2020 confirmed that social media networks and mobile devices are fundamental tools when it comes to not just digital marketing, but the entire B2B commercial process. Here is some key information about digital trends in Spain and France.
According to Hootsuite’s annual report, Digital 2021, internet penetration, globally, has grown to 4.66 billion users. Of these, 90% (4.20 billion) use social media, a year-on-year increase of 13%.
The Spanish and French markets: similarities and differences
In both France and Spain, 91% of the population uses the internet, and 80% of those who surf the web in Spain are active social media users (37.4 million people) versus 75% in France, with growth rates of 28% and 13%, respectively, throughout 2020.
IMPORTANT: 34.8% of Spanish internauts use social media for work vs. 25.4% in France.
In Spain, on average, each internet user from 16 to 64 years old has eight different social media accounts (in France, this number is less than seven).
Therefore, it is important that you carefully choose the social networks on which you want your brand to be present in order to optimize results and capitalize on your investment.
The most critical component of this is taking the time to define your objectives and targets in order to decide which networks to be on and which ones not to be on, as well as the criteria for assessing your results, something that we often forget about because of day-to-day pressures or scarce internal resources.
This way, you’ll be able to define the role that each social network should play in your brand strategy, aiming for more than simple visibility, but rather the ability to, for example, generate traffic to your website, collect leads, collect market information, increase downloads of a specific document, etc.
We are experts in B2B communication and international strategies. Contact us if you would like more information.
Why your website should be responsive
In some B2B markets, it’s still common to see websites, newsletters, etc. with designs that don’t adapt to mobile devices.
In fact, in Spain, 93% of users access the internet through a mobile device, versus 86% in France.
Even more, in Spain, 50% of 2020 website traffic through search engines occurred on mobile phones (a 3-point growth compared to the previous year) versus 45.9% on desktop or laptop computers, and only 3% on tablets.
In France, mobile phones also represent a significant and growing portion of search engine traffic, 45% (up 5 points from the year prior) versus the 50% that continues to come from desktop or laptop computers.
This data shows that making web content and websites responsive to mobile formats is critical if we want to remain connected to a large portion of the market.
The digital channel is the first source of information about brands
On the other hand, 2020 confirmed that the digital channel is the first source that users go to for information about a brand or to research new ones.
The following points stand out:
- Discovery of new brands: SEO is key
When it comes to discovering brands, there are multiple options available, but search engines are the source most frequently used by Spanish internauts: almost 40% of internet users find new brands through online search engines, 37.3% do so based on personal recommendations, 36.4% through TV ads, and only 25% through ads on other websites, with catalogs, product comparison sites, and comments on social media being less frequent.
In France, search engines stand out as a source of discovery for more than 42% of internet users, followed by personal recommendations and product samples for 29% and online stores for 26%. TV ads, which were on top not so long ago, are further behind at 23%.
Thus, it is crucial that your brand be well-positioned in search results, which requires working on your SEO. Contact us if you would like support in this area.
- Social media, much more than a display window
On the other hand, social networks come in at third place for ways Spanish internet users search for information about a brand, product, or service, with 41.7% of them using social media for this purpose, coming in behind search engines (61.9%) and almost on par with corporate websites (42%).
In France, search engines also dominate as the first channel for information about brands, products, or services, used by 62.2% of internauts for this purpose, followed by corporate websites (used by 33.7% of users), “consumer review” sites (32.2%), and, to a lesser extent, social media (28%), along with price comparison websites.
These numbers make it evident that, for users, social media is no longer a simple accessory, but rather, it has become an additional channel for information about brands, just like websites. Contact us if you are interested in running an assessment of your social networks.
LINKEDIN: the quintessential B2B network
Among the multitude of social media networks out there, LinkedIn continues to be known as the ideal network for professionals. Spain already has 14 million total users, whereas this number in France has reached 21 million. Although personal profiles are most common, business pages have a ton of untapped potential. According to The Lab Foundation Inc., despite the fact that only 0.59% of posts published on LinkedIn come from business pages, they generate 10% of all leads. This is a much better result than that obtained from personal profile posts.
Likewise, the same study signals that, in B2B business, 80% of leads generated through social media come from LinkedIn, versus 12% in Twitter and 7% in Facebook. This data, along with the evident growth in users throughout 2020, shows that it is a social network that offers outstanding results, while likely requiring less investment in content than other networks.
Conclusions
Mobile phones are key to users access to internet, and brand components and content must be developed to optimize this type of device.
Social media networks should be treated not as a display window, but rather as an integral part of a brand’s communications strategy, with clear and measurable conversion objectives.
Digitalization has gone from being an area of opportunity to an utmost priority in the B2B world, a fact that has become more concrete because of the pandemic. At Zekluu, we offer you our experience and knowledge in digital marketing and B2B communications, as well as our international perspective, to activate a communications strategy adapted to an ever-changing reality. If you are looking to enhance your digital strategy, contact us!
