US Marketers will spend $8.14 million in social media-sponsored content, up 16.0% year over year, according to a March 2023 forecast by EMarketer. Although spending will increase to $9.29 billion next year, growth is moderating as marketers focus more carefully on well-known creators with whom they can form long-term relationships. “Brands are increasingly opting for recurring, ‘always-on’ partnerships with trusted creators rather than one-off campaigns,” stated EMarketer. However, the relationships created are generally more significant, and the goal is to expand beyond social media to other ..read more

The US Senate voted overwhelmingly late Tuesday in favor of legislation that would ban TikTok in the United States if its owner, Chinese tech firm ByteDance, fails to divest the popular short video app within the next nine months to a year. Driven by widespread concerns among US politicians that China could use the app to access Americans’ data or spy on them, the bill was passed by the House of Representatives on Saturday, and President Joe Biden has stated that he will sign it into law on Wednesday, reported Reuters. TikTok plans to contest the bill on First Amendment grounds, and TikTok us ..read more

A quarter of US consumers are influenced to make purchases by advertisements on retailer websites, according to new Intellias research cited by Search Engine Land. According to Intellias, more than half of consumers (54%) indicated they would be more likely to purchase items advertised by a trusted store. Approximately as many (55%) would be more willing to try a new brand they had never purchased before if a retailer they frequent recommended it to them. “Brands c”n leverage the strong relationships between retailer and consumer to break through the noise and reach consumers where they’re mt ..read more

The House passed a bill on Saturday that would force the Chinese company ByteDance, which owns TikTok, to sell or ban the app. This brings a law that could prohibit the popular app and make the internet split between China and the US even closer to reality. The legislation, which passed 360-58 and was linked to a massive aid package for Israel and Ukraine, would give ByteDance up to a year to market the app rather than the six-month term outlined in a previous bill. The Senate may vote on the bill in the coming days. President Biden has previously stated that he will sign such a bill into law ..read more

LinkedIn, owned by Microsoft, has had revenue growth in the single digits since 2022 and is looking for a boost. The company is looking to its membership, which surpassed one billion in November, to help fuel growth, reported CNBC. According to EMarketer, Instagram parent Meta and TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance will receive nearly two-thirds of social media marketing dollars in the United States this year. By 2026, Instagram and TikTok are expected to increase their share by two percentage points. “By opening up Thought Leader ads, LinkedIn is letting anyone boost a post as long as the auth ..read more

In the face of discontent with Google’s results, Generation Z is turning to social media as a search engine, looking for rapid, relatable solutions. According to statistics published by Axios, younger people are breaking from millennials who grew up with Google. “46% of those ages 18-24 start their information quests by searching on Google, per data shared exclusively with Axios from YPulse, a youth research firm,” stated the report. Of those 25-39, 58% start their searches with Google. 21% of people aged 18 to 24 start with TikTok, and 5% start with YouTube. “Google is still top overall for ..read more

Retail sales in the United States climbed more than predicted in March, owing to a jump in e-commerce revenues. This demonstrated that the economy concluded the first quarter on a solid foundation. Strong retail sales caused Goldman Sachs economists to raise their GDP growth forecast for the first quarter to 3.1%, annualized from 2.5%, reported Reuters. The Commerce Department’s data on Monday, which came after news of solid employment gains in March and an increase in consumer prices, boosted predictions that the Federal Reserve would delay decreasing interest rates until September. Last mon ..read more

TikTok and Instagram are the most popular social media channels for Gen Z customers to find new brands, according to EMarkerter data. Brand websites or apps are also popular with Gen Z buyers looking for apparel, with nearly 40% of Gen Zers saying they are its top online discovery channel. The survey asked, “Think about the new clothing brands/products you purchased. Where did you first see or hear about them? Select all that apply.” Clothing shoppers were those who discovered and bought a new article of clothing or product in the past 6 months. The post Instagram and TikTok are Best Platfor ..read more

Amazon accounted for 80% of marketplace sales, 40% of e-commerce sales, and 4% of retail sales in the United States in 2023, according to Marketplace Pulse. A forecast by EMarketer says Walmart is far behind Amazon in e-commerce sales, with only 7.4% of retail e-commerce sales in 2023. Amazon is the company to beat—or partner with—for e-commerce, but according to EMarketer, it does not lead in total retail sales in the United States. However, according to Marketplace Pulse, Walmart will account for approximately 6% of total US retail sales in 2023, compared to 4% for Amazon. The post Amazon ..read more

TikTok’s future Instagram competitor app for photo sharing could be called TikTok Notes, according to screenshots uploaded by users, reported TechCrunch. TikTok also stated that the app was under development. TikTok users have recently received pop-up notifications promoting a new TikTok Notes app for sharing images. The message states that the firm will soon introduce “a new app for photo posts” called TikTok Notes, which would allow users to share their existing photo posts. Users can choose not to share their image posts with the new app. The post TikTok is Nearing the Release of its Insta ..read more