The social networking market - France (2023)

1.2 The global social networking market

Over the years, the number of users has grown steadily, reaching *.*** billion in ****, with an average annual growth rate of *.*%. Over an **-year period, this cumulative growth amounts to ***%. By ****, almost **.*% of the population will be using social networks, compared with less than **% in ****.

Number of social network users World, ****-****, Billion Source: ****

Facebook dominates the global ranking of social networks, with almost three billion active users, or more than */* of the world's population. Youtube follows, with *.*** billion active users, owned by Google. Microsoft owns Linkedin and Skype. An active user is one who is active at least once a month.

Facebook is the undisputed giant of social networks, as the group also owns :

Whatsapp and its * billion users Facebook Messenger, with *.* billion users Instagram, with * billion users

Ranking of the world's most popular social networks World, January ****, in billions of active users Source: ****

The Tiktok phenomenon has also been resounding in recent years (***), with * billion users in a very short space of time for Tiktok and *** million for Douyin in ****.

Other networks are less well known in Europe, but have significant user bases, particularly in China.

We Chat is the most popular messaging application in China. Launched in ****, it boasts ...

1.3 The French social networking market: 3 billion euros in France by 2022

Estimated market through digital advertising on social networks :[***]

As the business model of social networks is based on online advertising (***), we can estimate their sales in France through the digital advertising market.

The digital advertising market is estimated at €*.* billion in ****, up **.*% on ****, based on Search, Social, Display and other levers such as emailing. Note that Youtube is included in the Display segment, while the other social networks are in the Social segment.

Between **** and ****, the market grew by **%, while over the period from **** to ****, it recorded average annual growth of **.**%.

Digital advertising market breakdown by major levers France, ****, as % of total Source: ****

Social" is estimated at €*.*** billion in ****. The average annual growth rate is around **% between **** and ****

social accounts for **.*% of the digital advertising market.

Digital advertising market trends in the "Social" segment France, ****- ****, € billion Source: ****

In ****, content production on "YT" generated the equivalent of **,*** full-time jobs and contributed €*** million to French GDP, according to Oxford Economics.

Including YouTube's advertising revenues, which are classified as "Display" (***), the market size exceeds * billion euros in **** . We're not talking about all social network revenues, but nearly **%, so the market would be worth approximately *.** billion euros in ****.

In January ****, We Are Social estimated ...

2.1 Profile of social network users

The Digital Report **** - We Are Social France study reports on the use of social networks by the French.

Profile and behavior of Internet users aged ** to ** on social networks:

Active on a social network or messaging service last month: **.*% Average number of accounts per user: *.* Frequency of use: * h ** per day on average % of use for professional reasons : **.*% (***) **% of users use their mobile to access social networks

Age and gender breakdown:

Overall, there are slightly more women potentially reachable by advertising on social networks (***). There are also differences by age group, as the graph below highlights.

**-** year-olds are the biggest users, with almost **.*% of audiences. Overall, women are still more affected than men in all age groups.

Breakdown of audience reachable with social media ads, by age group and generation France, ****, in Source: ****

2.2 Analysis of users by type of social network

France's favorite networks:

We note that the social networks preferred by the French are the major American networks. Note the high use of Snapchat in France (***)

Ranking of social networks most used by the French France, ****, in % Source: ****

Analysis of user behavior by social network: [***]

We note that the networks are more or less addictive, with TikTok, Facebook and Youtube being particularly so.

There are differences in user profiles depending on the network, to take a few examples:

Gender : **% of Instagram's reachable audience are women (***), while **.*% of Twitter's reachable audience are men. [***]

2.3 Focus on social networking among young people

It's important to analyze the use of social networks by young people, as they are the main users and often the trendsetters.

The graph below shows several key facts about the use of social networks by young people:

We note the breakthrough of Instagram since ****, which is now the social network most used by **-** year-olds with **% of young people in ****, On the contrary, Facebook is less and less used by this generation, while in **** **% of young people used it, they are only **% in ****. Since ****, Linkedin has seen significant growth among young people, reaching **% in **** Snapchat has grown slightly, but remains the number * network, ahead of Facebook, among young people. The French startup, valued at over *** million euros in ****, has seen its usage rate reach **% in just * years of existence.

Social networks most used by young people (***) France, **** - ****, in Source: ****

The decline in the use of certain social networks is leading to account deletions, which are particularly strong among Tiktok and facebook, with ** and **% account deletions respectively in ****

Social networks deleted by young people France, **** - ****, in Source: ****

By ****, the predominant reasons for deleting accounts among young people have undergone significant changes. At the top of the list of reasons, ...

2.4 How companies use social networks

The use of social networks by businesses has been growing over the last ten years: according to Insee, in ****, **% of companies were present on social networks, compared with **% in ****.

