Research by 4C Insights has revealed the key social media advertising trends of 2016. Social giant Facebook continued to see strong advertising growth, driven in part by the launch of a slew of new features, including Live Locations, Mentions and Reactions. Facebook ad spend grew by 81% in 2016. It also found that Snapchat saw a staggering 593% increase in ad spend following the launch of its 'search for Stories' feature compared to the previous year. Turning to Instagram, healthcare was the vertical that saw the strongest growth in ad spend, seeing an increase of 265% compared to 2015. Looking at more general trends, 4C Insights also noted that there were two significant changes in both content style and content delivery. In terms of content style, 2016 saw a new importance placed on content authenticity, with users seeking content that feels real and aligns with their values. In terms of content delivery, marketers keenly embraced new delivery methods such as live streaming.
