Dive Brief:
- People share more on Facebook during the holiday season, and most of that sharing comes on mobile, according to new research using Facebook and Instagram data from the 2015 holiday season.
- People shared 26% more posts, photos and videos, and 49% more video posts, during the 2015 holidays than other times of the year, the research found. On average, 80% of posts, photos and videos were on mobile during the holiday season.
- Online purchases made on mobile devices and visible to Facebook were up 33% during the 2015 holiday season compared to 2014.
Dive Insight:
Facebook's latest research provides marketers with insights into how people are likely to connect and shop—particularly on mobile devices—this coming holiday season.
"I think that one of the recurring themes we can see year over year is the increased use of mobile in the holiday season and the holiday shopping season in particular," Ann Mack, Facebook's head of content and activation, told Adweek.
The research, reported by Facebook in an Insights blog post, also uncovered that people who report buying on mobile devices are 1.81x more likely to use Facebook for gift ideas and 1.85x more likely to use Instagram for gift inspiration than the average population. Millennials in particular are 1.53x more likely to use Facebook for gift ideas and 3.19x more likely to use Instagram for gift inspiration, showing the power of Instagram for shopping inspiration.
The study found that 25% of people shop on Black Friday, with Brazil, the U.S., South Africa and South Korea leading in Black Friday shopping. The day has a “global footprint” that marketers can use to capitalize on international interest in order to capture early shoppers, according to Facebook.