth in 2024.

The platforms’ short-video craze will cool. Reels is now revenue-neutral, but reports hint that Meta is struggling to convince advertisers that Reels can drive performance.

Our predictions for retail media networks, smart TV watching, and generative AI.

Social commerce has yet to reach its potential in the UK. Social buying is still on the rise—and there is plenty of headroom to grow spend.

It’s been a complicated year for advertising, punctuated by a slow first half of the year followed by better growth in the back half. Limited budgets mean brands have had to get creative. One form of creativity has been partnerships from names both big and small. Here are five that caught our eye.

After its US launch in September, TikTok Shop faces its first holiday season, heating up competition in the social commerce space.

Dramatic shifts are in the works for 2024, as genAI, changing media norms, and innovative commerce redefine the business landscape. Our top nine trends explore what’s in store.

Walmart is launching its first shoppable video series: The first episodes of the holiday-themed “Add to Heart” will be available on Roku, TikTok, and YouTube beginning on Dec. 2.

OpenAI turmoil’s ripple effect on social media: The chaos could create opportunities and challenges for platforms in the red-hot genAI market.

On today's podcast episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss whether TikTok Shop will face the same challenges as Instagram's social commerce efforts, how much Amazon's partnership with Meta's social media platforms will affect TikTok, and if TikTok Shop is ruining TikTok. Then in a newish segment, "Loyalty Point, Counter Point," we discuss whether Instagram or TikTok has a better overall ecommerce experience. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analysts Sky Canaves and Blake Droesch.

Time spent on Facebook and Instagram this year was up 7% and 6%, respectively, according to Meta’s Q3 earnings. “It’s just incredible growth considering how much time people are already spending on these platforms,” our analyst Jasmine Enberg said on a recent episode of the “Behind the Numbers” podcast. “And that, of course, is a really important metric to advertisers.”

Despite Meta’s strong year, ByteDance is close behind: TikTok owner’s $29 billion in Q2 revenues rivals US giant, which lags far behind in growth.

Amazon turns to Meta, Snap partnerships to keep TikTok at bay: As the retailer moves in on social commerce, TikTok is beefing up its supply chain.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss a new lawsuit against Meta for designing its products to be addictive to kids, new paid ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram, and where Threads engagement is at. "In Other News," we talk about whether we will ever come together again on social media and if AI can help us get there. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Jasmine Enberg and director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman.

Meta showcases robust Q3 growth with $34.15 billion in revenues: Facebook and Instagram parent surges, despite Threads struggling to find its footing.

Overly complicated ideas don’t go viral on Reels. “Be brutal in the simplicity of your idea,” Rory McClenaghan, group strategy director at Molson Coors’ internal agency, Volt, said at Advertising Week New York 2023. If you can’t explain the Reels idea in four frames or fewer, it’s probably too complicated.

Meta introduces Broadcast Channels to Facebook and Messenger: The goal is to improve user engagement—but subscribers could get notification fatigue.

Even as TikTok ad revenues tick up, Meta will still account for 75.0% US ad dollars spent on social media this year, according to our forecast.

Facebook and Instagram Reels are growing in popularity, and provide an opportunity for brand marketers to extend their reach and engage with key audiences. With Meta’s new AI-powered brand suitability controls for Reels, marketers will be more empowered to craft suitable environments for their ads.