Global Social Media Marketing: United Kingdom

Overview UK enjoys quite a dynamic relationship with the current boom in the online marketing industry across the globe. Staggering changes in the statistics and the online demography of this nation has been noticed in the past half a decade or so. Apart from the internal and direct forces that are pulling the strings in this ongoing web churning in the country, there also are external events - and mass opinion formed as a result of those, giving shape to the future of social media and networking in the region. This in turn, is bound to affect its utility as a marketing tool. Social media and online networking has also contributed massively to a rise in internet usage across the spectrum in Britain. Surveys conducted by the Office of Communications of the United Kingdom over the past six years suggest that there has been a substantial fall in the level of general concern and scepticism regarding the internet in the UK. New research by the government agency also reveals that a sizeable section of users are now willing to take online risks more than ever, especially when it comes to internet security and privacy settings. Despite internet usage and social networking gaining in popularity, online privacy awareness is constantly on the rise. A 2011 study conducted by Ofcoms the found that of all online activities, social networking topped the list for netizens aged between 16 and 24 in the country. 91% of these users claimed that they had engaged in online exchanges on social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter. This trend however, is not restricted only to the younger generation. Almost 20% of internet users even above the age of 65 years indicated in the aforementioned survey that they participated in an online social media forum in some form or the other. UKs Social Media Demography Almost 60% of the internet users in the UK claim to have a profile on at least one social networking website. It is worth mentioning though, that the growth in British membership on the most popular such platforms has seen a drop, with a rise of just 5% since 2010. Contrast this to the rates of growth in 2010, which was 10%, and 2009, when the rise was a whopping 22%. Among those that are existing members of a social networking forum,

67% claim that they are visiting the site on a daily basis, a huge increase from the 30% figure of 2007. Britain based social media agency Umpf recently did a survey among approximately 2400 online UK citizens who possess active profiles in at least one of the leading social media platforms in the country. The data they collected was presented in the form of the following info-graphic:

The Social Media Roster The following are the most popular social networking platforms, ranked by the number of visits from the UK in September 2011, released by Experian Hitwise in the same year. The percentage change from the previous years figure is also mentioned in parentheses. 1. Facebook - 51.94% (-4.32% yearly change) 2. YouTube - 22.50% (+5.33%) 3. Twitter - 3.40% (+1.11%) 4. Yahoo! Answers - 2.34% (+0.18%) 5. Gumtree - 1.16% (-0.03%) 6. LinkedIn - 0.96% (+0.52%) 7. Tumblr - 0.84% (+0.54%) 8. Moneysavingexpert - 0.43% (-0.04%) 9. MySpace: 0.39% (-0.57%) 10. Moshi Monsters: 0.37% (+0.15%) The Sex Ratio Overall, online social media and networking seems to be more popular among the female Britons, with 60% of them participating in one or the other such website. Only 54% of online UK men have jumped into the fray on the other hand. British men however, were found to be more likely to join a professional networking platform such as LinkedIn. 16% of British male internet users tried this service, as against 9% of females in 2011. Future Projections Within a twelve month period between September 2010 and September 2011, traffic to social networking websites within the UK saw an increase of almost 11%. According to eMarketer (May 2012), 59.9% of internet users in the UK will be using at least one social media service by the end of 2014. Their projected yearly numbers are: 2011 - 52.6% 2012 - 55.3% 2013 - 57.7% 2014 - 59.9%

Mobile Social Networking According to Comscore, users of mobile devices in the UK who access social networks from their phones, do so almost every day. The number of online UK residents accessing social networking platforms per week on mobile devices has spring-boarded from 15% in 2010, to 29% in 2011. This jump is even higher for smart phone users, up from 39% in 2010, to 55% in 2011. It is noteworthy that almost 44% of mobile users in Britain own a smart phone. iPhone users have been found to be the most likely to access the internet using their device. Consequently, smart phone ownership is increasingly becoming directly proportional to the amount of mobile social media penetration. All in all, approximately 35% of the overall mobile phone market is now accessing social networking services from their handheld devices. See the following graph for further reference:

Changing Attitudes towards the Internet According to Ofcoms Adults Media Use and Attitudes report, negative concerns regarding the nature of the internet have dropped significantly amongst UK adults from a massive 70% in the year 2005, to just 50% in 2011. Confidence in the cyber world is at an all time high at 84%.

