Germany is Europe's largest consumer market with a population of 80 Million people but when it comes to using social networking sites, Germany is lagging behind other developed countries, according to a recent study published by US research firm Pew Research Center. German public television companies ARD and ZDF released a report that over 85% of all adult Germans are online and only about half of German are on social, much fewer than in other European countries. The slower rise of social media in Germany when compared to other European countries could be linked to its high proportion of older people. Older generations are not very social media savvy and tend not to adopt new technologies as fast as the younger generation. If you take a closer look, you will discern that the social media landscape in Germany is characterized by a high number of local networks. In other words, German has many home-grown social media platforms. The most popular of these are Xing, Wer-kennt-wen and StudyVZ. Here is a quick lowdown on the top Social Media Networks in Germany

• Facebook
• Youtube
• Instagram
• Twitter
• Xing – German speaking version of LinkedIn
• LinkedIn
• Google+
• KWICK!
• SnapChat
• Wer-kennt-wen
• StudyVZ
   

Facebook: Unmistakably, Facebook is by far the most used social network in Germany with 31 million users. Facebook is the most popular social network in Germany and it is your best bet for reaching a large consumer audience in Germany. Instagram: Instagram will see a double-digit user gain in Germany in 2017, according to eMarketer's first-ever estimate for that social network's use in the country, led by adoption by younger users while Facebook's gains will slow down and plateau. In fact, Instagram has enjoyed strong user growth in Germany in recent years, and that expansion will continue in the next few years. eMarketer predicts the Facebook-owned social network's user base in the country will swell by 26.2% to 11.2 million users, representing almost 14.0% of the population. Further growth is expected through 2021, when there will be an estimated 16.3 million Instagram users in Germany. This network is fast becoming an attractive playground for brands and marketers. If you're targeting millenials, Instagram can be just the right choice for you in Germany. Snapchat: Snapchat has started strong in Germany. That is, with German youngsters. While a whopping 23% of online users between the ages of 14-29 years use Snapchat weekly, only 1% of people ages 30-69 have ventured onto this network. If you want to venture onto Snapchat, be aware that this network is not permeated by brands the same way Facebook is. In a recent survey 81% of Snapchat users said they don't follow any brand or company on Snapchat. Twitter: There are 12 million users visited Twitter monthly. Twitter can be helpful in Germany for reaching certain niche audience such as journalists who may use it as a research tool. If you want to reach a broader audience directly, it is advisable to focus on other network such as Facebook and Instagram. XING: XING is the German business network founded four years before LinkedIn. There is over 11 million XING members in the DACH region of Germany, Austria, Switzerland. If you're looking to hire German professionals, XING can be a good place to start. Don't put too many hopes into B2B marketing, B2B tools lag behind. Xing may change either way in the coming years as offerings evolve – or people move to LinkedIn. LinkedIn: LinkedIn has been growing strong in other countries, and the company reported 8 million LinkedIn users in the DACH region in 2016. When looking at active users, however, the picture is different: Only 1% of German onliners report using the network on a weekly basis. In Germany, it's deemed as a platform for recruitment and job searching. In a nutshell, you can use these social media platform differently, depends on your business objective and target audience -Younger people are more active, their favorites being Snapchat and Instagram -Facebook has the biggest reach of all social networks in Germany, across all age groups -For recruiting, consider using Xing, the German rival of LinkedIn

Top Influencer Marketing Statistics Every Marketer Should Know

• 70% of teenage YouTube subscribers trust influencer opinions over traditional celebrities.
   
• 86% of women turn to social networks before making a purchase.
   
• 32% of influencers who currently work with brands cite Facebook as the best platform, followed by Instagram at 24%.
   
• 71% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase based on a social media reference.
   
• 86% of the most-viewed beauty videos on YouTube were made by influencers, compared to 14% by beauty brands, themselves.
   
• 57% of beauty and fashion companies use influencers as part of their marketing strategies.
   
• On average, businesses generate $6.50 for every $1 invested in influencer marketing.

Brands looking into influencer marketing should take note of the trends in the industry in order to fully strategise their campaign. We have identified 5 prominent trends of influencer marketing coming 2018  and here's a summary.

As s hybrid of content marketing and native advertising, influencer marketing is an established trend in marketing that identifies and targets individuals with influence over potential buyers. Although this has usually meant focusing on popular celebrities and Internet personalities, there is a new wave of 'Micro-Influencers' that can have a large impact.

