he COVID-19 pandemic arrived unannounced and affected the economy in many aspects, but what was not so predictable and started to happen was a greater investment by brands in paid content on Facebook.
According to a study by Socialbakers, the amount invested in the platform practically doubled from 2019 to 2021, comparing the first quarter of each year.
One of the reasons for this increase was the fact that people started to shop more online, due to the need for social isolation, and with this, brands started investing more in ways that would make them visible to this connected audience.
When the analysis is made taking into account the industry sectors, it is clear that there was a slowdown compared to the last quarter of each year, which is usually driven by the festive period such as Christmas, however, the comparison made with the same period in 2020 shows that investment in digital platforms has grown in almost every sector, except for the accommodation one, which has registered a 5% drop this year compared to 2020. Overall, all industry segments have increased their investment in networks by 65% in the first quarter.
The fashion sector, for example, redirected almost half of the marketing budgets towards social media while the beauty sector increased by 20% its investments in social platforms. Meantime, the food sector bet 59% more on paid publications and the financial sector 55% more.
When it comes to the brands' preferred platform for these investments, Facebook Feed was highlighted in the top 5, as more than 50% of the companies' funds were allocated to it. The second favorite is Instagram Feed, with almost 20% of the preference, Instagram Stories had around 10% of the popularity and In-stream Video and Videos in Facebook Feed received around 5% of the investments each.
