Expectations have been high for the success of social media as an advertising medium — but maybe not high enough.
Though social media CEOs have always been bullish on their prospects, global social network ad spending is accelerating even faster than expected, according to new data from eMarketer.
And guess what? Facebook is expected to drive growth and capture nearly 65 percent of social network ad revenues in 2015. Talk about an 800 pound gorilla!
Global social network ad spending will reach $25.14 billion in 2015, higher than the $23.68 forecast in April. But there are big winners in this ecosphere and a fair number of also-rans.
“The growth in social network ad spending can largely be attributed to a rapid increase in Facebook’s ad revenue,” reports eMarketer. “Facebook (should) capture $16.29 billion in ad revenues worldwide, a jump of 41.8 percent over 2014. This year, Facebook will take 64.8 percent of total social network ad spending worldwide.”
True, a portion of Facebook’s explosive growth is by dint of its ownership of Instagram. The mobile picture-sharing app will take in $600 million worldwide this year, accounting for 5 percent of Facebook’s worldwide mobile ad revenue this year.
Next year? Forecasts indicate Instagram may make $1.48 billion in worldwide ad revenues, growing 149 percent over 2015.
Twitter isn’t doing quite as well. The site is expected to grow ad revenues 61.8 percent this year, taking in $2.03 billion, or 8.1 percent of total social network ad spending worldwide. Earlier eMarketer predictions were that Twitter’s growth would reach 66.9 percent in 2015.
“Twitter’s slowing user growth is impacting its ad business,” said eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson. “Twitter has improved its ad targeting capabilities, and it still has a lock on real-time conversation. However, advertisers want to reach a mass audience and that’s harder to do on Twitter than on Facebook.”
