The European Social Media and Email Marketing Study:

A 6 Country Study about the Digital Dialogue between Facebook, Twitter and Email
(Summary of Part 1 and 2)
 10 Facts and Figures About Digital Dialogue Marketing With
Facebook, Twitter and Email in Europe

Social networks are used for acquiring information about products, not for direct selling
1
Twitter users are very open to product communication and even some Facebook users use the platform to find out about
products and businesses. However, private communication and limited “publication” are what keep users on social network
platforms - not the fact that they are a channel to making purchases in online shops.

Fans and Followers are the new email subscribers (UK results)
2
73% of respondents can be reached on social networks. 28% use social networks to find out about products and businesses,
but only 32% are fans or followers of a brand or company. To successfully engage in digital dialogue, marketing experts must
convert consumers into subscribers as fans and followers.

Email still forms the backbone for digital dialogue with consumers (UK results)
3
Almost one fifth of internet users (18%) can only be reached through newsletters. 56% of fans and followers of company /
brand profiles are also reached by newsletters. Companies must therefore be capable of coordinating news across a range of
channels.

When information is shared, it can have a wide reach (UK results)

4
43% of users of social networks have more than 100 friends of followers. On average, each shared message reaches 77
people. But companies only achieve this multiplier effect if the brand or product becomes part of the user’s “private”
communication.

Users of social networks want to be engaged by companies (UK results)

5
13% of fans and followers of company / brand profiles want to be called upon to do something. These should be used better
by brands.

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 10 Facts and Figures About Digital Dialogue Marketing With
Facebook, Twitter and Email in Europe

A strong combination: Social Media and email works in every country

6
For each of the six countries surveyed, at least 50% of respondents use social networks as well as email newsletters. The
interaction between email marketing and social media is a significant share of today’s communication, as using both channels
covers almost the whole internet community.

European online market split into two groups

7
The six largest European online markets split in two groups: Germany, France and the Netherlands are “email countries”,
where over a third of users can only be reached via email or newsletters, whereas the UK, Italy and Spain represent the
“multi-channel” countries, where the usage of both email and social media channels dominate.

Facebook is the number one of social networks – with one exception

8
Facebook is the leading social network in every country with one exception: the Netherlands. The local network Hyves is the
number one social network channel. The German social media landscape is more fragmented than the other countries, with
two local networks “VZ-Gruppe” and “Wer-kennt-Wen” are second and third place with the highest number of users.

9 A company’s “fan page” only reaches three markets with a significant amount of users.
Only in the UK, Italy and Spain is more than a quarter of social media users a fan or follower of a company’s page or profile.
The reach of company profiles is still limited, however the UK offers the most potential for this to grow in the future.

“Mobile email” on the rise for consumers

10
In the UK, Italy and Spain, already a quarter of emails users retrieve their eails on mobile devices several times a day.

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The European cosmos of communication – How do consumers use
Facebook, Twitter and Email?

Users of different communication channels (Percentage)

UK

NL

 More than half of respondents in all countries are “real” multi-channel users. They can be reached for online
marketing purposes via email marketing and social networks.
 The six largest European online advertising markets can be split into two groups: Germany, France and the
Netherlands - “email countries” where more than a third of users can only be reached via email. The UK, Italy and
Spain are “multi-channel” countries where usage of social networks is generally much higher.
Base: Total - Germany N=1,105; United Kingdom N=1,045; Italy N=1,010; France N=1,225; Spain N=540; Netherlands N=501
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* Note: Germany and the Netherlands figures not equal to 100% as some respondents do not use any of these communication channels
The “digital dialogue” cosmos of communication – How do today’s
consumers use Facebook, Twitter and Email? (UK results)

email
100% of all respondents
17% newsletter
73% of all respondents

social network
73% of all respondents

email + newsletter + social network

56% 56% of all respondents can be reached through all communication
channels
email + newsletter
18% of all respondents can be reached through emails and
newsletters but not on social networks

email + social network

18% 17% of all respondents can be reached through emails and on
social networks but not through newsletters

email
9% of all respondents can be reached only through email
Base: Total (N=1,045)

 18% of the respondents can be reached through newsletters but not on social networks.
 56% of the respondents use all communication channels.

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Mobile emails (UK results)

Base: Recipient of emails (N=1,041)

 Nearly every owner of an email account checks their emails daily.

 One quarter of email users check their emails daily using a mobile device.

Question: How often do you use your email address(es)? (7-stage scale)
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Question: How often do you check your e-mails using a mobile device (e.g. iPhone, Black Berry etc.)? (8-stage scale)
The Top 3 Social Networks in Europe – Facebook is the leading
network in 5 of the 6 countries

D UK I
60% 94% 96%

50% 28% 21%

36% 25% 17%

av. 2.2 memberships av. 2.0 memberships av. 1.8 memberships

F E NL

95% 95% 80%

38% 63%
11 % 37% 19 % 24%

av. 1.9 memberships av. 2.2 memberships av. 2.3 memberships

 Facebook is the leading social network in every country with one exception: the Netherlands. The local network
Hyves is the number one social network channel.
 The German social network landscape is more fragmented than in other European countries.

Question: Which social networks do you use / have an account with?

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Base: Users of social networks - Germany N=663; United Kingdom N=764; Italy N=787; France N=762; Spain N=428; Netherlands N=278
Frequency of Checking Social Networks

UK

NL

 In all countries approximately 90% of social networkers visit their profile at least once a week.
 Italy has the highest number of daily frequent users (“at least once a week” ).

Question: How often do you generally use social networks? (7-stage scale, Top 4)
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Base: Users of social networks - Germany N=663; United Kingdom N=764; Italy N=787; France N=761; Spain N=428; Netherlands N=278
Do Company Fan Pages Really Work?

Fans/followers of a company/brand among social media users (Percentage)

UK

NL

 One third of the UK social networkers are fan/follower of a company/brand.

 Germany is the country with the smallest share of fans/followers.
 In four countries (Spain, the Netherlands. France and Germany) less than a fourth of all social media users can
be reached by corporate fan pages or twitter accounts.
Question: Are you a fan/friend of a company/brand profile on a social network or a follower of a company/brand on twitter?
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Base: Users of social networks - Germany N=663; United Kingdom N=764; Italy N=787; France N=761; Spain N=428; Netherlands N=278
Fans or followers? (UK results)

Base: Fan or follower (N=241)

Base: Users of social networks (N=764)

32% are fans/followers of a

brand/company profile.
Most of the fans are highly
educated at a young age.

Question: Are you a fan/friend of a company/brand profile on a social network or a follower of a company/brand on Twitter?
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 At the end:
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