Facebook is no longer the queen of social networks. Although until now this platform was the favorite of the Spanish, now it is placed in third place in the ranking of the most used, behind Instagram and LinkedIn.
This is stated in the new 2022 Social Networks Report launched by IEBS Digital School, an online business school, which indicates that 61.4% of Spaniards prefer Instagram (also owned by Meta) to publish personal content on the Internet. Facebook is only the 40% option.
Despite the fact that Facebook has more registered users, Instagram and LinkedIn have eaten the toast of Mark Zuckerberg’s social network. At a professional level, the favorite is LinkedIn: 71.4% of those surveyed use it for this purpose. Instagram is placed in second position with 38.6% and Facebook, which has fewer and fewer followers, is hardly used in this regard.
According to the IEBS study, carried out among more than 1,500 Spanish Internet users, the main reasons why they use social networks are information, entertainment and the publication of content. Other reasons follow, such as viewing other people’s content, looking for work and shopping online.
On the contrary, there is still a small percentage of users (5.4%) who are reluctant to enter this world. Those who do not have social networks allege that there is “excessive publicity” in them, in addition to insecurity and lack of usefulness. There are also those who argue that they do not know how to use them and prefer to maintain their privacy.
Increase consumption of social networks
The report states that both the number of people who have social networks has increased and the consumption time they spend continues to increase. According to the IEBS Digital School report, 54.3% of those surveyed say they use social networks more than last year, and 51.3% are online for more than three hours a day.
This represents a great opportunity for brands, which are increasingly present on social networks. In fact, 91% of Spaniards follow a brand through these platforms. In this sense, interest in the product or service is the main reason, with 70%, followed by being up to date with company news (42.9%) and interest in promotions (38.6%). .
The key, as the experts point out, is knowing how to add value and not saturate the user with intrusive ads: 8 out of 10 Spaniards say that if the advertising content interests them, they pay attention to it. They are also an interesting means of sale, as indicated by 65.7% of those surveyed, who say they have ever bought something through social networks.
On the contrary, the publication of irrelevant content, the excessive publication of advertisements and promotional messages and poor customer service are the main reasons that respondents give for unfollowing a brand, with 75.7%, 67. 1% and 52.9%, respectively. In fact, 72.8% of Spaniards consider that the maximum time it should take for a brand to attend to their requests as customers through social networks is between 1 and 4 hours.
The role of community managers
Both social media managers and community managers (and other profiles in charge of strategies and publications on social networks) have become an increasingly necessary profile for organizations. The professionalization of these profiles, moreover, is not trivial, since it requires in-depth training in digital skills and technical skills. In addition, the marketing and advertising budgets of companies increasingly occupy a higher percentage of the total.
Óscar Fuente, director and founder of IEBS, has stated: “Companies need to be where their customers are, so it is not surprising that having an active profile on social networks has become a priority for the vast majority of them. . But being so close to the user entails its risks, which is why it is necessary to have specially qualified professionals for its management, so that we can get the most out of these tools and ensure that they serve our objectives correctly”.
