“Most marketers want to be cutting-edge, and to be able to say that they’re exploring new technology,” Jack Johnston, associate director at Tinuiti, said about AI’s explosion into social media tools. “But our focus is not just being gimmicky and tapping into AI because it’s AI, but doing it because there’s a real business value and a positive impact that can come from it.”

Digital ad spend is growing and going increasingly toward programmatic formats. Search ad spend is on the rise as well, as retail media growth remains healthy. And social media is in better shape than previously projected. Here are five recent charts forecasting the future of ad spend.

They’re trying to woo women and Gen Z consumers away from competitors.

The best ad practices for Facebook, Snapchat, or even Instagram Reels won’t convert to TikTok, which has its own ad creation tools, bidding process, and attribution metrics. We’ve analyzed TikTok’s new Web Auction Best Practices Guide and pulled out the most important advice for advertisers.

The vast majority (81.5%) of retail media ad spend will go toward on-site formats this year, per our October 2023 forecast. As advertisers seek to target consumers whenever and wherever possible, other formats are emerging, particularly in-store, streaming, and social.

TikTok’s retail ambitions will go head-to-head with Amazon’s ecommerce dominance, while LinkedIn’s ad appeal grows with tech-powered enhancements. Here’s how our analysts predict the changing social landscape will impact advertisers in 2024.

“Understanding how consumers are spending their time and money is paramount to your business being successful,” our analyst Jeremy Goldman said on “The Future of Digital 2024” webinar. Here are three shifts in media consumption, purchasing behavior, and mobile usage, and how each is prompting new advertising strategies in streaming, social search, and gaming.

On today's podcast episode, our contestants compete in The Great Behind the Numbers Take Off, 2024 social trends edition, where they will try and cook up the most interesting predictions for the coming year. They'll discuss search becoming the next battleground for social commerce and why LinkedIn is about to get its day in the sun. Tune in to the discussion with our analysts Jasmine Enberg and Minda Smiley.

As a retail media network (RMN) builds out its data collaboration platform reducing risk should be top of mind. To safeguard user data, RMNs can implement a data clean room and other privacy enhancing technologies to create a trusted environment and propel growth.

If it feels impossible to keep up with Gen Z slang, that’s because it is. TikTok has turbocharged an already fast-moving content cycle, so you’ve probably heard about trends that sound like gibberish. It’s tempting to give up on the spiraling influx of new language, but marketers need to understand at least some of the lexicon to avoid creating “cringe” content. Here are some terms marketers should know.

It’s a new year, which means new predictions. Our analysts have already made a number of big predictions for 2024, but here are a few more from our newsletter team. We’re keeping an eye on generative AI, attention metrics, and Gen Alpha—and we expect to see more ads in more places along the way. Here’s what we’re watching.

B2B marketers are increasingly targeting younger, digital-first audiences on social media platforms, we noted in our B2B Digital Ad Spend Forecast 2023 report. While LinkedIn and Meta will account for a combined 42.2% of US B2B digital ad spend in 2024, according to our forecast, TikTok is emerging as a contender for organic and creator-based B2B marketing. Here’s the case for B2B marketing on TikTok.

Although inflation, a strong job market, and a positive economic outlook are at play, three dominant ad channels are contributing to upward US ad spend. October saw a 3.2% YoY growth for the US ad market, marking the fourth consecutive month of spending increases, according to the Standard Media Index ad market tracker.

It’s December, which means marketers should already have plans in place for 2024. The next year will be punctuated by increasing retail media and connected TV (CTV) ad spend, creator economy evolution, and even more AI. Here are five charts to prepare you for what’s ahead.

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.”

Daily time spent with both traditional and digital media is in a slight decline worldwide, marking an end to the rapid digital acceleration of the past few years, according to the 13th edition of our Global Media Intelligence Report, which features insights from a GWI survey of media and device usage across 47 countries. “These aren’t fundamental drops,” said Jason Mander, GWI’s chief research officer. But waning media engagement marks a shift in the way consumers are responding to their social and economic environments.

More than half (52%) of US adults have either used shoppable commerce (buying a product by clicking a link directly within or next to a video) before or are interested in it, according to an Insider Intelligence survey conducted by Bizrate Insights. The majority of those who have used it, however often, identify as male (23%) and are between ages 18 to 34 (31%).

Over a third (35%) of CMOs worldwide are using generative AI to create a great brand experience, per Dentsu Creative.

US annual social commerce sales per buyer will nearly double from $627.8 in 2023 to $1,223.7 in 2027, according to our forecast.

Advertising Week New York kicks off next week. Last year, speakers discussed everything from Web3 to connected TV (CTV) to social media. This year, we’ll be watching for updates related to retail media, AI, and social media’s era of transformation.