• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, August 1, 2017

Social media has become crucial to every marketer’s arsenal, says 4C in reporting significant growth… “with billions of people connected and a steady release of new features, social platforms provide a full-funnel solution for brands,” hopefully indicative of the larger marketplace.

Facebook was among the top gainers with ad spend on 4C up 131% YoY and 46% QoQ. Propelling Facebook’s growth was achieving a milestone of 2 billion monthly active users.

To assess social advertising growth in Q2 2017, 4C analyzed a representative sample of brands managed through 4C Social across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Snapchat. The total sample included nearly $200 million in media spend for more than 1,000 individual brands.

Growing the most on Facebook over the previous quarter was the Travel sector, which was up 391% QoQ. Driven by the political climate, Government and Public Sector spend increased the most compared to last year, up 1,281% YoY.

Instagram set a record user numbers with 700 million monthly active Instagrammers. Additionally, Instagram brought greater transparency to commercial relationships, introduced Face Filters, launched Direct, a new visual conversation feature, created the ability to archive posts, and enabled Live Video to be replayed.

Snapchat followed up the first full quarter after its IPO with a 101% increase in QoQ ad spend on 4C. Q2 also brought industry recognition at Cannes where the camera company won big for Snap Spectacles. Snapchat launched Snap Map, enabling users to discover what’s happening and find friends, released Limitless Snaps, introduced new augmented reality features with New World Lenses, made it easier to design custom Geofilters, and enabled custom Stories. Home and Garden brands invested in Snap Ads in Q2, increasing spend 1,189% QoQ via 4C.

Pinterest continues to demonstrate robust growth, says the report, with ad spend on 4C increasing 52% YoY and 14% QoQ. New features were rolled out including key metrics added directly on Pins, new measurement solutions, and more capabilities for Promoted Video including autoplay. Demonstrating the versatility of Promoted Pins, the Legal and Financial sector had the greatest change in spend compared to Q2 2016, up 1,016% YoY.

Cosmetics and Hygiene had the greatest change in spend compared to the previous quarter on Pinterest, up 163% QoQ. And Health was a big driver of the increase in LinkedIn ad spend. The category increased LinkedIn ad spend on 4C 3,667% YoY and 376% QoQ.

Mara Greenwald, media director, Performics, says “… using technology to automatically trigger social ads based on TV content offers new opportunities…  improves advertising effectiveness… real time synching of offline and online campaigns creates new opportunities to deliver messages… brands that can layer in additional audience data to deliver the right message sequence to the right audience…  have a significant advantage.”

Summarizing, takeaways from 4C’s Q2 State of Social Report show that:

• Growing the most on Facebook over the previous quarter was the Travel sector, which was up 391% QoQ. Additionally, driven by the political climate, Government/Organization spend increased the most compared to last year, up 1,281% YoY.
• Snapchat followed up the first full quarter following its IPO with a 101% increase in QoQ ad spend on 4C, where Home and Garden brands invested the most in Snap Ads, increasing spend 1,189% QoQ.
• Instagram had an outstanding quarter growing 124% YoY and 28% QoQ, with retail brands investing 656% more in ads YoY.
• Travel brands leaned into the visually-driven platform for promotion increasing spend 609% QoQ as people searched for summer vacation inspirations. 
• Pinterest continues to demonstrate robust growth with ad spend on 4C increasing 52% YoY and 14% QoQ. Cosmetics and Hygiene had the greatest change in spend compared to the previous quarter on Pinterest, up 163% QoQ. Demonstrating the versatility of Promoted Pins, the legal and Financial sector had the greatest change spend compared to Q2 2016, up 1,016% YoY.
• Accelerating in Q2, Twitter ad spend on 4C was up 46% QoQ and 35% YoY. Up 597% QoQ, the Service sector increased Twitter spend in Q2. As consumers geared up for summer, Home and Garden invested heavily in Twitter ads with a 386% increase compared to the same period last year.
• LinkedIn ad spend on 4C grew 36% QoQ and 12% YoY. Healthcare brand investments were the biggest driver of the increase in LinkedIn ad spend, as the category increased LinkedIn ad spend on 4C 3,667% YoY and 376% QoQ.

For additional insights from 4C, please visit here.