We’re starting to get a clearer picture of how the pandemic affected social platforms last quarter. This week, even as monetizable daily active users increased by a whopping 34% to 186 million, Twitter reported ad revenue fell by 23% year-over-year to $562 million in Q2 (total revenue was $683 million, down 19% year-over-year), that’s coming off flat ad revenue growth in the first quarter of 2020. Twitter’s sharp decline in ad revenue was matched in a steep drop in ad engagement and cost per engagement. 

Why we care. The trends of these two metrics, shown in the chart above, put in stark light the challenge Twitter’s ad business has been facing for many quarters now. Performance advertisers require engagement with their ads. Ned Segal, Twitter’s CFO, said in a statement that the company is still focusing on performance ads. “We have completed our ad server rebuild and are making progress accelerating our performance ads roadmap. With a larger audience and progress in ads, we are even better positioned to deliver for advertisers when the live events and product launches that bring many people and advertisers to Twitter return to our lives.” (The company is also looking at subscription options.)

Earlier in the week, Snap reported revenues rose by 17% year-over-year to $454 million. Investors were sad the big bump in users that Snapchat saw at the beginning of shelter in place didn’t continue, but we’re marketers, not financial analysts. Daily active users were up 17% to 238 million, just shy of the 239 million the company had been shooting for.

Why we care. Snap’s ad revenues were impacted by disruptions to industries such as transportation services, restaurants and entertainment venues, but Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said e-commerce, streaming and gaming advertisers are leaning into the platform. While Snapchat’s audience skews young, the company also noted that the daily average number of Snapchatters over the age of 35 engaging with Discover content increased by over 40% year-over-year in Q2 2020. The company also said it’s benefiting from Facebook’s brand safety troubles with more brands taking a fresh look at Snapchat.

How do you set yourself apart in PPC when Google and Microsoft are continually adding more automated capabilities that effectively level the playing field? If you want the absolute best PPC results, and you never want your ad shown for a query of dubious relevance due to a weird close variant, it will take a LOT of time. But if you’re like most of us, you need to balance time with performance. A good strategy with a solid execution (even if neither is the best), can still produce superior results compared to a scenario where there is a disconnect between the two elements and the best strategy is poorly executed, or a bad strategy is executed flawlessly.

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Outreach Competitive Analysis: The How and Why of It – Portent

Facebook ignored racial bias research, employees say – NBC

Unilever to invest heavily in marketing, brand innovation after keeping ‘powder dry’ amid pandemic – Marketing Dive

Combative TikTok Founder Races to Save App Before Trump Ban – Bloomberg

Twitter says it’s looking at subscription options as ad revenue drops sharply – CNN

AT&T’s low-band 5G network is now available nationwide – CNET