There are disparities by sector, with **% of companies in the information and communication sector using a social network, followed by accommodation and catering with **%. In contrast, other sectors such as construction and transport companies (***) are much less present.

Evolution of social media use in companies ****-**** Source: ****

In ****, according to Hootsuite:

**% of companies use Instagram,**% Facebook and **% Linkedin.

Social networks most used by businesses France, ****, in Source: ****

Nevertheless, Twitter and Lindekin regressed between **** and ****, since Twitter was used by **% of companies, while Linkedin was used by **%.

Usage varies according to company type (***) and size.

Overall,

Facebook and Instagram are used more by B*C companies, unlike Twitter and Linkedin. Facebook is used more by smaller companies, while Twitter is used more by larger ones Company size has little impact on Instagram and Youtube usage.

The reasons for use by companies are varied, and concern * main objectives, with the order:

Acquire new customers for **% of voters Increase brand awareness for **% of voters Online conversion (***) for **% of voters

Main reasons why companies use ...

2.5 France's favorite social networks

The graph below is based on OpinionWay's survey of French people's favorite brands in February ****. For each network, the percentage corresponds to the proportion of respondents who answered "yes".

YouTube is France's favorite social network, with **. *% of respondents saying they liked it. TikTok is the least popular social network, with only **. *% of respondents saying they liked it.

France's favorite social networks France, March ****, in Source: ****

The graph below shows the preferred social networks according to respondents' age category. For all the social networks in the survey, the approval rate decreases with the age of the respondents, and is highest for those aged ** to **.

The gap in approval ratings between the youngest and oldest respondents is most dramatic for Snapchat: **.*% of the youngest respondents say they like this network, compared with just **.*% of the oldest respondents, a gap of ** points between the two.

This huge gap can be explained by the fact that Snapchat is a social network primarily aimed at young people, who are the most numerous users (***) are much more appealing to younger users.

Facebook seems to be an exception among the social networks surveyed, since its approval rating does not decrease with age in the same way as for ...

3.1 A business model based on digital advertising ...

By using user data, social networks can be powerful online marketing and advertising tools for brands (***).

Mobile devices (***) account for the vast majority of online advertising revenues on social networks, and by ****, they will account for **% of revenues, i.e. €*.* billion of the €*.* billion in social revenues.

Social network advertising revenues captured by mobile France, ****, as % of total Source: ****

Classic format vs. video format:

By ****, growth in digital advertising on social networks will be driven by the video format (***), which accounts for **% of the Social market.

Since the emergence of the COVID-** health crisis, we've seen exponential growth in the video format compared to the traditional format. Indeed, video's market share was **% in ****, but has rapidly increased to reach **% by ****. This notable progression testifies to a significant transformation in consumer preferences and behaviors when it comes to media and visual content.

Evolution of the digital advertising market on social networks by format France, ****-****, € million Source: ****

3.2 ... and network effects to capture a maximum number of users

A network effect (***) is the effect described in economics and business when the addition of an extra user of a good or service has an impact on the value of that product to others. When a network effect is present, the value of a product or service increases according to the number of people who use it. Social networks only have value because they enable contact with others: being able to bring together the largest possible number of contacts on a social network makes it attractive.

The social networking market is what economists call a two-sided market: one group of customers values a platform all the more the more it is used by the other group of customers (***). The value created on one side is influenced by the number of players on the other.

This is why it's important for networks to have large audiences: the graph below shows the audiences for the main social networks, dominated by Youtube and Facebook.

Potential audience reached by advertising on each social network, according to the companies in question France, ****, in millions of people Source: ****

However, the key is not just to have a large audience, but to be able to monetize it easily ...

3.3 The role of influencers in the social networking ecosystem

Influencers are individuals who, because of their strong influence on one or more social networks, are suitable media for advertising and marketing (***). Brands call on them to promote their products, either directly in **% of cases, or through specialized influencer marketing or communications agencies in the rest. [***]

Instagram is widely preferred by brands, garnering an impressive **% preference rate.

Main networks where influencers receive partnership requests France, ****, in % Source: ****

The main themes for which consumers follow content creators are food, humor and beauty&cosmetics .

Main topics covered by influencers France, ****, in % Source: ****

3.4 Elon Musk's Twitter takeover and name change: A Western Wechat?

Elon Musk bought Twitter on April **, ****, for $** billion. His takeover was prompted by several motivations, notably around freedom of expression and the ultra-progressive ideology permeating Twitter... In his view, it is important for the future of civilization to have an online public space where a wide variety of opinions can be debated in a healthy way, without resorting to violence.

A Western Wechat?

The Chinese application Wechat developed by the Chinese giant Tencent (***) is a "super application" which, like a "normal" social network, enables users to communicate with each other in a "normal" way.social network to chat, share photos and videos or make video calls, but also to pay with your mobile, store your bank and identity cards, make bank transfers, pay your bills...

