Brits are still using search engines more than social media to discover brands, according to new research.
The use of social media to discover brands is on the rise, with 23.2% of the UK using a social platform to research a brand. However, there is still a place for search engines when it comes to brand discovery, with 39.5% of the UK still using one, followed by word of mouth (37.1%) and ads on TV (37.1%).
These are the findings from Digital 2021 UK, the annual country-specific report from Hootsuite, the global leader in social media management and We Are Social, the socially-led creative agency which analyses the UK’s use of social media and digital trends.
Other key findings from the report include:
- When looking into our worries around online privacy and wellbeing, 62.9% of us expressed concern around what’s real or fake on the internet and 42.5% are worried about how companies are using our personal data
- 18.4% of us tracked screen time on apps in the last month
- We own, on average, 6.9 social media accounts and 28.7% of us use social media for work purposes
- Total digital ad spend in 2020 equated to $22.07 billion
o $10.82 billion on digital search ads
o $5.84 billion on social media ads
o $2.68 billion on banner ads
o $1.33 billion on video ads
- Advertisers can reach the following numbers of us through social media platforms:
o 53 million on YouTube
o 38 million on Facebook
o 31 million on Instagram
o 30 million on Facebook Messenger
o 21.10 million on Snapchat
o 16.45 million on Twitter
