Socialbakers Q1 Trends Report Highlights the COVID-19 Impact on Social Media Users and Brands

NEW YORK, May 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Socialbakers, the leading social media marketing platform, today released a comprehensive report on Social Media Trends for Q1 2020. The report details the impact of COVID-19 on marketing trends and key changes in paid advertising around the world. Leading insights from the Q1 report include a decline in advertising cost-per-click (CPC) in regions affected by COVID-19 and a significant increase in the amount of time people are spending online during the global pandemic. These trends offer brands an opportunity to expand their reach among audiences who are spending more time online, with a potentially lower cost for sponsored content. 

Audiences spend more time online

With the practice of social distancing amid the global pandemic, people are spending more time online, according to Socialbakers data. For example, fans of Facebook Brand pages in Europe spent more time online in March every day of the week and every waking hour compared to previous months.

Opportunity for brands to gain greater reach with sponsored content

Of the six regions measured by Socialbakers, five saw a decline in CPC during March, as the pandemic really hit. While the overall reach for brand pages on Facebook went down starting in mid-March, brands that promoted their posts, taking advantage of the lower ad costs, saw a 28.6% increase in page reach from March 13-April 13.

Ad spend and Cost-per-Click rise in East Asia

East Asia, where business is resuming, saw ad spend increasing by 12.7% since the beginning of March. East Asia also saw CPC increase by 30.7% during the last month, returning to fall 2019 levels. This suggests that as other regions get the coronavirus under control, their ad spend will also bounce back.

"During the pandemic, we have seen just how important social media is as the go-to place for consumers to discover content. People have been spending more time on social media consuming content and, at the same time, brands have been forced to hold their budgets in response to the economic uncertainty," said Yuval Ben-Itzhak, CEO, Socialbakers. "These behaviors have opened a unique window of opportunity for savvy brands to stay close to their customers while increasing their reach and engagement at a lower cost."

Influencer marketing sees a transition as 'real-world' content engagement increases

In a shift that is most likely tied to the worldwide pandemic, the number of influencers using #ad and other sponsored hashtags declined significantly in 2020.

Another shift is the absence of celebrities among the list of top influencers. In Q1 2020, top influencers were more likely to be authentic, natural types who posted more relatable content that emphasized real-world human situations over aspirational and manicured posts.

The Socialbakers Social Media Trends Report Q1 2020 is now available for download.

Claire Wilson
[email protected]

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