97% of marketers are investing in social advertising, which is up 10% from last year’s numbers.

I mean, is anyone really surprised by that? Social ads are pretty easy to get started in and less intimidating (in my humble opinion) than trying to start a Google ad campaign. However, with more adoption by more marketers, comes more costs, more platforms jumping into the mix, and more formats. This past year, we’ve seen Quora and Reddit stepping up and making sure they are a part of the social ad mix; they are releasing ad formats and optimization levers left and right.

Here’s a look at what social platforms marketers are currently investing in:

 

While Facebook is still King (for now) when it comes to ad dollars, we’re seeing more investments in platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Quora. In fact, the number of marketers investing in Quora has grown NEARLY 4X SINCE LAST YEAR! The platform has rolled out 5 betas just in the last 8 months and shows no signs of slowing down.

Wondering what platforms agencies are planning to pitch their clients? This graph lays out the frontrunners for expansion opportunities:

 

 

In this new report, The State of Paid Social, you’ll see a comprehensive breakdown of social budgets, what ad formats are the most effective in each platform, platforms agencies are planning to pitch to clients in the next 12 months, what challenges other marketers are facing, what the next big thing in social is, and many other great insights that can be used as benchmarks for your brand and guidance on your marketing strategy for 2019 and 2020.

 

The data for the State of Paid Social was collected during a survey that ran publicly during the month of May and includes feedback from hundreds of marketers in 14 different verticals. The Report covers the following social platforms: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, Quora, and Reddit.

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