This report compares our 2024 US ad spending and time spent with media forecasts. It identifies incongruities between how marketers are spending ad dollars and where consumers are spending their time.

Mexico is Latin America's second-largest ad market by total spending but has the highest digital ad penetration in the region. Here, we explore the country's consumer behaviors and opportunities for advertisers.​

Our forecast for time spent with media has held relatively steady throughout 2024, but several important milestones are on the horizon.

Social commerce is the fastest-growing US retail channel, and retailers will need to offer a seamless payment experience to maximize the opportunity. Understanding payment preferences will be key to ensuring conversion at checkout.

Total media time is on a steady slide in the UK. By 2026, it will drop to below 10 hours per day, the lowest level in a decade. Digital media—particularly digital and social video—is picking up some of the slack, but it won’t halt the decline.

Here are five charts that size social network usage on a worldwide level by platform and by country and region.

Our user forecasts for Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X, and Pinterest in Canada highlight an expanding platform mix increasingly divided by age demographics.

The smartphone remains Gen Z’s favorite device, as it’s the quickest way to access digital video and social media. But adoption of CTV and VR continues to rise.

Social network user growth is stalling in Western Europe. Marketers should look toward changing platform dynamics, particularly among generational cohorts, to best manage their social media strategies.

Younger generations have embraced TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube as search engines. Although TikTok’s future in the US is uncertain, the social search opportunity remains robust.

Influencer marketing is becoming a need-to-have for payment brands’ marketing teams. While not without risks, it’s key to building awareness and creating relationships with young consumers.

The creator economy is maturing. While brand deals are still the No. 1 revenue stream for creators, more are going directly to consumers to monetize.

In the last of five reports in our “Payments Ecosystem” collection, we look at what’s influencing retail sales growth across in-store, online, and social commerce channels—and what it means for payment providers.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss whether Snapchat's “Less social media. More Snapchat” is working, how concerned folks should be about its slowing user growth, and what to make of its revenue turnaround. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Minda Smiley.

Total media ad spending growth has stabilized, and digital ad spending is set for an extended period of low double-digit annual increases. Amazon, TikTok, and Instagram will be the main growth drivers this year.

LinkedIn is at a turning point: Users are more engaged than ever, ad revenues are rising, and creators are inking deals on the platform. And LinkedIn’s appeal among both B2B and B2C marketers is growing.

Social video is getting an additional boost in daily time spent this year. It’s mostly coming from a less expected place—Meta—even as TikTok continues to dominate in total time spent.

51% of US teens and parents think teens spend the right amount of time on smartphones, while 64% think they spend the right amount of time on social media, according to October 2023 data from Pew Research Center.

“What will happen next?” That’s the big question marketers have following the signing of a potential TikTok ban into law, according to Liz Cole, chief social officer at VML. While marketers don’t know if parent company ByteDance will sell TikTok, shut the platform down in the US, or find a way to fend off the legislation in court, they can prepare now for what’s to come.

US social media ad spending will ride the momentum platforms built in H2 2023 thanks to AI, social video advertising growth, and a fixation on bottom-funnel outcomes.