SMM Social Media Marketing

Online advertising (Russian market)

Main article: Internet advertising (Russian market)

Social networks (Russian market)

Main article: Social networks (Russian market)

History

2023: Russian SMM market growth by 25.2% to ₽48,5 bn

At the end of 2023, the volume of the Russian social media promotion market (SMM) increased by 25.2% and amounted to ₽48,5 billion. This is evidenced by research data published in January 2024. The market recovery came after a significant decline recorded in 2022, when the segment lost 28.8% and fell to ₽38,75 billion. Growth drivers were an increase in demand for promotion in domestic social networks, the development of new advertising formats and the growth of business interest in digital marketing tools.

According to RBC, for the period from 2019 to 2023, the SMM promotion market showed ambiguous dynamics. In 2019, its volume was ₽36,36 billion, an increase of 18.6% compared to 2018. In 2020, growth slowed to 10.8%, and the market reached ₽40,3 billion. However, in 2021, the segment showed a record pace of development - 35% of annual growth, which allowed it to reach its maximum value of ₽54,4 billion over a five-year period. In 2022, a decline of 28.8% followed, caused by the departure of foreign advertising platforms, restrictions on the work of foreign social networks and the transformation of the digital environment. In 2023, the market began to recover, which led to an increase in volumes by 25.2%.

According to the publication, one of the key reasons for the growth was the development of domestic platforms. Networks such as VKontakte, Odnoklassniki and Telegram have significantly expanded advertising opportunities, which has attracted business attention. In particular, Telegram has introduced new targeted advertising tools over the past two years, and VKontakte has strengthened its position by integrating e-commerce solutions. According to experts, the audience of social networks in Russia is growing steadily, which makes them one of the main channels for digital marketing.

According to Kommersant, one of the factors in the recovery was the growth of investment in digital advertising amid a general increase in business spending on marketing. With the transformation of the market, entrepreneurs are increasingly using SMM to promote goods and services, which is due to the high efficiency of this channel. In addition, advertising budgets are reallocated in favor of more accessible and targeted tools, such as targeted advertising and collaboration with opinion leaders.

In 2023, large companies actively adapted to the changed media environment. Brands began to invest in creating content for domestic social networks, which made it possible to compensate for audience losses in prohibited platforms. One of the significant trends was the increase in the activity of small and medium-sized businesses, which began to consider SMM as the main channel of communication with customers. As a result, the number of advertisers using social networks for promotion increased by 30%.

In 2023, the development of new advertising tools was also observed, including programmatic technologies, personalized content and integrations with e-commerce. Companies are increasingly adopting data-driven approaches to improve the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. According to experts, this was made possible by improving algorithms for analyzing user behavior and developing AI technologies in marketing.

Changes in consumer behavior played an important role in the growth of the market. In the context of high competition, brands strive to build communication with customers in the digital space, which increases the demand for SMM services. According to the study, 78% of users of Russian social networks interact with brands through digital platforms, and 62% decide to buy based on content presented on social networks.^[1][2]

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