Q4 2020: Social media market share in the Netherlands and Europe

It's 2021. Where just a few months ago we thought we would be rid of corona by now, it turns out we are still in the middle of it. Indeed, the lockdowns have become stricter. And that also has an impact on the market share of social media in the Netherlands and Europe in Q4 of 2020.

In fact, we are even more inside. As we speak, there is a curfew and even in countries around us, people are no longer allowed to go out between a certain time. In short, more time to do some online shopping or have fun on social media.

You might say.

So let's take a quick look at how things stand!

Netherlands

What is immediately noticeable in the Netherlands is the shift between Facebook and Pinterest. The largest social media channel (relatively speaking) loses about 10% of its market share, which can largely be attributed to Pinterest.

Not surprising either when you consider that the platform has improved considerably in marketing terms with Stories and Shopping, among others.

So it seems that we have started spending more of our time looking for original ideas regarding Sinterklaas surprises, Christmas decorations and crafts for your children who are now sitting at home.

In addition, the rise of Twitter is also noteworthy. Twitter is mainly used to keep abreast of the latest news and a lot has happened in recent months. That would explain a rise in usage and perhaps also a rise in popularity among advertisers (and thus a rise in social media market share in the Netherlands).

As for Instagram and Youtube, we can be brief about that: little worth mentioning this time.

Would the same be true of social media market share in Europe in the latter part of 2020?

Europe

Short answer: yes.

Long answer: social media market share in Europe follows the same trend as in the Netherlands. Or the other way around. It depends on how you look at it. In any case, Facebook is also losing some ground across Europe, Pinterest and Twitter in particular are on the rise, and Instagram and Youtube remain almost the same in terms of market share.

So it seems strongly that lockdowns are prompting people everywhere to be more creative or feel like remodeling the bedroom, bathroom or kitchen. And for the latter, you simply need some inspiration.

Let's see if they have been tinkering and rebuilding in Germany and Belgium as well.

Germany

Yes! The social media market share in Germany in 2020 also follows the same line as in the Netherlands and Europe. Only here the differences are perhaps distributed slightly differently.

Facebook also loses a few percent in Germany, but not all of it goes to Pinterest anymore. Instagram in particular sees its market share rise more here than in, say, the Netherlands.

More than double even.

Granted, that 1.11% was already not very much. But still. It is the first clear sign of recovery after a dramatic plunge in market share earlier in 2020 when it dropped from 7.45% in April to 1.15% in May.

Interesting!

Belgium

In Belgium, there is more to the 2020 social media market share. Check out those differences between Facebook and Pinterest! Facebook drops a whopping 13% (even 16% if you consider that its market share was higher in October than in September) and Pinterest grabs more than 10%.

A landslide.

And it seems YouTube is also benefiting from the Pinterest craze. Belgians are apparently getting some ideas and then checking out the video platform to see how to bring them to fruition.

Again, very interesting to see how this will develop!

Conclusion

In early fall (September), Pinterest's growth did not seem to continue. But nothing could be further from the truth! The platform is experiencing tremendous growth in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and the rest of a Europe. But at the expense of Facebook's market share. One man's death, another man's bread.

The new features and improved algorithms of the past year finally seem to be paying off and attracting more users as well as advertisers. And that is quite remarkable given the developments in society.

Indeed, retail and hospitality in particular are turning en masse to online channels and social media in particular to let their target audience know that they also deliver or are open for takeout. And since not all of them have built an equally good community, you would think that they would focus on ads on the most well-known platforms (read: Facebook) and thus screw up market share.

Well, not so.

In short, there is plenty to think about as well as to look forward to.

Source: gs.statcounter.com