Emplifi Report Reveals Heavy Reliance on Social Media Marketing
The business industry was much different two years ago than it is today with altered customer behaviour, demands, and the advancements of technology. While it was the pandemic that changed the way marketers reach their audience with advertising, the shift is permanent. Emplifi’s recent State of Social Media and CX report reveals an increasingly heavy […]
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The business industry was much different two years ago than it is today with altered customer behaviour, demands, and the advancements of technology. While it was the pandemic that changed the way marketers reach their audience with advertising, the shift is permanent. Emplifi’s recent State of Social Media and CX report reveals an increasingly heavy reliance on social media marketing.
The report reveals that global ad spend on Facebook and Instagram increased 50 per cent year-over-year during Q2. As the social media ad spend across the world rebounded in the second quarter, in the Middle East most of the relative ad spend by brands went to Facebook feeds (53.4 per cent), followed by Instagram feeds (17.7 per cent), and Instagram Stories (11 per cent).
In Q2 2020, the total number of interactions generated by Instagram profiles (Likes and Comments on posts published by brands on their profiles) was 5.2x higher than on Facebook profiles. This gap has only increased in Q2 2021, reaching 6.4x. The data indicates a similar trend in the Middle East over the past year, with Instagram profiles leading with 5.4 times higher engagement compared to Facebook profiles despite having a smaller audience overall.
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As we move further away from the 2020, total ad spend and costs are steadily increasing. What has remained very stable, however, is the click-through rate (CTR) of Facebook. In Q2 2021, the Facebook News Feed ad placement returned the second-best CTR at 0.29 per cent on average, trailing only Facebook Instream Video (0.33 per cent). Both provided at least 3x higher CTR than the next platform position. The report suggests that businesses can depend on social media advertising to return value, even if other channels are not working well.
“The ongoing increase in social media ad spend is proving to be more than just a pandemic-related ‘bounce-back’ scenario. More and more brands are relying on social media marketing to engage with their audiences meaningfully and at scale,” said Zarnaz Arlia, chief marketing officer, Emplifi. “Social commerce and the formats which support it are also becoming more prevalent as the year goes on. As more brands recognise the value of live streaming and start to leverage more live content to cater to users at different stages of the customer journey.”
The data also reveals that within the Middle East, the retail category dominated the number of interactions of brand pages on Facebook (23 per cent), followed by telecom (16.7 per cent) and airlines (13.5 per cent). Retail brand pages also secured the highest number of interactions on Instagram (22.9 per cent), closely followed by e-commerce (21.4 per cent).
Emplifi’s report also includes influencer marketing trends. While an upward trend in influencer activity was seen both globally and in the Middle East in the second half of 2020 signifying a recovery after the number of sponsored posts dropped dramatically during the beginning of the pandemic, activity has plateaued in the first half of 2021. This drop potentially signifies the end of the recovery period and stabilization of influencer marketing spend.
“As more and more consumers begin to expect a brand’s social media channels to facilitate outstanding customer experiences across many stages of the customer journey, the importance of engagement and interaction data is taking on a greater significance. What we’re seeing is that an engaging and responsive social media presence is no longer just a “nice-to-have” for consumer facing brands, it’s a key point of differentiation,” said Arlia.
Within the hospitality sector, the top performing profile on Facebook was Park Rotana Abu Dhabi, which saw 215,199 interactions on 99 posts, while Burj Al Arab generated the highest number of interactions on Instagram, with 238,529 on 28 posts. Qatar Airways was the top performing brand page on Facebook in the Middle East in Q2 with 3,197,457 interactions on 157 posts, while Filimo took the top spot on Instagram, with 5,218,243 interactions on 395 posts.
Facebook Live videos – a trend observed both globally and in the Middle East – earned the highest number of organic post interactions and delivered three-times the engagement rates of standard videos, but account for less than 1 per cent of branded posts. “A strong and engaging social media presence will increasingly impact how brands operate and how well they perform, particularly in the Middle East, with its young, tech-savvy population who leverage social media for everything from shopping to socialising,” said Arlia.
As was seen in the Q1 2021 State of Social Media and CX report from, Facebook Live remained the most engaging format on the platform in 2021 by far, seeing a median of 32 post interactions, Although interaction data for Instagram live streams are not made available, it is safe to assume that they would also perform relatively well compared to the other content formats available on the platform.
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It is clear that users prefer live video than traditional content formats. Experts strongly recommend brands to explore live video and streaming as a key component of their social media strategy. It will help them create engaging and impactful social marketing and commerce experiences. Meanwhile, it is important to continuously evaluate existing processes through AI chatbots or community management tools to ensure fast responses and resolutions.
(Inputs from the Emplifi report)
