Social Media Use by Irish Enterprises Second-Highest in the EU
Ireland were recorded as the second-highest users of social media by enterprises in 2016, according to a report released by the CSO on Tuesday. 67% of Irish enterprises employing 10 or more people used some type of social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube compared with an EU-28 average of 45%. The use of social media by enterprises nationally has risen steadily from 60% of enterprises in 2014 and 64% in 2015. In terms of enterprises using social media, Ireland ranked second in the EU-28. Malta had the largest percentage of enterprises in the EU-28 using social media at 71%, while Poland had the lowest usage at 25%.
The primary method of using social media as a way of connecting with customers is the use of social networks, with 65% of Irish enterprises stating they used social networks such as Facebook. This compares with 62% and 58% of Irish enterprises using social networks in 2015 and 2014 respectively. Comparable data from Eurostat shows that the use of social networks by EU-28 enterprises increased from 33% in 2014 to 36% in 2015 to 42% in 2016. Irish enterprises increased their usage of blogs or microblogs such as Twitter with 33% of enterprises using this method in 2016 compared with 30% in 2015 and 27% in 2014. The use of multimedia content sharing websites such as YouTube increased from 19% of enterprises in 2014 to 23% of enterprises in 2016.
Purchase of cloud computing services by Irish enterprises increases
In 2016, 36% of Irish enterprises employing 10 or more persons purchased cloud computing services compared to 35% in 2015. This compared with an EU-28 average of 21% in 2016. Finland had the largest percentage of enterprises in the EU purchasing cloud computing services at 57%, while both Bulgaria and Romania had the lowest take up rate at 7%. The most popular cloud computing service purchased by Irish enterprises in 2016 was the storage of files at 27%, while 26% of Irish enterprises purchased e-mail services.
Irish enterprises ranked 4th in the EU when paying for Internet advertising
34% of Irish enterprises reported to have paid to advertise on the Internet in 2016, such as on search engines, social media and other websites. The EU-28 average was 25%. Malta topped the ranking with 46% of enterprises paying for online advertising, while Romania recorded the lowest at 12%. The most popular advertising method was based on webpage content or keywords searched by users, with 27% paying for this method. 15% opted for advertising based on the geolocation of internet users, with 13% based on tracking internet users’ past activities or profile. 16% opted for other targeted advertising methods.
Over half of large enterprises conduct their sales electronically
In 2016, 52% of large enterprises had e-Commerce sales which accounted for 46% of total sales of such enterprises. 26% of small enterprises had e-Commerce sales which accounted for 23% of all sales in this size class. 47% of medium sized enterprises had e-Commerce sales which accounted for 22% of their total sales.
In 2016, 70% of large enterprises made e-Commerce purchases which accounted for 38% of all purchases made by large enterprises, while 59% of medium sized enterprises made e-Commerce purchases which accounted for 20% of total purchases for this size class. 43% of small enterprises made e-Commerce purchases which amounted to 23% of their total.
Across all employment size classes, the proportion of enterprises that have made e-Commerce purchases is higher than those enterprises who have made e-Commerce sales. Large enterprises had the greatest difference between e-Commerce purchases and sales.
Services sector e-Commerce
In 2015, Services sector enterprises reported that 47% of enterprises had made e-Commerce purchases which accounted for 29% of total purchases in that sector. Comparable figures for Construction enterprises indicated that 32% of enterprises made e-Commerce purchases which accounted for 2% of total purchases in Construction. While 42% of Manufacturing enterprises reported making e-Commerce purchases which accounted for 36% of all purchases made by this category.
31% of Services enterprises reported e-Commerce sales which accounted for 38% of total turnover for that sector. The Manufacturing sector reported 36% of enterprises had e-Commerce sales which accounted for 31% of all turnover generated in that sector. Just 11% of Construction enterprises made e-Commerce sales which accounted for 1% of total Construction turnover.
