Social media advertising and marketing in Europe - statistics & facts

Social media marketing spending is on the rise

Social media is one of the most invested-in marketing channels among European companies. In the United Kingdom, the largest social media advertising market in Europe, marketers spent an estimated 8.3 billion U.S. dollars on social ad campaigns in 2021. By comparison, CMOs in Portugal and Finland attributed less than 300 million U.S. dollars due to their respective industries’ sizes. But while approaches can vary across different countries, there are also some pan-European overlaps such as the trend towards video. Investments in video promotion are increasing more rapidly than spending on traditional social ads, which can be explained by the skyrocketing popularity of apps like TikTok that center around short-form video content and draw millions of users every day. So, which platforms do companies use to connect and communicate with customers online? Data showed that Fortune 500 companies primarily increased marketing activities on Instagram in 2021. The app boasts a large global user base and also offers a variety of marketing formats, audience insights, and performance tracking options for companies of all sizes.

Tapping into the vast potential of influencer marketing

In addition to creating social media accounts and curating their own digital content, companies can also collaborate with influencers and creators. Partnering with a social media star can help businesses boost brand awareness while also enabling them to unlock niche audiences and keep their fingers on the digital pulse. This bouquet of benefits helps explain why influencer marketing has become one of the most indispensable pillars of today’s social media marketing landscape and why companies are willing to pay up to five-digit figures for sponsored posts by mega-influencers and creators like Chiara Ferragni or Felix Kjellberg (PewDiePie). Between 2016 and 2020, creator marketing spending in Europe increased from just over 320 million to approximately 1.32 billion euros. A survey from 2021 also indicated that over 40 percent of B2C brands in the region planned to increase spending on influencer endorsement in the future. All of these findings suggest that Europe’s influencer marketing train has not reached its final destination yet.

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