By buying out Elon Musk and changing its name to X on July **, ****, the South African-born billionaire aims to create a Western super-app like Wechat.

However, despite Elon Musk's remarkable successes in the space and automotive industries, creating a Westernized version of "WeChat" presents unprecedented challenges . Firstly, he must succeed where Facebook has failed, notably by integrating various payment functionalities, in a competitive environment far more intense than the Chinese ecosystem of the ****s. What's more, ...

4.1 Typology of the main social networks

Below, we report on the main social networks used in France - classifying them by major type. A great many social networks have been created around the world since the advent of the Internet, some of which have died out. Fads and fashions can be very common in this market.

Classic" social networks:

Facebook is the social network par excellence, offering users a wide range of functions: news feed, messaging, games, groups, marketplaces, pages, .... and even a dating service in France since ****. It's hard to classify Facebook, which has developed a huge range of functions, whereas most other networks have specialized.

Twitter lets you follow any user and share messages up to a maximum of *,*** characters. For many professionals, it is an effective communication and promotional tool (***).

Professional social networks:

Linkedin is a professional social network that enables you to create a professional profile, highlighting your experience and skills, and building a network by connecting with various contacts. The network is also used by companies for recruitment purposes.

Viadéo is also a professional social network with similar objectives to LinkedIn - it was acquired in **** by Le Figaro for €*.* million, but is only very lightly used in ****.

Social networks focused ...

4.2 Behind free for consumers, a growing monetization trend

Access to social networks is free for almost all of them. The platform's primary aim is to attract users and develop the network effect that is its strength. It's only once the network has reached a phase of relative "maturity" that monetization begins. However, not all platforms use the same method of remuneration. They must be careful not to "scare off" users with annoying and irrelevant advertising content. Pinterest, for example, has adopted a " cautious monetization" approach, with highly targeted sponsored "pins".

Most social networks collect user data and store it in data centers: by making the most of it, i.e. by cross-referencing and analyzing it, they can classify each individual into a consumer "profile". This makes targeted marketing all the more effective, and the value of the data all the higher.

According to Capital.fr, by ****, each European user will earn Facebook ** euros in average annual advertising revenue . In reality, the value of a profile varies greatly according to its engagement and interests. Overall, the more a brand wants targeted advertising, the more it costs.

According to one study, the average gain per social network is as follows: [***]

Instagram : Several billing methods: Cost-per-click (***) is the price per *,*** views of ...

4.3 A market driven by innovation

Non-verbal communication is on the rise, and is helping to revitalize the market: The text format continues to be used by a large majority of users. Nevertheless, this classic communication increasingly coexists with a form of non-verbal such as stories, as well as audio communication, widely used on WhatsApp. Audio also explains the recent success of Clubhouse. This change in habit is all the more true for "millenials", who have a greater appetite for audio and video content, hence the rise of TikTok in particular.

The arrival of the vertical dominates the market

With the advent of TikTok and its very short, entertaining videos in vertical format, all the other players in the sector were forced to adapt by offering a similar service on their platforms. This adaptation has led to a transformation in the consumption patterns of their users,with a significant increase in the number of views per video due to their much shorter duration.

Social networking applications tend to bundle ever more varied services and functionalities

Social networks are also a way for consumers to contact companies directly. Community managers can respond and communicate, and companies can also use chatbots. A chatbot is a computer program that conducts ...

5.1 Major regulatory changes

Changes prompted by the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal

On March **, ****, The New York Times and The Guardian revealed that, in ****, the Cambridge Analytica company had harvested data from tens of millions of Facebook users in the United States in order to offer them targeted advertising that could influence their vote in favor of Donald Trump.

in the wake of this scandal, which momentarily caused Facebook's share price to fall by around **% in just a few days, the European Union decided to evolve its regulations on personal data. Indeed, this affair has highlighted the potential problems associated with the business model of social networks, based on the resale of personal data.

The European General Data Protection Regulation (***)

The RGPD came into force on May **, **** and replaced the "Informatiques et libertés" law, which lasted for over ** years. First of all, this new piece of legislation significantly strengthens the criminal and financial penalties previously defined under the "Informatique et libertés" law. Secondly, it aims to provide better protection for the personal data of EU citizens, particularly when this data is transiting on servers established outside the Union's borders. The GAFAMs (***) are particularly targeted by these new provisions.

More precisely, the EU's aim with ...

6.1 Segmentation

• LinkedIn
• Meta (anciennement Facebook)
• Instagram (Meta)
• WhatsApp (Meta)
• Twitter
• Snapchat
• Youtube
• Pinterest
• Viadeo JDN
• Discord
• Networks Groupe
• Quora
• Reddit
• Telegram
• Telegram
• Tik Tok
• Twitch