State departments spent €1.4m on social media ads in 2022 – Irish Examiner

Government departments have spent more than €1.4m on social media advertising this year alone.There has been a dramatic increase in the amount spent in the past 12 months by some departments, with ads placed across Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and YouTube.Under Leo Varadkar, the Department of Enterprise spent €157,420.06 on social media adverting this year, up from €46,617.83 in 2021.Instagram and Facebook received €40,498.32 each in advertising fees; a further €35,288.37 was paid for Twitter ads, while the department paid out €30,425.05 to LinkedIn. Finally, advertising fees of €10,710 were paid to YouTube.However, a breakdown of spending by campaign was not provided.The Department of Housing spent just €6,104.95 in 2021, but this jumped to €79,401.83 this year.A spokesperson said there has been additional utilisation of LinkedIn and TikTok this year with paid advertising being taken out in relation to the residential zoned land tax; the First Home Scheme; construction recruitment, and the River Basin Management Plan.Promoting healthier lifestyles The Department of Health spent €281,380.52 this year, up from €170,470 in the previous year.This included €53,664.39 which went towards highlighting the Healthy Ireland programme and €184,052.12, which was spent on a campaign to support the health of young people
Read More