This fall in apprehensive attitudes has come with increased amounts of time being spent on the web. Every UK internet user is now online for an average of over 15 hours every week, an increment of 5 hours since 2005. Here are some further pointers: 50% of all users in Britain maintain that the internet has increased the level and volume of interaction they have with their family and friends who do not live in the same city as they do. Almost 24% believe they have an improved contact even with people who live nearby. Another major reason for adults to turn to the online world is specialised information. 68% of the internet users in the UK now access the internet in order to look for details regarding public services, an increase of 19% from what it was in the year 2005. 79% of UK adults that have internet access have used it to look up information regarding travel and leisure activities, a rise of 18% from the 2005 figure for the same.

2012 data from Experian Hitwise corroborates these findings. UK netizens are now paying 93 million more visits per month to search engines, than it was in the same month in previous years, i.e., a growth of about 4.3%. And Google, as expected, has the lions share. Take a look at the following chart:

Effects on Social Media Networking Due to this changing point of view, a personal attachment to the online world in the adult population of Britain has seen in a sizeable increment in recent times. In 2011, 17% adults missed going online via a PC or laptop. This section of UK adults accounted for only about 8% of the online population in 2005.

The internet is increasingly becoming a big part of the everyday lives of Britons, irrespective of their location. Almost 80% of adults now go online on multiple devices and locations, a jump of 20 % from the 2005 figure. On an average, each UK resident is now spending approximately 7 hours per month on at least one of the major social networks. The following graphic represents the comprehensive internet usage trend, and corresponding social media habits of Britons for the year 2011.

The senior most age group however - those above 65, are still the least likely to have access to the internet in the country. About 51% of this age group say that they dont intend to acquire an internet connection for their homes a section that is roughly 15% of the entire population of the UK. Latest Findings on Online Privacy Concerns in the Region The Media Literacy Report released by the Office of Communication has revealed that despite the dropping apprehension levels, the British online population is becoming much more conscious of the security risks on the internet. This can be attributed to increased awareness levels and decreasing speculation regarding the World Wide Web.

According to the report, internet users are acquiring more knowledge regarding the online world, and becoming less and less willing to furnish personal details online than they were in the year 2007. An estimated 80% UK citizens that are members of a social networking site, are now more likely to allow only friends and family to view their profile information, as against a mere 48% in 2007. A sizeable proportion of British users display a lack of confidence in filtering software security features sourced from the web. The Scots have come out as the most yielding of all the Britons when it comes to providing personal information on the web. In contrast to 23% of the Welsh and the Northern Irish, 50% of the online community of Scotland do not hesitate in furnishing their home addresses on third party websites. 44% of adult users in Scotland are also likely to provide their credit card information for online purchases and verification processes, compared to just 19% of the Northern Irish adults. Overall, 32% of the adults in the UK are willing to provide their home addresses and 27% of them their credit card information, on the internet. In spite of this, a section of users in Britain is still willing to take studied risks on the web. 26% of internet users in the UK believe that their personal data, like date of birth, hometown or permanent address is accessible to people unknown to them. About 16% of British users of social networking sites claim that they share personal details, including their contact information, beyond their immediate friends list. 61% of Britons have this information available only for people in their friends list. 13% of the remaining online demography of this region responded that they do not put up such details on their profiles at all. There has hardly been any alteration in online Britons propensity towards giving out their personal data on the web since 2005, seeing only an increase of 3% over a period of 6 years. 31% users are now willing to provide their credit or debit card data on the internet as against 28% in the year 2005. There has been a change however, in terms of entering personal details on more professional and secure looking windows and system messages, padlock signs for instance. There has been a significant increase in such type of data gathering from 43% in 2005, to 56% in 2011. Ofcom also found that while most users in the UK are amply aware of the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Statements on the various websites they use or visit, hardly 24% ever actually made the effort to read through them. Although, the same proportion of users claim the opposite.

