CDP Institute

Meta may be under fire by regulators and distrusted by consumers, but never forget that its core advertising business is a gold mine.  The company reported $29.65 billion revenue for the first quarter of 2023.  That’s up 3% from the pandemic-depressed Q1 last year, which isn’t great but better than the year-on-year declines in every quarter since.

Meta would love to collect commissions on in-platform sales, a.k.a. social commerce. U.S. and European results have been mixed at best, although it’s booming in China. But this survey by Magna Media Trials and Reprise Commerce says things are better than they seem: 92% of respondents said they’d be willing to purchase on social if it offers good deals and real-time customer service, and 46% of U.S. respondents said they have already made a social commerce purchase.

If you need to be reminded what healthy growth looks like: Amazon reported a 21% year-on-year gain in Q1 retail media revenue, $9.5 billion.  Amazon accounts for 85% of the industry, according to eMarketer.  While some reports have predicted a slowdown in retail media, Skai takes a brighter view: 87% of advertisers plan to maintain or increase retail media spending this year.  Plot twist: funds for retail media most often come from the paid search budget, but are usually managed by ecommerce staff.