Implementing a communication strategy in Europe can be tough. It is a special mix of different nationalities with their own language, culture, habits and preferences. And different Social Media habits. Here the attitude “What works in NY works in LA” does not really apply: the message that works for the Nordics does not necessarily work for the French. Tools that are used in UK, are not necessarily popular in Italy.
If you are pushing your message through a Social Media tool the citizens do not use, you are wasting your money and resources. It can be the most innovative, clever campaign ever created, but if there is no one who sees it…failed. Big time.
Here is a small snapshot on the European Social Media habits based on the statistics from the Universal McCann study wave 3:
Blogs
9% of all Europeans maintain blogs or publish Web pages. Highest percentage of blog readers in Europe is in Italy (78,9%), France(78%) and Spain(77,8%) and the lowest in Hungary(50,5%), Germany(56,6%) and Austria(59,7%). The most active blog readers are in Italy (77% reads daily or weekly), Spain (71% reads daily or weekly), Russia (67% reads daily or weekly) and France (66% reads daily or weekly).
However, writing blogs as an activity in Europe is not as popular as reading blogs. The highest percentage of users writing blogs is in Spain(41,4%), Turkey(39,2%) and Italy(33,3%). It has not been well adapted in Hungary(7,8%), Czech Republic(18,2%) and Romania(23,2%). Biggest growth is happening in Germany with a jump from 7,5% to 27,8%. In France the situation has stabilized, but in Russia, Spain, UK and Italy percentage is still increasing.
The most active blog writers can be found from France (66% daily or weekly), Spain (55% daily or weekly) and Russia (49% daily or weekly).
Social Networks
The highest percentage of active users participating on Social Networks is in Hungary(79,9%), Poland(76,8%) and Russia(71,7%). Countries that have the lowest adoption rates are France(33,1%), Czech Republic(35,5%) and Italy(38,6%). The biggest growth percentage is in Russia, Germany, Italy, UK and France.
The most active users participating on Social Networks can be found from UK(75% daily or weekly), Spain (64% daily or weekly) and Italy (66% daily or weekly).
Video clips
The most adapted social media tool in all countries. Countries with highest percentage of users watching video clips are Turkey(93,4%), Romania(92,5%), Poland(90,5%), Spain(86,6%) and Hungary(86,6%). Countries with lowest ranking are France(63,4%) and Russia(67,9%). Usage is strongly increasing in all countries.
The most active users/country are from Italy (73% daily or weekly), Spain (76% daily or weekly) and France (69% daily or weekly)
Pod casts
What comes to Podcasts, there is a great difference between countries. As a media it is used in Romania(64,4%) and Russia(57,9%) as well as in Spain(51%) and Turkey(50,8%). It does not interest much in Italy(26,6%), Netherlands(26,3%) and Hungary(25,1%). The percentage is increasing especially in Russia.
Most active users can be found from Italy (72% daily or weekly), Russia (53% daily or weekly)and Spain (65% daily or weekly).
RSS
Subscribing to RSS is especially popular in Russia(56,6%) and Poland(47,7%) compared with other countries. It is also used in Spain(33,6%) and Turkey(32%). It is not very used in Hungary(14,7%), Czech Republic(15%) and Netherlands(14,7%).
Most active users are in Italy (69% daily or weekly), France (60% daily or weekly) and Russia (51% daily or weekly)
Go global, but in Europe act local.
Source: http://www.universalmccann.com/global/knowledge#/proprietary_studies