Reaching out to Influencer Personally or through Influencer Marketing Agency

You may ask, what are the various ways to engage Instagram influencers in Germany to perform influencer marketing? There are simply two options: businesses to reach out to influencers personally, or go through an influencer marketing agency.

On the surface, it may seem reasonable to reach out to influencers personally with the presumed low cost and easy reach. However, with the vast amount of influencers in Germany, each focusing on specific topics of interest, performing influencer marketing and liaising can be a real challenge. To execute an effective influencer marketing campaign, one should be sure to read up on the various aspect of influencer marketing from the various articles and ebooks available online.

Alternatively, an influencer marketing agency would be of great help in terms of identifying the right influencer for your marketing campaign, negotiating prices and measuring results.

German Fastest Growing Influencer Marketing Agency

StarNgage is an Influencer marketing and reporting platform allowing brands to customise, manage, launch, and measure digital advertising campaigns on Instagram. StarNgage empowers brands to partner and advertise with everyday influencers - the same way you would on search engines or social networks!

StarNgage provides 4 main services: Targeting, Identifying, Amplifying and Tracking.

After activating more than 10,000 influencers across 120 campaigns, we've seen influencers used in many different ways. Here are the most common goals we saw across our campaigns.

The Pyramid of Influence encompasses the full spectrum of your influencer relationships. Here is a breakdown of how that pyramid works from the top down.   Not all influencers are the same. Over the past few years, there is a big shift in focus from these high-end influencers to micro-influencers. To explain the different types of influencers, StarNgage uses the Pyramid of Influence. Influencers with a high reach and lower relevance, like celebrities and thought leaders, are at the top of the pyramid, while those with lower reach but higher relevance, like advocate and current customers are at the bottom.   Micro-Influencers is a mix of people who have reach, but more importantly, have a high relevance among their audiences. Their influence lies in their niche understandings and the mutual trust with their audiences.

The term ‘influencer’ used to describe celebrity and social media elite. But the mass adoption of social media leveled the playing field to include bloggers, instagrammers, youtubers and even everyday consumers. As such, the industry is working to establish a common taxonomy to talk about influencers. Influencers can be identified among the following three types: Mega-influencers: Actors, artists, athletes and social media stars who have 500k+ followers and drive 2%  to 5% engagement per post. They have the highest reach on the influencer spectrum, with their influence driven by their celebrity (they tend to be brands in their own right). They have the lowest overall resonance when it comes to driving actions on behalf of a brand. Macro-influencers: Professional bloggers, and YouTubers who have large base of 100,000 to 500,000 followers and drive 5%  to  20% engagement per post. They have the highest topical relevance on the spectrum, with category-specific influence – such as lifestyle, fashion or business.  Micro-influencers: Everyday consumers  who have 1,000 to 100,000 followers and drive 25% — 50% engagement per post. They have the highest brand relevance and resonance on the spectrum of influencers, with influence driven by their personal experience with a brand and their strength of relationship with their networks.

Mega-influencers: Earn their living some other way (e.g. athlete, actor, artist, top model, celebrity), and monetize their influence as a secondary source of income. (For example Michael Schulz and Mario Götze) Macro-influencers: Earn their living as an influencer (e.g. professional blogger, creator, or journalist). (For example Jannik Obenhoff, Alina Solopova and Kati )  Micro-influencers: Consumers who have relevant influence and may not know it, or aspire to become a macro-influencer. (For example Julita and Nanda Weskott) Brand Advocates: Consumers who are passionate and willing to share, but have little influence.

How To Choose Your Influencer Marketing Content Types

How To Choose the Right Incentive for Your Influencer

There are different factors you should consider before making a decision on what kind of incentives you offer to your influencers. Exclusivity: Incentives should be exclusive to only influencers that you like to activate in order to motivate participation in your influencer marketing campaign. Influencer type: Most of the mega-influencers and macro-influencers will require cash payment, while micro-influencers will consider other form of compensations aside from cash. Brand affinity: The most enduring and valuable level of influencer relationship is based on the mutual belief that the influencers and the brand share common values. It is advisable to activate relevant influencer who is passionate about your brands for best results. Branded incentives will work best in this case. Fulfilment Effort: If more effort is required by the influencer to create and share branded content, then a higher incentive value is needed.