If it seems like your Facebook feed is suddenly full of diet and workout ads, you’re not imagining things. Pathmatics data from January 2022 tells us that fitness and weight loss brands like Noom, Peloton, and iFit have been investing heavily in Facebook ads. In fact, all three brands have spent more on this channel than any other in January 2022, and far more than they did in January 2021. So which devices are these three companies advertising on, and just how much have they beefed up their ad spend?
Noom spent $21M in January 2022
Of all the fitness and weight loss brands we looked at, Noom pumped the most money into digital ads in January. Between January 1, 2022 through January 31, 2022, Noom spent more than $21 million on digital ads in the United States — more than Peloton and iFIT combined. But what’s even more impressive is how much more Noom is spending this year than last. In January 2021, Noom only spent about $8.9M on ads. (That’s a 141.6% increase, if you’re keeping track.)
Looking at trends for this year, spending peaked early in 2022 as people made their New Year’s resolutions, and tapered off throughout the month. Noom’s highest spend in a single day was $1.67M on January, 3, 2022.
With the increase in spend has come a huge investment in Facebook ads. Last year, Noom was only spending less than 10% of its budget on Facebook, with larger portions allocated to Desktop Video (43%), Instagram (21%), and Desktop Display (21%). In January 2022, however, nearly 40% of Noom’s advertising budget went toward Facebook, followed by Desktop Video (35%) and Instagram (15%). Desktop Display ads made up only 6% of its spend.
Peloton pulls back on digital, but Facebook ads are going strong
Peloton stock plummeted in January 2022 when the at-home fitness giant announced that it would halt production of its bikes and treadmills due to a “significant reduction” in demand. In light of the stock crash, Peloton tightened its proverbial belt, spending only $10.2M on digital ads in January 2022 — nearly $2M less than it did last January. Peloton’s highest period of spend was from January 1, 2022 through January 9, 2022 which coincided with a New Year’s discount worth $550.
Although Peloton’s overall budget has decreased, it spent more on social media ads in January 2022 with 35% on Facebook and 62% overall. The remaining third of its budget this January went toward OTT ads (31%). That’s a big shakeup from last year, when only 36% of Peloton’s budget went toward social media and 44% went toward Desktop Video.
iFIT overwhelmingly favors Facebook
iFIT, the parent company of NordicTrack, spent less than half as much on digital ads in January 2022 ($4.5M) as it did during the same time frame last year ($9.7M).
While it shrunk its overall spend, the home workout company doubled the amount it was investing in Facebook ads. Last year, Desktop Display was the top device for iFIT with 36% of overall spend, followed by 35% on Facebook and 21% on Desktop Video. This year, Facebook was iFIT’s top device to advertise on. iFIT redirected some of its spend from Desktop Display and Video ads to Facebook for a total of 59% spent on this device. OTT ads made up another 17% of ads. Only 5% of iFIT’s budget this year went toward desktop video.
Taking a closer look, we see that all 10 of iFIT’s top Facebook ads in January were for its NordicTrack bikes and treadmills. Like Peloton, NordicTrack has experienced a slump in demand for at-home fitness equipment since gyms have reopened. Knowing this, it makes sense that the brand is being more conservative with its spending while advertising deep discounts on its products.
Other Sites
Noom, Peloton, and iFIT aren’t the only fitness and weight loss brands flexing on Facebook. Nearly 30% of ad spend for this category went toward Facebook — more than any other device.
Whether Facebook will remain the top device to advertise on remains to be seen. As you can see, OTT ads are quickly gaining steam in the Fitness & Weight Loss category and only need a few percentage points to surpass Facebook.
To learn more about the data behind this article and what Pathmatics has to offer, visit www.pathmatics.com.
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