Two-thirds of retailers admit that their creative processes and marketing distribution take too much time amid growing demands from customers for high-quality content and ads, a new study by Smartly.io has found.
The social media ad automation platform surveyed 100 retail marketing decision-makers in November last year to find out their plans for the year ahead and increased investment was a common trend.
More than half are expecting to spend more on social media compared to last year, with content and advertising at the top of the agenda.
Smartly.io estimates that around $65bn will be spent by retail marketers on ads on social media in 2020, with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram all seeing notable increases in investment.
While new platforms such as TikTok offer marketers new avenues for content, Facebook remains the most popular platform by some distance with a 96% adoption rate.
Brands need to complement content marketing with paid ads this year, according to Smartly.io VP Robert Rothschild.
In a statement, he noted: “Capturing the attention of today’s consumer demands that advertisers tell stories that seamlessly blend with the organic content that their audience already consumes.”
The study also found that marketers are delivering positive return on investment overall but are struggling to manage various aspects of the process.
Eight in 10 said that they could improve how ad creation and deployment are automated, while two-thirds admit to not using any automation tech at all despite the many benefits it can bring.
Almost half also say that they want marketing and creative teams to improve how they collaborate across different phases of marketing.
