The internet has become a very important platform, especially as 81% of internet users in Egypt say that they cannot live without it.
The company eMarketing Egypt published its eighth annual report “visions for e-marketing in Egypt”, which aims to contribute to providing an integrated vision of how to implement marketing campaigns online and on social networks.
The report aims at finding answers to specific questions about the trends in internet usage and social networks in Egypt, the nature of its internet users, specifically in terms of demographic characteristics and their trends and opinions in general, and how far they use social networking sites in their daily lives. Another important question investigated how internet users interact with e-marketing tools and online advertising, and to what extent internet users trust e-advertising.
First of all, applying report findings to Facebook, the largest social network in Egypt and the world, Egypt ranked 11th in the world, with about 36 million users by the end of 2017, which is equivalent to about 2% of the total number of Facebook users in the world.
There are more than two billion users globally—about a quarter of the world’s population—according to the latest report from Facebook (Q3 2017).
Moreover, Facebook users in Arab countries reached 145 million users, while
Egypt stood out as the Arab country with the most users, with about 25% of Arab Facebook users.
Meanwhile, the report explained that it could identify the most important characteristics of internet users through statistics provided by Facebook to advisers.
In this context, the report stated that about 64% of users are males, while females represent about 36%, with females being younger than male users in the average. The report added that the proportion of female users who are under the age of 25 represent about 51% of users, and 94% browse Facebook using mobile phones, noting that they may also use computers and laptops.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, about 81% of users believed they cannot live without the internet, according to the report.
Meanwhile, 87% of users explained that the most important benefit they get from the internet is having access to learning opportunities.
In another context, the report declared that using the internet as a search tool came on top of internet usage activities at 78%, while social communication came in second place with 77%.
Furthermore, the report explained that about 92% of Facebook users use it on a daily basis, and 60% of users asserted that the highest rates of activity came in the late evening.
Moreover, 92% of Facebook users use it primarily to stay in touch with friends and family, while acquiring knowledge or getting tips and social networking comes next for about 85% of users.
Not surprisingly, interaction with friends’ posts comes at the top of Facebook users’ activities on the website, representing 62%.
Finally, the report answered the questions of how do internet users interact with e-marketing tools and online advertising, and to what extent do internet users trust the e-advertising. Report findings declared Facebook as one of the most popular marketing tools, and that, in turn, ‘likes’ for commercial pages are primarily for the purpose of obtaining discounts, offers, and gifts for about 33% of users. Meanwhile, following news and new content received about the same proportion of users.
The report explained that 10% of internet users pointed out that e-advertisements have never caught their attention.
Also, about 26% of internet users like to follow e-advertising while only about 20% trust them, the report said.
Finally, the report stressed that about 32% of internet users trust the technology sector’s electronic advertising, while 34% trust the telecommunications sector, 27% trust fashion, 62% trust home appliances, and 25% do not trust e-advertising in the financial sector.
