Hello, we are social. We are a conversation agency with offices in London, Paris, Milan and Sydney.
We help brands to listen, understand and engage in conversations in social media.
We’re a new kind of agency, but conversations between people are nothing new. Neither is the idea that ‘markets are conversations’.
We’re already helping Coca-Cola, Ford, Unilever, Microsoft, Tesco, Orange, Eurostar, Absolut and WWF.
If you’d like to chat about us helping you too, then give us a call on +44 20 7851 7560 or drop us an email.
Europe is ahead of the US in terms of the consumer usage of social media, and yet little attention is often given to the nuances of what is on one hand is the world’s largest economy and on the other a collection of 48 countries with very different cultures.
Find out why the blogging scene in Paris is 2 years ahead of the US, the Brits are all a Twitter, the Dutch prefer Hyves to Facebook and the Germans will take any chance to give brands a hostile reception in social media.
I’m very honoured to get a speaking slot. The SXSW organisers whittled down over 2300 applications to just 300 based on public votes (if you were one of those that voted – thank you!) and their own judging criteria.
The trouble is, I’m not going to be there. Despite some of our friends taking the whole company to SXSW, with the speed things are moving here in Europe for We Are Social, right now I simply can’t afford five days away from the office.
Thankfully, our friend Peter Bihr (@thewavingcat), one of Germany’s leading social media thinkers, has agreed to step into the breach and lead the talk, but he’s not had much time to prepare. So, we need you your help – I’m going to talk below about what I was planning to cover, but please chip-in in the comments if you have any insights to add of your own. Peter’s relying on you!
Lost In Translation: The Nuances Of European Social Media
With over 10 pan-European social media campaigns under our belt, we feel like we’ve got a handle on the nuances of European social media, but it’s very hard to sum-up in a few words. Let’s take things step by step.
As you’ll see, there’s a lot of variation between age groups in each country, with different generations in different places using social media in different ways. Germany really does seem to be lagging behind, with the Netherlands and Sweden leading the way.
However, the data doesn’t support the deliberately provocative proposition in my preamble that “Europe is ahead of the US in terms of the consumer usage of social media”. Well, Forrester is only one source of data, and others paint a different picture.
Aside from the detailed look at European social media usage that the Forrester data provides, there are other reports worth looking at. Our friend Tom Smith of Trendstream put this really useful deck together based on his first round of Global Web Index data:
So far, I’ve concentrated on European social media usage and behavior, but it’s worth remembering that Europe has a rich landscape of social media services, despite Facebook’s merciless and continuing rise to world domination.
So where does that leave us? Europe is a complex and varied continent, and it’s no surprise to find that its social media landscape matches this. From our pan-European campaign experience, we know it’s important to treat each country differently, and we always make sure we either have a native of each country working on the team in London or Paris, or we work closely with local partners. Despite the varied uptake and usage of social media in different countries, we’ve found if we respect the local social media culture, it’s possible to run successful social media campaigns in any market in Europe.
I am a free-lance web designer from Belgium, and by no means an expert on social media. That said, I do not understand the fairness in comparing one or some European countries with the whole US instead of state by state. Lastly, I see that Europe is leading the way in social media usage, but the numbers on Creators is not as shining. Frankly, I'd feel prouder in the second pile.
I noticed on the third graph their is almost no data from India and other emerging markets. If I had to bet, 3 or 4 years from now India will be in the top 5 of most of these graphs.
HAha, i was refferring to the graph above. The one that has countries like australia, us, japan, etcm titled average time spent on social networking sites. (2nd graph). No india?
Wow, so many data and info! Extremely useful, you don't usually come across a European overview when talking Social Media.
One thing has strucken me: that blogging in Paris is 2 yeasr ahed of US, is that so?? In the museums world, at least, much more active on social media than the capital are the museums in Toulouse (Museum, Centre Erasmus, les Abattoirs).
As for Twitter, it has experienced a dramatic increase, in my opinion, well justified: it has become a precious source of professional info + networking.
From the perspective of 'Brits all a twitter' I can say we run monthly packed out Twitter Developer Nest meetings in London (www.twitterdevelopernest.com #devnest) which get great reviews and speakers from the likes of Yahoo and Google. Our audience is bright talented and enthusiastic and never cease to amaze me with ideas. We are running a free alternative to Twitters own @chirp conference in the UK called @warblecamp (www.warblecamp.org) in May with the support of the guardian and Paypal and Yahoo Developer Network. Brits all a twitter? - You bet. Its great fun. The ideas are new and interesting. And we are only just starting!
qwghlm: @fingertrouble Well I made it through. Still freaked, especially after meeting two very friendly lift operatives at the north end # 5 hours ago
fingertrouble: @qwghlm why are you wandering down Greenwich Foot Tunnel at 2:30am? That's far more scary than whistling for me... # 5 hours ago