Recently all eyes have been on Brazil as the global community coalesced around the FIFA World Cup. As one of the world’s fastest-growing social markets and home to the 2016 Olympics, Brazil is both a hotbed for sport and a natural attraction for global brands. In fact, it is one of South America’s most social-savvy countries, with 79% of internet users active on social platforms, according to eMarketer.

New social listening research conducted by our agency earlier this year found that while social media adoption in Brazil is escalating to a rate that is almost on par with the USA, user habits are vastly different than other countries and cultures. There are important distinctions for marketers looking to enter the Brazilian market.

As part of the agency’s ongoing series exploring how social media behaviours differ across key markets, we analysed organic Twitter conversations from a sample of users in Brazil that were shared publically in their native Portuguese tongue. Our analysts explored when users post most often in that market, how they use the platform to connect with others and how they interact with brands on Twitter. Moreover, a series of one-on-one interviews by GutCheck gained a deeper understanding of the mindset of Brazil’s Twitter population.

So what did we learn? Brazil is one of the fastest-growing countries when it comes to Twitter user-growth. Twitter jumped from seventh place in October 2013 to third place in January 2014 when it comes to share of visits across social platforms in Brazil, according to Experian. As Twitter use scales, marketers will need a better understanding of Brazilian consumers’ social media behaviour in order to form meaningful connections.

Key findings

  • The volume of tweets posted in Brazil peaks during the breakfast, lunch and dinner hours. This trend is unique to the Brazilian market, and juxtaposes other countries analysed (USA, India, South Korea and the UK), where Twitter users tend to post during their recreational time when they can be devoted to post creation.
  • Brazilians are a self-centric Twitter community, with 50% of tweets posted sharing one-way status updates and self-expression, rather than engaging in personal dialogue. Compared to other countries where giving or sharing advice via Twitter is common, Brazilians tend to share their own opinions unprompted.
  • The most common conversation topics shared by Brazilians are: personal views (62%), tech (34%), hobbies (24%) and health and beauty (18%). Compared to other countries, conversations about health and beauty (including fashion) were more prominent among Brazilians.
  • Brazilians share posts exhibiting a full range of emotions, directly representing how they are feeling in the moment. This range of emotion and comfort with online self-expression is unique to Brazil (compared with the US, UK, India and Korea.)
  • Although Brazilians follow brands, they are less likely to interact with brands than other markets; and when they do- they do so mainly for customer service feedback.
  • Teens and 20-somethings represent 82% of Brazilian Twitter users, with both genders almost evenly represented.
  • Brazilians produce a lower proportion of tweets from a smartphone- just 38% of posts were produced via mobile (compared to 82% in the US, and 76% in the UK- due to the low smartphone penetration of the market overall. Brazilian Twitter users are actually more likely to have smartphones than the general population, as the 38% of Tweets posted via mobile exceeds the 20% smartphone penetration of Brazil.

In Brazil, Twitter is primarily used as a channel for personal, uninhibited expression. Because of Brazilians’ inherent cultural openness, there is a lot of untapped opportunity for engagement. As the 2016 Olympics loom large we’re sure to see more attention by brands placed on the highly-social Samba nation.

 

By Claire Charron, global analyst at 360i. 

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