Several news items collided in early 2020 to show that the balance of power between the different social platforms is not fully settled. A chance to review network dynamics and highlight their opportunities.
Pinterest overtakes Snapchat in users and becomes the 3rd social network in the United States
At the top with the launch of its advertising offers worldwide (and in France), Pinterest continues to win over advertisers as well as users. In the US market, the network has again become the third most used social platform, behind the Facebook / Instagram duo but ahead of Snap, with 82.4 million users versus 80.2 million for the camera company. The network’s ability to attract all age groups and not just the youngest seems to have made the difference. In France, the balance of power still favours Snap, which has nearly 13 million daily users.
LinkedIn continues its growth in the B2B market
LinkedIn surprised analysts in the US market with sustained growth in 2019 and encouraging prospects for 2020. The network has chained growth of 12% and 9% over the last two years and should still grow by +6% in 2020. According to eMarketer, LinkedIn brings together 30% of social media users in the United States and should see its advertising revenue rise to 1.6 billion dollars in 2020. Still a small player compared with the 2.43 billion generated in the third quarter of 2019 by Facebook, but significant in the B2B market where the platform is mainly positioned.
Instagram plateaus in users, but explodes in revenue
Instagram’s growth therefore has a limit in terms of users. With nearly 107 million users in the US market, Instagram should see its growth slow from +4.5% expected in 2020 (versus 5.4% in eMarketer’s previous estimates) to +1.8% in 2023. With very strong penetration among the youngest populations, Instagram is already unavoidable, but its acquisition of new audiences among older people is slower than expected.
But Instagram impresses both by its ability to keep its core audience while Snap & TikTok are very aggressive in this market, and by how it manages to accelerate the monetisation of its audiences. Advertising revenue growth should thus rise from 9.45 billion in 2019 to 13.86 billion dollars in 2020, an increase of more than 46%. The craze for Stories and the integration of shopping features are the two new acceleration levers for Instagram. This is also the case in the French market, and we had the opportunity to discuss it on the Blog Du Modérateur.
Going further. This topic continues with tigrz’s strategic consulting support and our expertise in the US market.
On the same topic: « Social growth in France: what drives it and how to read it? » and « End of the like counter, but consolidation of a new era of social ».
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