• by Ray Schultz , February 1, 2021

Digital advertising spend rose by 58.2% worldwide at the end of 2020 YoY as brands sought to reach people at home, according to Social Media Trends report, a study by Socialbakers. 

The ad-spending totals declined as the COVID-19 pandemic first took hold, then rose later in the year. 

During the holiday season, ad spending rose by 92.3% in North America and by 38.6% in Western Europe. 

But the worldwide cost per click increased by 9% to ($0.180 in Q4, versus the prior year. 

In North America, the cost per click jumped by 14.7% to $0.506. 

The increase for all industry brand pages was 27% -- to $0.144. 

On a quarterly basis, the industry ad spend rose by 33% in Q4 2020 compared to Q3.

The ecommerce ad spend, which presumably would include email, went up by 24.8% during the same period, and was more than double that of Q1.

Accommodation and Fashion spending decreased in Q2 then climbed back up, while Alcohol and Retail increased each quarter, according to the study. 

All that said,  73.7% of total ad spend went to the main feeds on Facebook and Instagram in Q4. In addition, Instagram Stories drew 10.9% and 17 other placements received 15.4%. 

The latter included such feeds as Messenger Inbox and Rewarded Video Audience Network.

Facebook News Feed had the highest click-through rate: 1.70%. Next were Facebook Video Feeds (0.98%) and Instream Video (0.84%).

Instagram Feed drew a 0.32% CTR and Instagram Stories 0.26%.

The Socialbakers quarterly trends is based on the state of the Socialbakers database during the quarter being analyzed.