Peanut butter and jelly.
Bread and butter.
Pen and paper.
Some things are just meant for each other.
Kind of like Facebook ads and CPG brands, right?
Sure, that may not roll off the tongue like the others, but it should make perfect sense.
Take a quick scroll through anyone’s Facebook feed and count the number of ads from CPG brands.
There are a lot of them—and that’s not going to change as they continue to spend big on Facebook ads.
CPG Advertising on Facebook in Q1 2022
More than one hundred million dollars!
(Did you say that in a Dr. Evil voice? We did.)
More than 750 CPG companies took to Facebook to promote their Beauty, Food, and Household Maintenance Products during the first quarter of 2022.
Of those companies, 36 of them spent more than $1mm.
Combined, these companies spent more than $118mm on Facebook ads and accounted for 78% of all ad buys from CPG brands during the quarter.
The remaining 95% of brands investing in Facebook added another $42mm in buys, bringing the quarterly total to just about $160mm.
While that $160mm only represents a slight increase of 2% QoQ from 2021, it’s important to note that we saw a 288% QoQ increase during this time last year, so the modest boost this year may just be a signal that we’re returning to normal.
For other CPG brands still on the fence about buying Facebook ads, this should be the final nudge to push them over in Facebook’s favor.
How do I look?
In another sign that the world is returning to some level of normalcy—and advertisers are back—beauty brands are buying more Facebook ads than ever.
Although beauty brands maintained their position as Facebook’s biggest spenders last year, that didn’t stop them from raising the bar; beauty brands have already spent 84% more QoQ than they did last year.
Brands like Curology, Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, Johnson & Johnson, and Procter & Gamble have led the charge, accounting for 31% of all buys (or more than $155mm).
Outside of these major players, fifteen additional CPG brands spent more than $5mm in Q1.
Plant-based haircare company, Vegamour, increased its spending by 6x in Q1, which is impressive considering it decreased it by 20% in 2021.
Similarly, the popular men’s skincare company, Lumin, has already spent 1.5x more on Facebook ads than in 2021—a year that saw it increase spending by 34%. (Lumin spends 95% of its ad budget on Facebook.)
Finally, Function Inc. spent 46x more on Facebook ads in Q1 2022 than in Q1 2021, while Estee Lauder increased buys by 126% QoQ compared to last year.
As state- and federal-wide mandates are lifted and society opens, people will continue to venture outside and socialize like it’s 2019.
Beauty brands will undoubtedly do the same in terms of their Facebook ad buys.
Seconds?
We’re not one to turn down a second helping of a good meal, but we can’t say the same about some food brands.
While food brands are still spending a ton on Facebook (they represent 14% of Facebook ad buys in 2022 and 36% of buys in 2021), overall spending decreased by 72% QoQ compared to Q1 2021. (For reference, spending increased by 28% YoY in 2021.)
The most notable brands pulling back from the table were The Hershey Company (Kit-Kat, Reese’s, etc.) and Mondelez (Cadbury, Oreo, Ritz, etc.), which decreased spending QoQ by 77% and 70%, respectively.
At the same time, Mars (M&M’s, Dove Chocolate, etc.), a major competitor, spent 144% more this quarter than it did during the same time last year.
It’s impossible to know exactly what’s behind this contrasting behavior, but Occam’s razor may be in play.
The Hershey Company and Mondelez reallocated their ad spend to other channels, which Mars saw as an opportunity.
Sometimes, the simplest explanation is the right one.
Is this actually the reason?
We can’t be sure, but it’d make sense and be a prime example of the chess game advertisers play as they look for gaps and opportunities in the advertising strategies of their competition.
Spring cleaning all year round
There’s no getting around the fact that the pandemic has changed—or accelerated the change—of nearly every aspect of life.
One of those changes is the increased importance people are putting on cleanliness.
The number of ad buys last year from brands selling Household Maintenance Products reflects that.
In 2021, these brands accounted for 8% of the overall CPG Facebook spend, growing by 42% YoY.
Specifically, Johnson Family Enterprises (Method Products, Mrs. Meyer’s, Windex) increased spending by 81%, which represented 37% of its total digital spend.
Similarly, Tru Earth (MPM Group of Brands) saw an increase of 18% YoY, which accounted for 91% of its total digital spend. The company has already spent more than $1mm this year.
Unsurprisingly, the spending wave has continued into 2022.
So far this year, Household Maintenance Products are up 88% QoQ, largely due to the Reckitt Group increasing ad buys for its brands (Air Wick, Finish and Lysol) by 56% QoQ.
There’s No Place Like Home (or Facebook) for CPG Brands
CPG brands aren’t new to Facebook.
In fact, Facebook saw a 35% YoY increase in CPG ad buys in 2021, bringing total spending to nearly $658mm. (The number of companies and brands advertising on Facebook increased YoY by 106% and 90%, respectively.)
Even better for Facebook, the numbers throughout this piece indicate that most of these companies felt little buyer’s remorse, which is exactly why we expect the ad buys to keep coming.
Just over a quarter of the way through 2022, we’ve already seen nearly as many CPG brands buying Facebook ads as we did in 2020.
On top of that, CPG brands that haven’t allocated ad dollars to Facebook in the past—or stopped cold turkey during the pandemic—are changing course.
In 2021, almost 65% of the companies (1.8k companies) advertising on Facebook weren’t doing so in 2020.
Similarly, of the brands advertising on Facebook in 2021, 61% (1.9k brands) weren’t there in 2020.
As the world fights to return to some semblance of normal and people default back to pre-pandemic ways, it’s a pretty safe bet that the ad spending habits of CPG brands will do the same.
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