Last week the IAB made public what has already become one of the benchmark studies on social networks in Spain: the Social Media Study 2021. Considering the acceleration of digitalization and the emergence of social networks such as TikTok, which were already noticeable in 2020, this year's study promised to be, to say the least, interesting.
In this analysis you won't find what we already know about this matter such as the fact that the cell phone is the preferred device for users or that the time of greatest activity tends to be in the evening. In this post we will try to emphasize the points of the study that can have the greatest impact and generate the greatest changes in the sector in the present and in the coming years. Let's go there!
As new social networks to be included in the report we have Onlyfans, Clubhouse, Stereo, Patreon, Discord and Ivoox. Of the second, Clubhouse It is worth mentioning that it was only available for iOS devices and that this month it has been launched for Android in the US, so it may soon be available for everyone in Spain and next year it will be worthy of a parallel analysis.
As generic data provided by the report, we can highlight that the average age of the user is 40 years old; that WhatsApp and Facebook are the networks with more users; that Instagram, Telegram, TikTok, Pinterest and Twitch have experienced a significant growth in 2021 being IG the social network where users have had the most interactionSnapchat has the highest abandonment rate.
What are users looking for in social networks in 2021?
Nothing new: 81% use the networks for entertainment, 72% seek to interact and 66% want to be informed. As an example of this last aspect, we see that, in the purchasing process, networks continue to be relevant, as 48% of those surveyed stated that they had previously researched a brand before buying it. Now we come to a worrisome point due to its negative trend: the following of brands on social networks is again decreasing. We have gone from 81% in 2018 to 48% in 2021.
Beware of influencers! It may influencer marketing is on the riseBut it may also explain why influencer following has been declining for two years in a row. "Some 43% of respondents state that influencers' comments are advertising in nature," the study shows. Brands, while investing in this aspect of marketing, do so in turn in advertising on Instagram and Facebook, these being the networks in which the most is invested.
As for the eSportsAs a result, "up to 75% of young people under 24 play video games online" and, on average, they spend about 9 hours a week playing. Twitch and YouTube are the preferred networks for users to consume eSports content.
What reading can we make of all this?
- The user is in social networks to entertainment, interaction and information mainly. If we want to reach the user, we will have to leave aside the clear sale of our product and look for ways to meet their objectives.
- The drop in influencer following may be related to the previous point: the user perceives that he or she is being sold a productsomething you don't look for in networks.
- eSports are in high demand by a certain audience with well defined channels. If you have an audience that fits in, don't hesitate to explore its platforms.
- There are many social networks, more and more of them, research your audience and try them in different ways. new ways to reach your potential customers.
If you want to know more in detail everything that we have told you here, we leave you the link to the IAB Annual Social Media Study.
And remember, if you want to advertise your business on social networks, at Geotelecom we count, we carry out the social media management for companies thanks to our professional community managers, contact us now!