The age group least likely to thoroughly read such material online is the one between the ages of 16 to 24. This comprises 35% of the non-reading section of the UK netizens. At the same time, just 14% of UK internet users over the age of 65 make this effort. It is noteworthy however, that the aforementioned younger age group is also the least likely to judge an online portal before entering any personal information. Also, approximately half of UKs online community still considers television and radio content to be more reliable and accurate than the material they find online on similar topics. Significantly, 31% users actually prefer and trust the internet over other media. The Societal Impact Social media is also bringing a measure of dynamism in British society that has never been seen before. A great example is the riots that took place in London last year. Many reputable sources came out with hindsight analyses in the role of the mainstream media and online social media in the aggravation and abetment of the events. According to a piece by The Guardian columnist Josh Halliday, the Riots Communities and Victims Panel found that riots were 'made worse' by the rolling coverage on television and the internet. The role of online social networking services such as BBM, Twitter and Facebook was brought to the attention of civil society and government authorities by this panel. On the other hand, the recent London Olympics presented the flipside of this social media revolution in the country in the form of 150 million tweets in a matter of just 16 days. Take a look at this graph:

But this large scale impact of the online and social networking world is not limited only to the community aspect of the British society. It is also changing the professional landscape of the nation. According to a study by Oriella Digital Journalism, over 50% of journalists in the world are today using social media platforms like Twitter to find, identify, and verify news stories. The following presentation will provide a better idea:

Social media is also changing the way industry recruitment is happening in the UK. Data from The Group suggests that today, 1.9 million Britons connect with prospective employers via LinkedIn. More than 1.7 million UK professionals today follow the corporate twitter accounts of FTSE100, in addition to the 19 million fans it has on its Facebook pages. Over 62 million Britons viewed corporate videos on YouTube between January and June in 2012.

Where Lays the Opportunity for Online Marketers? 48% of adult internet users in the UK now believe that they saved significant amounts of money by researching and performing price comparisons, and purchasing goods and services online. In the last 6 months, 81% of British internet users have saved money by choosing the internet over retail shopping. Also, 30 % of UKs online community now prefers to do their basic banking online, checking their account balance for instance. This is a rise of 8% from the 2005 figure for the same. However, one of the biggest impacts of the internet and social media in the UK has been on the travel industry. Over 36% of UKs internet users now prefer to book holidays on the web, almost equalling the number of bookings done physically. This is how companies perceive online social media in the UK presently:

Apart from all the socio-economic, technological, and demographic factors discussed in this chapter, there are some additional items online marketers must keep in mind before launching a campaign using various networking tools on the internet. A SkyIQ study recently found that around 66% of indiscrete direct marketing was being done using e-mails in the UK in September 2011. The following was the fallout:

Case Study: The Influence of Social Media on the UK Travel Industry According to the World Travel Market 2011 Industry Report that included data surveyed from over a thousand Britons who took at least one vacation lasting seven days or more in the preceding 12 months - social media portals such as the likes of TripAdvisor and Facebook, have become much more important to British holiday makers while deciding on a number of aspects of their vacation. 40% of those surveyed made one or more references to online social networking in the 2011 study, a sizeable jump from

2010s 36% that turned to social media to seek advice, plan, finalise, and book their holiday. Out of all the travel related social networking platforms online, TripAdvisor held its position as the favourite amongst UK users, comprising around 65% of the total number of social media users. Although Facebook and other tourism websites too attracted a fourth of British tour planners, travel blogs continue to struggle for credibility and still have not made it as a mainstream source of information for holidaying and travel. Just 10% of users visited such pages. Social media websites influenced the changes in hotel bookings for more than one-third of the UK holiday makers that used them, and as a direct result of what they discovered or read there, a trend that carried forward from 2010. However, there was a marginal fall in social medias influence on the choice of the operator, hotel address, location and the air carrier. Irrespective of all this, almost 48% of Britons retained their original holiday plans and choose not to alter their destination, as against 42% in 2010. Nevertheless, online social networking continues to influence and alter the travel plans of over 50% of British people who choose to use it. All in all, the report indicates that although most Britons are not willing users of social media at the planning stages of their vacation, more than 50% of those who do, end up changing some part or the other of their plan. And this is quite a sizeable portion of the UK travel market. Despite a lot of external pressures such as legal threats from hotels and negative publicity in the media such as the Channel 4 documentary film that portrayed the habitual travel reviewers as motivated and questionable, more than three-fourths of Britains travellers going on extended tours still completely trust travel related opinions and reviews on the internet. Out of the 550 respondents that have been long haul travellers at least once in the preceding one year, 76% claimed that they found the relevant online social media discussions to be a valuable tool in guiding them throughout their journey. What is encouraging for the hospitality business is that just 12% of British travellers would take a decision against a particular hotel on the basis of a single adverse review on the web. However, this figure rises exponentially with the rise in the number of negative comments. 54% will look for different lodging if two or more reviews are unfavourable. Also noteworthy is the fact that 18% of the users maintained that such forums serve just as a small part of the decision making process. Traditional factors like budgets and location still hold the final say. Curiously, less than 5% of those included in the survey suspect any foul play, bias, or vested interests in the content on such review and social networking websites.

