Explore Digital Agency Belgium & Benelux Countries Success Strategies

Last updated: 26 September 2023

Do you want to sell your products or services to the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, known as the Benelux region? Then, we’ve got some tips and tricks on leveraging digital agency strategies to increase sales in Belgium & Benelux region.

Introducing the Benelux Region

The Benelux region includes Belgium (BE), The Netherlands (NE), and Luxembourg (LUX). Of the three Benelux countries, the Netherlands has the largest population. Today, approximately 17 million people live in the Netherlands. Roughly 11.4 million live in Belgium, and just over 600,000 live in Luxembourg, the smallest of the Benelux countries.

All three have growing populations. According to recent forecasts, by 2020, Luxembourg will have a population of some 630,000 people; Belgium’s population will grow to 11.5 million, and the Dutch population will have increased to 17.3 million. As we can see, the Benelux region is growing exponentially, which makes it a perfect candidate to expand or boost your sales.

Digital Landscape Across Belgium & Benelux: Over 90% Internet Penetration in Each Country

Looking at the digital landscape, all three countries in the Benelux region have equal to or more than 90% internet penetration. This makes the Benelux region a highly connected region that still has a substantial growth rate of internet users.

The overall internet penetration in the Benelux region is 94%, with a total of 18.9 million active social media users. Here’s a breakdown per country:

*Table 1: Statistics of Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg*
	Population	Internet users	Internet Penetration	Active Social media Users	Social Media Penetration
Belgium	11.4 million	10.4 million	90%	7.5 million	65%
The Netherlands	17 million	16.3 million	95%	11 million	64%
Luxembourg	600 thousand	602 thousand	97%	398 thousand	64%

Go digital (and multilingual)

The Benelux region is very diverse when it comes to nationalities. Of the total population of 29 million, almost 4.7 million people have a foreign background. In Luxembourg, this is true for roughly half of the population. The Netherlands has 3.9 million people with a foreign background, whereas Belgium has almost 500,000.

This is one of the challenges for digital marketing in these countries: the different languages. On the other hand, the Benelux is a great region to test digital marketing efforts, as you have the opportunity to reach a diverse audience in a fairly small region.

Digital Marketing Benelux

Belgium – Digitalization Can Open a Lot of Doors For You

Belgium is already highly digital and advanced in terms of digitalization, and it has even bigger plans for the future. Belgium ranks high for basic or higher digital skills in Communication.

It is also the country in the EU with the highest percentage of large enterprises selling online. 6.76 million people purchase consumer goods via e-commerce. The value of the consumer goods e-commerce market is $5.292 billion (total annual sales).

Although we’re talking about B2C here, keep in mind that when people buy their consumer goods online, it is in their nature to use online channels in B2B decision-making as well. Better be prepared.

The Netherlands – Big Opportunity

The Netherlands is the biggest country in the Benelux region in terms of population. Digitalization is a hot topic right now. At the moment, 74% of the Dutch companies have digitized at least half of their business documents, which puts the Netherlands ahead of six other big digitalized countries in Europe (Italy, Turkey, Spain, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany).

At the moment, digitalization is actually the most important source for growth, innovation, and new business activities in the Netherlands. With a 95% internet penetration and a world-class digital infrastructure, digital marketing provides big opportunities for reaching out to your end-users here.

Luxembourg – The Highest Proportion of ICT Specialists

The digitalization of Luxembourg is fundamental to its continued growth and development. It is one of the most important tools that Luxembourg actively leverages to promote the economy and attract foreign investments.

An OECD study ranked Luxembourg among countries with the highest proportion of ICT specialists in its working population, and another study placed Luxembourg as number 2 for countries in the world to start a business in 2017. As you can tell, Luxembourg is very connected.

*Table 2: Addressable advertising audience per social media platform*
	Facebook	Instagram	Twitter	Snapchat	LinkedIn
Belgium	6.5 million	3.6 million	1.3 million	3.15 million	3.8 million
The Netherlands	8.8 million	6.3 million	1.8 million	6.65 million	8.5 million
Luxembourg	320 thousand	190 thousand	170 thousand	398 thousand	260 thousand

How to Use Digital Agency Strategies to Increase Your Sales in Belgium & Benelux?

Leveraging digital marketing can provide you with an audience you never knew you could reach. Looking at the addressable advertising audiences per social media platform, for example (Figure 2), there are over 12.5 million LinkedIn users. This is a perfect start for an online B2B campaign. If you’re in B2C, Facebook and Instagram are definitely worth considering. One other thing that stands out is that Twitter is relatively small.

All social media platforms have advantages and disadvantages, and they can all be used to reach different marketing objectives and target audiences. That’s why it all starts with your business objectives and what added value each of these online channels brings to the table for your business.

Digital Marketing Audience Europe

What about other regions?

Check out our previous blogs on How to Boost Sales in the DACH Region: Digital Marketing Strategies or How to Use it to Create Marketing and Sales Success in Scandinavia.

Where we add value

Are you looking to increase your sales in these countries? Then, our Digital Marketing services can help you reach out to the right people, increase your brand awareness and kick-start your sales. Together, we will define goals, strategy, target audiences, channels, and actions for your company.

If you’re interested in more detailed country-specific information or the opportunities for your business in Benelux, feel free to schedule a meeting with us or leave your details to further explore the opportunities for your business.

Sources:

https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2020-global-digital-overview

https://www.statista.com/topics/3552/benelux-demographics-2017/

https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/dem/monitor/sites/default/files/DTM_Luxembourg%20v1.pdf