New study by Experian pinpoints rising social networks stars
Singapore, 23 August 2012 – An international study by Experian®, the global information services company, reveals that niche social networks massively increased their market share of all visits to social sites with Instagram (http://instagram.com) and Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/) emerging as the global winners.
The following table highlights the growth of Instagram and Pinterest between July 2011 and July 2012 in terms of their share of visits to All Sites by country.
Social site |
Australia |
Brazil |
Hong Kong |
New Zealand |
North America |
Singapore |
UK |
362% |
11,0353% |
132% |
843% |
14,655% |
8121% |
2683% | |
798% |
5196% |
2373% |
643% |
14,242% |
623% |
1694% |
The meteoric rise of both Instagram, which allows users to share photos with others through social networks and Pinterest, the online pinboard that allows users to organise and share their interests with others, has resulted in them now featuring in the top 20 social media networks used in Singapore, the UK and North America. Other niche social networks such as Reddit in Australia, schoolFeed in the UK and Stock Twits in the US have also experienced significant gains.
Bill Tancer, Head of Global Research, Experian commented: “The growth of both Instagram and Pinterest over the past year has been phenomenal. The reason for their success is that they haven’t tried to be ‘another Facebook’. Instead, they both identified a gap in the market and used the scale of Facebook to reach consumers. Both networks are image based which people love – we all relate better to pictures than just words. For brands that are retailers for example, a site like Pinterest presents a fantastic opportunity to promote products in a compelling and organised way to a wide group of people across the world.
"Over the next 12 months, we expect to see a proliferation of niche social networks. Offering deeper functionality combined with a lower technical barrier to entry will mean new leaders in social media being created in a matter of days versus weeks and months.”
As brands get to grips with using social media effectively to reach and connect with customers and prospects, Experian’s findings illustrate how broad the social media landscape has become globally. Social networking is one of the biggest online pastimes across the globe. In each country there are thousands of social networks and forums, varying from 1500 in Brazil to 7000 in the UK.
Further analysis also highlights the fastest growing niche social networks by country between May 2011 to May 2012:
Country |
Social network |
Description |
Percentage increase of market share of visits to All Sites between July 2011 to July 2012 |
Australia |
|
Site where users vote for what is popular or not
Networking site for professionals |
177% increase
85% increase |
Brazil |
|
Technology news which can be shared via social media
WorldTV allows members to create their own TV channels for others to view. |
1120% increase
1053% increase |
Hong Kong |
Hong Kong People Reporting is an online community where users are able to submit topics for discussions. |
13% increase | |
New Zealand |
|
Site where users vote for what is popular or not
|
107% increase |
North America |
|
Social networking community which allow users to find people with skills from friends, friends of friends, local area, or the community.
StockTwits is an open, community-powered investment idea and information service. |
7117% increase
2336% increase |
Singapore |
|
Community site that assists users in finding games to play, people to play against, and serves as a meeting place for friends and team mates. |
124.16%
|
UK |
apps.facebook.com/school_feed
|
schoolFeed is a classmates network which users connect with through Facebook.
Network of fan clubs for fans of television, movies, music and more to discuss and share photos, videos, news and opinions with fellow fans. |
1565%
129% |
About the new social stars
Instagram
Consumers all over the world love getting snap happy, using Instagram to take and upload pictures to share with friends and family. Further analysis reveals that Facebook is the number one driver of traffic to
www.instagram.com
in North America and Brazil where 38% and 57% of all traffic to
www.instagram.com
comes from Facebook. In the UK it is only 12%. Interestingly, in Singapore, 42% of all visits to
www.instagram.com
are from Twitter, followed by 21% from Facebook. And upon leaving the site, social media loving Americans and Brazilians are most likely to head back to Facebook (17%), Singaporeans will go on to Twitter and Twitpic whereas Britons will go in search of something else (12%) through Google.
Pinterest
Pinterest has experienced a significant increase in users over the past year, particularly in the US where it is now the fourth biggest social network used by Americans. It still has a way to catch up in the UK where it is the 14th biggest social networking site.
Singaporeans spend on average 23 minutes on Pinterest, Americans 15 minutes per Pinterest session and Brits only nine minutes. Americans, Brazilians and Singaporeans are more likely to visit Pinterest after having been on Facebook compared to Brits who will go to Pinterest direct from Google.
In the UK, just over a quarter (27%) of Pinterest’s visitors are new users whereas in the US it is just 13% on average suggesting that it may be close to peaking in terms of new users.
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About Experian
Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients around the world. The Group helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score, and protect against identity theft.
Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended 31 March 2012 was US$4.5 billion. Experian employs approximately 17,000 people in 44 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and São Paulo, Brazil.
For more information, visit http://www.experianplc.com .