Creative Concepts Reviews Social Media Around the World Study

Ever wonder how the world stacks up in social media usage? InSites Consulting recently published its study “Social Media around the world” for the third year with its partner SSI and translation agency No Problem!

More than 7,800 people from nineteen countries answered the survey. The study can be downloaded in full from SlideShare for no charge.

The five conclusions drawn from the study:

1. The social media landscape is stable. More than 7 out of 10 internet users are a member of at least one social network which means more than 1.5 billion people use social network sites. Facebook awareness is almost 100%. While Twitter and Google + have a high level of awareness, usage is low. People are not seeking out new social networks – they are happy with the ones they are currently using. On average, people join one or two social networks. Consumers will join a new network only if the new social network offers a unique function like Pinterest or Instagram.
2. Mobile growth fuels social media usage. 51% of internet users have a smartphone and most have a data subscription on it. On average, people install 22 apps on their smartphone and use nine weekly. Social network apps are the most used. 53% of smartphone users compare prices during shopping with their smartphone. Mobile usage is on the rise.
3. Consumers connect with a limited number of brands. More than half of their comments about brands are positive, fewer than 10% are negative. Half post information about products, brands and/or companies on social networks. 55% of social network users are connected to brands. Consumers follow an average of 10.6 brands. They follow seven brands actively and interact with an average of five brands. Consumers share product information, like promotions and free stuff, follow news and like to give feedback to brands they like.
4. Pinterest and Instagram awareness is growing. The potential for brands on Pinterest is the highest. Awareness for both networks is around 24-25%. The adoption rate is on the rise and users intend to spend more time on these sites in the future.

Some other international highlights from the study include:

• Emerging markets such as Argentina, Brazil & India have the highest penetration of social network usage.
• There are two strong local social networks in Russia and China. Vkontakte is large in Russia and Qzone is big in China.
• Japan and Australia have the highest number of people who are members of only one network.
• In China, mobile devices are used much more often compared to other countries and 2 out of 3 people have smartphones.