Some of the highlights and conclusions of the study can be summed up as: Social medias influence on a particular industry might sometimes be overstated and over estimated. Online social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter do not extend as much influence on UKs travel industry as one might think. A more niche service such as TripAdvisor is far more influential. Conversations between users and brands and among users themselves on a social media platform, leads to positive behaviour on both ends of the spectrum. Experience sharing such as a hotel review by an individual traveller is only one point of view and influence only a small part of opinion formation. Social networking websites still make for excellent advertising platforms to reach targeted individuals. The utility of a presence in the social media arena for a brand cannot be overstated in the medium and long run. It cannot however, be expected to drive short-term sales for the same.

Social Media Marketing Census Results According to the latest figures released by a Fishburn, Hedges and Echo research in the month of April 2012, 36% of the UK online community is using social media forums such as Facebook and Twitter to interact with various commercial brands. This number has doubled in the last eight months alone. The census was done amongst 2000 adult British internet users, along with brands such as BT, Sainsbury's, Pepsi, O2, HSBC, Oasis, Barclays etc. - all considered pioneers in online marketing for their respective brands. Here are some of the findings: 65% of the respondents said they found social media to be a better medium to communicate with the brands, ahead of calling in to their customer services over the telephone. 68% say that the online platform provides them a broader scope of dialogue, and a louder voice. Although 64% of the consumers are not using social networking to engage with the brands proactively, 40% of the respondents agreed that these online forums augment the customers overall experience.

And So, Social media and online networking continues to grow in the UK, as is the case worldwide. Its overall significance was succinctly summed up by this underlining statement made by the government body led by Mr.Darra Singh - in the wake of the London Riots. "What is clear from the riots is that there is no simple 'switch off' solution. Viral silence may have as many dangers as viral noise." References Ofcom (Office of Communications): http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/medialiteracy/archive/medlitpub/medlitpubrss/socialnetworking/ Ofcom (Office of Communications): http://media.ofcom.org.uk/2012/03/29/uk-adults-less-concerned-over-internet-despiteprivacy-risks/ David Haynes, Department of Information Science, City University, London: http://www.google.co.in/url?q=http://aspiresquared.co.uk/wpcontent/uploads/Social_Networks_Haynes_2011.pdf&sa=U&ei=Tvk6UMnpDpCsrAfAoYGwAQ&ved=0CB8QFjAE&usg=AFQjC NGQPIoGILtscG1C-CdtmRItNfJLfQ Social Networks and UGC: http://www.newmediatrendwatch.com/markets-by-country/18-uk/152-social-networksand-ugc Josh Halliday: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/mar/28/uk-riots-twitter-facebook Images Infographic: Active UK Users of Social Media Platforms by Tom Foremski, February 21, 2012: www.siliconvalleywatcher.com/mt/archives/2012/02/infographic_act.php What are the facts behind Video SEO? by Adjust Your Set, 23 December, 2011: http://content.adjustyourset.tv/2011/12/why-video-seo-marketing.html

UK mobile social media users show heavy usage patterns by Dirk Singer, Nov 28, 2011: http://liesdamnedliesstatistics.com/2011/11/uk-mobile-social-media-users-show-heavyusage-patterns.html Social Media? Its About The Numbers! by Brian Kelly, 14 August, 2012: http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/category/social-networking Study: 75% of UK Journalists Source News from Known Social Media Contacts by Rachel McAthy, 21 June, 2012: www.journalism.co.uk/news/study-75-percent-journalists-source-news-from-knowncontacts-on-social-media/s2/a549652 How Recruiters Can Get Started with Social Media by Jorgen Sundberg: http://theundercoverrecruiter.com/how-recruiters-can-get-started-with-social-media The State Of Social Media in the UK by Lauren Dugan, November 16, 2011: www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/the-state-of-social-media-in-the-uk-infographic_b15845 10 Interesting Digital Marketing Stats weve seen This Week by David Moth, August 09, 2012: http://econsultancy.com/in/blog/10508-10-interesting-digital-marketing-stats-we-ve-seenthis-week-10 Reasons UK Consumers Unsubscribe by derickson, May 1, 2012: http://trends.e-strategyblog.com/2012/05/01/reasons-uk-consumers-unsubscribechart/374