meta: Meta expects Ad spends to be higher this festive season

Advertising spends in this year’s festive season is likely to be higher than last year and there is every reason for Meta to be optimistic, said Arun Srinivas, director and head, ads business (India) at Meta.

“Advertisers have been increasing spends across Meta platforms. We are quite optimistic and there is enough optimism across the advertising industry for a variety of reasons. We definitely see spends going up compared to last year,” Srinivas said. “Digitisation in this country has continued – pandemic or no pandemic. India is the fastest growing economy. Advertising spends are a function of how the economy is faring and how optimistic companies are about their own prospects.”

“The Cricket World Cup is another big category for us. The number of people transacting through UPI apps today is on the rise significantly. We keep scaling new milestones. If I look at the number of people on our apps, they have only grown consistently month on month both in terms of user base and time spent. This is across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp even after the pandemic waned,” he added.

Srinivas said consumers want to spend time on Meta’s apps and for all the above reasons, he is hoping advertisers will spend actively on its platforms around the festive season.

He expects most industries to see an increase in ad spending this festive season.

“We know e-commerce platforms have their sales in this period and they spend on all forms of media including us. Whether it’s auto, real estate or jewellery, there will be a lot of launches in the high-end categories. Financial services are also expected to be pretty active because it provides loans to consumers,” he said.