Ecom growth is social-first in 2024, according to the latest Nest data

Online retail conditions are much more favourable than this time last year. This is reflected in the data in our latest edition of the Readout – the ecommerce marketing quarterly.

However, brands looking to scale in the improved landscape will find that performance works very differently now compared with the ecom boom of the early 2020s.

Ecommerce advertising today is full-funnel and social-first, with continuously rotating creative. It necessitates a cross-channel approach that covers all bases to enable max efficiency and scale.

And our clients are seeing growth from this strategy: average Meta spend per client is up by 57% YoY with stable efficiency.

Discover winning ecommerce marketing strategies as well as the latest data and insights in the July edition of The Readout.

Key trends in Q2 2024

Moving from search-first to social-first

What is the optimal channel mix for performance? 

Over the past 15 months, we have shifted spend allocation for a group of previously Google-first clients. 

We were able to increase Meta spend by 60% YoY for the group with stable efficiency whilst maintaining Google spend at similar levels to capture demand.

Leveraging paid social for prospecting, and finding incremental audiences, are central to delivering a full-funnel strategy.

Strategies continue to shift up the funnel

The increase in spend on upper funnel objectives shows no sign of slowing down, with awareness activity up by 4.2x YoY and 109% QoQ.

As more brands struggle with increasing acquisition costs and declining brand search, marketing teams are under pressure to turn things around. 

Adapting to a full-funnel strategy targeting incremental audiences for your brand requires a change in both mindset and measurement, but it is proven to drive higher, and healthier, growth.

Prepare for US ad costs to increase

UK retailers have set their eyes on the American market for growth. The same is true for our portfolio, where we have seen a 244% increase in ad spend in the US market.

CPMs are higher in the US market, and in Q2 2024 they were 2.25x the cost of UK CPMs. However, American consumers also spend more, with 1.49x the average basket size, and higher LTV.

It is a high growth market for our clients – US spend was up by 244% YoY, while conversion rates had increased by 62% YoY.

You will not get a better moment than now to invest in the US. In the last election, US ad costs soared by 38% QoQ in Q4 2020.

Swing states are likely to see particularly high CPMs, as both parties spend big on political ads. You should be wary of this if you are targeting swing states like Nevada, Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania.

Creative is your quickest lever to turn around Q4

Understanding in advance how, and where, you can use creative as an edge over competitors should be a key pillar of your wider marketing plan for peak.

Your strategy should involve the following: finding out what resonates with your audience, building appetite with TOF creative, and ensuring you have a diverse set of creative.

If you find yourself in September without the right creative strategy in place, there’s still time to introduce tactical ideas that are likely to bolster your performance – such as outlining a testing roadmap, locking in design resources early, and commissioning social-specific creator content for lower funnel.

Discover more ecommerce marketing strategy and insights in the full report: