According to research compiled in an infographic by Offerpop, the United Kingdom has the highest proportion of social networkers in the world (52%). In fact, 95% of 16-20 year olds in the U.K. have logged into Facebook in the last month. However, social media penetration in the U.K. is highest in the 25-34 year old demographic, followed by the 18-24 year old and 35-44 year old demographics, respectively.
In the U.K., social media is a place where consumers actively engage with brands. Offerpop reports that 36% of U.K. consumers use social media to interact with brands. On Facebook, two Cadbury brand pages are included in the top three most liked Facebook Pages in the U.K., and on Twitter, Rockstar Games and Swedish House Mafia are the top two brands with over 1.5 million followers each (see the infographic below for details).
The Offerpop findings are in line with research conducted by eMarketer in February of this year, which predicted that 71% of U.K. adults will use social networks by the end of 2017. However, U.K. social media users are using Twitter, Facebooks, and other social sites for more than just interacting with each other. Separate research by video search website Blinkx released in August found that 43% of 18-24 year olds prefer to use social networks to look for content rather than using search engines like Google.
With so many people in the U.K. using social media, brands need to understand what type of content resonates with their audiences. A study conducted by Ipsos OTX and Ipsos Global @advisor in April found that 58% of U.K. social media users shared some kind of content via social media in the last month. The research report identified the following ranking of the types of content U.K. social media users share:
- Photos = 36% of survey respondents
- Links to articles = 22% of survey respondents
- Links to other websites = 18% of survey respondents
- Reposts from other people’s social media accounts = 18% of survey respondents
- Something I like or recommend such as a product, service, book, movie, etc, = 15% of survey respondents
- News items = 14% of survey respondents
- Video clips = 11% of survey respondents
- I haven’t shared anything in the past month = 42%
Back in August, The Daily Mail published an article reviewing the “meteoric rise of social networking in the U.K.” which included statistics from the Office for National Statistics and Eurostat. Bottom-line, Britons are prolific social media users, and while usage has grown quickly, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to any brand manager when The Daily Mail reported in August that over half of all Britons were using social media. If you’re brand is available for purchase in the U.K., it needs a social media presence, because that is where your customers are.
You can see more details from the research compiled by Offerpop in the infographic below.
Image: Chris Chidsey
Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.
