UK ad spend on Facebook and Instagram grew 51.1% year-over-year during the third quarter of 2021, fuelled by a 32% growth between Q2 and Q3.
According to Emplifi’s State of Social Media and CX report as ad spend increased, advertising costs also continued to climb with Cost-Per-Clicks (CPCs) reaching their highest level since late 2020.
Meanwhile, advertisers’ Click-Through-Rates (CTRs) have remained stable with only slight fluctuations since this time last year. Global data indicates that Facebook ad reach climbed 3.7% year-over-year. However, in the UK, Facebook ad reach increased by 6% year-over-year, and by 17% between Q2 and Q3.
Video has been front of mind for UK marketers for many years, and it has seen a further increase in popularity this third quarter. When it comes to organic performance on Facebook within the eCommerce category, Facebook Live Video generated a median of 11 interactions per post, while Images gave 6 median interactions per post.
Video is also a cost-effective option – again, in eCommerce, the lowest CPC is with Facebook Video Feeds, followed by Facebook News Feed and Instagram Stories. The lowest CPM (cost per thousand) is with Facebook Video Feeds, followed by Instagram Stories and Facebook Instream Video. As brands pick up the pace with live shopping and social commerce, it’s not surprising to see similar results in the retail category – Facebook Live Video was also the highest performer, with 22 median interactions per post (up from 13 median interactions in the previous quarter).
“While it’s true brands are having to invest more of their advertising dollars to reach consumers across social media platforms, there are still massive opportunities for B2C advertisers when it comes to using Live Video within their social media marketing and social commerce initiatives,” said Emplifi CMO Zarnaz Arlia. “Live Video experiences on Facebook and Instagram are giving advertisers a new and fresh way to connect with their primary audiences, offering real-time conversation capabilities that drive measurable eCommerce gains. Unfortunately, many brands in the UK have not fully embraced social video tactics, leaving much room for improvement in this area.”
Other key UK statistics from the report include:
- The eCommerce category had the highest number of interactions among brand pages on Facebook and Instagram in the UK (42.2% on Facebook and 36.7% on Instagram).
- Within the eCommerce category, the top-performing page on Facebook was Pink Boutique, with 2,354,125 interactions on 867 posts. Other well-performing pages included Misspap and History Hit. In terms of engagement, Netflix’s top three Facebook posts created 2,236,382 interactions.
- For retail, Asda was the top-performing brand page on Facebook with 653,869 interactions on 62 posts. The top-performing profile on Instagram was JD Sports, which had 1,622,843 followers and generated 1,265,734 interactions on 225 posts. In terms of organic performance on Instagram in the UK, Carousel performed the best with 174 median post interactions, which was 69 more than the second-highest post type, being Video.
Emplifi’s State of Social Media and CX report looks at trends in Q3 and uses data downloaded at the beginning of October.
