Australians are even more social than ever in 2018 with around 88 percent of the population now on social media. That’s over 22 million of us!
This is according to Sensis, who recently published their annual report on how Australians are using social media. The research is a wonderful resource for marketers - it's packed with fantastic insights into the who, when and where of social media in Australia.
Did you know, for example, that 91 percent of Australian social-media users are on Facebook. This means you can reach millions of Australians on the same channel, and you’ll find them there every day or even several times a day. In fact, Australians spend an average of 10 hours a week on Facebook, and it also happens to be our most popular social platform by a long way.
And if you haven't put your toe in the water with Facebook advertising yet, you might be missing a trick. It offers sophisticated targeting options to help drive the 'right' segment of those millions of Australian Facebook users to your page or site.
What else? Well, the number of Australians accessing social media through their smartphone continues to increase, eclipsing both desktop and tablet combined. So, there's no point investing in online advertising if your site isn't mobile friendly or takes just too long to download.
As for online buyer behaviour, more people are looking at reviews and online offers as part of their decision about who to buy from online. So marketers really need to understand how their target market uses and engages on social media.
Also to consider is that around 44 percent of users follow businesses and brands on social media. And over half say they are more likely to trust brands that interact positively, make engaging and relevant content, and update frequently on social media.
Nearly all users access social media at home with the living room and bedroom as the two most popular spots. Almost two thirds use social media while watching TV, which occurs across all kinds of shows but news, current affairs and reality TV are mentioned most.
While Australians are going nuts for social media, what are businesses doing to capatilise on this? Well, that seems to depend on the size of the business.
The proportion of large businesses capitalising on social media has increased steadily over the years and has now reached 85 percent. In contrast to this, however, the number of small and medium size businesses with a social-media presence is down on last year's numbers.
What's going on? Why are fewer small and medium sized businesses investing in social media?We’ve put together a quick infographic below with some of the more interesting bits and pieces of research which you can also download as a high-quality PDF at the top of this page. Handy if you need to convince your boss about investing in social-media marketing.
Also available for download is the full Sensis report for 2018.
Download the infographic at the top of this page.