It's no secret that social media has recently become firmly entrenched in our lives and even a part of them.
According to a report by Hootsuite, in October 2021, the total number of social media users in the world exceeded 4.55 billion people.
This figure has increased by 9.9% over the past 12 months.
The growth rate is more than 1 million users per day.
On average, each user in the world spends 2 hours and 27 minutes a day on social media (16.3% of their daily time), using 6.7 platforms.
Ukraine is not far behind in terms of user growth.
Although Facebook's audience growth has slowed down, Instagram's audience is growing rapidly and has almost caught up with Facebook's.
Currently, the number of accounts on both networks is more than 16 million users each.
TikTok, which many people had never even heard of a few years ago, is not on the list of leaders, but now has a crazy rate of audience growth: at the beginning of 2020, the audience was about 400 thousand users, now it is 1.5 million users.
Every year, Ukrainian shopping malls pay more and more attention to social media and online promotion.
In 2017, a joint study was conducted by ICSC Ukraine, Google and Research Group to examine the online presence of shopping malls.
The findings showed that only 64% of shopping malls have at least some kind of website, and only 47% of shopping malls have a full-fledged website.
At the same time, in 2017, only 67% of Ukrainian shopping malls were registered in at least 1 social network.
At that time, the most active were large shopping centers, 95% of which were represented on social media.
The importance of using social media in the promotion of shopping malls is growing along with the growth of the social media audience in Ukraine.
Recently, the pandemic situation has only intensified this trend.
In addition to Facebook and Instagram, it is necessary to pay attention to TikTok, which is actively developing.
Despite the fact that the audience on this social network is predominantly young, in a few years these users will be the main shoppers in shopping centers.
In addition, the platform itself makes it possible to reach a very large number of users with minimal investment.
It will be useful to show a list of the most popular shopping mall communities in Ukraine on social media.
TOP-5 Instagram accounts:
TOP-5 Facebook accounts:
The TOP-5 Instagram accounts include three Budhouse Group shopping malls: Fabrika, which became the first shopping mall to cross the 100k mark, Forum Lviv, which is close to this mark, and Nikolsky, where the page gained 21k followers in 6 months before the mall was opened, and 5 months after the opening, it gained another 31k and made it to the TOP-5.
Another example is The DUBAI MALL account (@thedubaimall), which has 1.2 million followers on Instagram.
For 10 years, Budhouse Group has been tracking the growth in the popularity of social media among visitors to its shopping centers, as well as the relevance of this communication channel compared to other traditional channels - outdoor advertising, radio, online advertising, and others.
Thus, the annual audience growth in Budhouse Group shopping malls' accounts is on average 40%.
As you can see from the chart, the share of visitors registered on social networks is constantly growing.
Facebook (79%) and Instagram (62%) remain the leaders in terms of share, but TikTok (43%) has good growth rates, so it is worth taking into account.
The chart above shows that the share of visitors not registered in social networks is falling every year and currently stands at only 8.85%.
What is the main goal of any marketer in a development company?
It is to convey the information to the potential visitor as much as possible and make him come to the shopping center.
To do this, we are constantly working on analyzing all communication channels in order to understand which channel works better and which one is worse.
Now we can say with great confidence that social networks are the main communication channel.
The functionality they provide and the precision with which you can customize an advertising campaign is almost an ideal tool for achieving the desired goal.
Just a few years ago, outdoor advertising was considered the main advertising tool.
Today, it's hard to imagine a modern person without a phone in their hand.
In our research, we analyzed the advertising channels that most often reach consumers:
*Channels such as newspapers, magazines, and mailboxes have a share of less than 1%.
The share of visitors who have seen outdoor advertising on billboards/lightboxes and in public transport is 16.62% and 13.90%, respectively.
We can see that social media and other online resources are the leaders in informing visitors.
The advertisement posted on social media was seen by 29.84% of respondents!
In other Internet resources - 19.48%!
That is, almost 1/3 of visitors received information about a particular event in the mall from social networks.
The study analyzed the advertising channels that are most interesting to visitors as sources of information:
*The chart shows the most popular channels, while other sources have a small share.
Among visitors, the percentage of those who want to receive information from outdoor advertising is only 11.02%.
And the percentage of those who want to receive information from social networks is 47.06%.
From other Internet channels - 38.69%.
I would also like to focus on the data obtained during the study in NIKOLSKY shopping mall.
The study was the first in this shopping mall, so it is not yet possible to trace the dynamics, but you can see the following figures:
Share of visitors registered in social networks in NIKOLSKY shopping mall
| TikTok | Telegram | YouTube | Not registered | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55.4% | 78.3% | 26% | 71.7% | 48.6% | 8.3% |
Facebook and Instagram are still the leaders among mall visitors, but Instagram is the clear leader with 78.3%.
The rate of those not registered in any social network is 8.3%.
When asked about their preferred sources of information, the following answers were received:
Share of advertising channels from which visitors to NIKOLSKY shopping mall would like to receive information
| Outdoor advertising | Transport | Social media | Internet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.6% | 6.6% | 42% | 39.4% |
Here, as in the previous cases, social media and other digital channels prevail.
Social media, as well as digitalization in general, have become a part of our lives.
It is safe to predict that the role and importance of social media will only increase with each passing year.
Social media is no longer just a platform where you can add friends and share photos, as it was at the dawn of its emergence.
Nowadays, social media is a powerful, one of the most important, if not the most important marketing tool that can and SHOULD be used.
For the successful operation of a shopping mall, it is necessary to constantly communicate with your audience to deliver the desired information in a timely manner.
The pandemic has played an important role in making people use online more.
During the lockdown period, all shopping malls were faced with the task of informing visitors about the modes and rules of operation of the mall as soon as possible.
And social networks have become the most suitable tool for this.
Today, the main task of SMM specialists is to keep abreast of all the innovations introduced in social networks.
To create, use trends and generate interesting content.
Years have passed when a potential buyer could be attracted by a large "PROMO" sign or flyers in mailboxes.
You have only 1-2 seconds to attract attention, and if you fail to do so, your message will not be seen.
Without going into a deep analysis, we can summarize the following:
- The use and development of social networks is mandatory for all shopping centers. At the moment, it is the most effective channel of communication with the audience.
- The content provided on social networks, no matter how trite it may sound, should be interesting and of high quality.
- In order for the content to be interesting for the audience, you need to keep your finger on the pulse and be aware of all the latest trends.
- It is also important to be able to act quickly in emergency situations. To do this, you need to have a team of specialists who clearly know and understand what is required of them at any given time.
Dmytro Bushmakin
Chief marketing officer, Budhouse Group
Cherkasy shopping and entertainment center LUBAVA celebrated its 13th anniversary, confirming its status as one of the city's key commercial and social spaces. The celebration was traditionally accompanied by special offers for visitors, gift draws, and large-scale activities with the participation of the complex's partners.
On March 28, 2026, Fabrika Shopping Mall in Kherson — one of the largest shopping and entertainment centers in southern Ukraine, developed by Budhouse Group — marked its 14th anniversary.
Dmytro Bushmakin, Marketing Director of the Ukrainian development company Budhouse Group, has joined the jury team of the prestigious European SOLAL Marketing Awards 2026.
