How Aussies Are Using Social Media

Social media is undoubtedly one of the most powerful tools for marketing

Not only does social media effectively promote your business, it is also a fantastic way to humanise your brand and interact more closely with customers. You’ll be nurturing high-value, relationships with your clients, maintaining their brand loyalty through engagement, while also providing an accessible outlet for their concerns. 

With all these amazing benefits also comes potential threats. Due to the huge sensory overload on digital platforms, your social media marketing can become lost in an infinite sea of other online ads and websites. According to the Yellow Social Media Report, 48% of social media users actually do not notice ads and 53% ignore sponsored posts from businesses they don’t follow. 

This means social media promotion is going to become much more difficult unless businesses first begin to understand how consumers behave and interact in a virtual environment. In saying that, let’s take a glimpse at how Aussie consumers are actually using social media. These trends and insights can help you to further improve your marketing efforts! 

Top Social Media Platforms 

Wondering which social media platforms Aussies use the most? 

According to the Yellow Social Media Report, Facebook remained the most popular platform in 2019, with 89% using it both on desktop and mobile. YouTube came in second, with half of all Australian users (54%) using the platform. Thirdly, 45% of respondents used Instagram, proving the immense popularity of the app. 

You’re probably wondering about the other social media platforms. Well, 20% of Australians use Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest, with Snapchat used by 19%. While these percentages are much less compared to the top three, it reveals potential room for growth as many businesses can take this opportunity to expand their marketing approaches and target more specific consumers.  

Frequency of Social Media Use 

We Aussies are pretty much social butterflies. In fact, with 79% of us checking at least one a day. It also comes as no surprise that younger people are the most frequent users of social media – 55% of those aged 18-29 years old check their socials at least 10 times a day! How crazy is that? 

Again, Facebook dominates the charts for social media use frequency. The average Australian Facebook user accesses the platform 29 times per week. This is followed by Instagram, where Aussies check at least 28 times a week and Snapchat, with 27 weekly check-ins.

On the other hand, YouTube might not be where Australians are checking in the most, but it’s the place we’re spending the most time. Interestingly, Aussie users spend over half an hour watching videos every time they hop on the platform – this beats Tik Tok (26 minutes), Tumblr (18 minutes), Facebook and Pinterest (both 17 minutes).

Time Spent on Social Media 

When you actually multiply these minutes by the number of times people are accessing each platform on a weekly basis, the hours add up by quite a lot: 12 hours per person on YouTube weekly, 8 hours on Facebook, 7 hours on Instagram, 6 hours on Snapchat and 4 hours on Twitter. 

Additionally, the most popular times for using social media are in the evening (59%), where people are likely resting at home after work. The morning (58%) is another period of high use, coupled with 37% of people checking their socials while on work breaks and 33% using social media at lunch. 

Social Media & Consumer Behaviour

Less than a quarter of Aussies (23%) use social media to keep updated with brands, businesses, special offers and promotions. The most popular research topic on social media is holidays, travel and accommodation related searches (65%). 

This is followed by entertainment (58%), movies and TV shows (56%), clothing and fashion (55%), appliances and electronic equipment (53%), hospitality venues (51%) and music (50%). Women are more likely than men to research clothing and fashion, hospitality, cosmetics and beauty, and personal services like hairdressing. On the other hand, men are more likely to spend time researching computer hardware and software. 

When Aussies do their research on social media, it often leads to them purchasing something (61%). A vast majority of these purchases (80%) are conducted via an online transaction. 

Before making a first time purchase, one third of people check out the online retailer’s social media channel. That’s why building your socials is pivotal in boosting sales conversions!

Following Brands on Social Media 

Almost 40% of Aussie consumers follow businesses or brands on social media, especially women and the younger generation. Among the people surveyed in Yellow Social Media Report 2020, 82% of those who follow brands or businesses do it because they’re interested in discounts, giveaways, product information and tips/advice. 

Eighty-four per cent of Facebook users follow brands on the platform, especially women and those aged 18-39 years old. Facebook users (37%) tend to follow holiday, travel and accommodation related brands or businesses. 

Surprisingly, just under half of Instagram users (48%) follow brands or businesses on their socials. Again, women (53%) are more likely to do so than men (38%), coupled with those aged 18-39 years old. Instagram users are most likely to follow clothing and fashion brands (59%). 

When it comes to checking a brand’s social media presence, many Aussies are more likely to trust them if they have a large number of followers across different sites like Facebook and Instagram. Unsurprisingly, positive interaction between brands and customers on social media leads to higher levels of trust according to 51% of people surveyed. This trust can be further enhanced by making engaging and relevant content and keeping it regularly updated. 

Sharing Branded Content on Social Media 

Branded content revolves around any kind of content that promotes the brand and drives engagement, notably including sponsored ads, infographics, blog articles, eBooks, podcasts and videos. They can be funded or produced outright by the advertiser.

A quarter of Aussie social media users have shared branded content on their social media feeds, especially the younger demographic (18-39). Facebook timelines (68%) and Facebook Messenger (54%) are popular avenues for sharing all kinds of branded content. 

Meanwhile, other users actually create brand-related content for the business. In fact, twenty-one per cent of people say they’ve created their own content at the request of a brand, although this is more common among younger generations or millennials aged 19-29 (37%) compared to those over 65 years.  

Rating & Reviewing Businesses on Social Media 

First of all, what is the difference between ratings and reviews? To answer this question, ratings are typically pictorial feedback given via a star score ranging from one to five. A review is more detailed textual feedback or personal comments about the customer’s experience. 

Many of us have left online ratings for a brand on social media. In fact, 43% of Australians say that they’ve made online ratings in the past year. These consumers have typically left an average of seven ratings. 

Businesses in the travel, tourism and accommodation sector receive the most online ratings (53%), followed by hospitality (35%) and entertainment (31%). Women tend to rate fashion, cosmetics and beauty, and personal services more than men. However, men are much more likely to give online ratings to computer hardware, software brands and video games. This is also similar with online reviews. 

For online reviews, forty-two per cent of people have posted them, mainly through the social media channels of business (42%) or the comments section of their website or blog (40%). Aussies also take to Google (39%), Trip Advisor (33%), Yelp (31%) and Zomato (31%) to write reviews. Most interestingly, 26% of people said they would be open to changing their opinion of a business if they replied to their negative review! 

On the flipside, when it comes to actually reading other users’ online ratings about products and services, more than two thirds of Australian consumers (68%) have done so. Aussies read an average of seven ratings before deciding to make a purchase. In this day and age, getting widespread customer feedback on your socials can do wonders for your brand image!

Need Help to Build Your Social Media Presence?

With the prevalence of social media among Aussie consumers in 2020 and beyond, it’s crucial that brands and businesses build their online presence. 

That’s why you can contact OMDIGI Group to fully optimise your branding on the top social media platforms. We provide a range of digital marketing services that are fully tailored to your business, from Social Advertising, Paid Search and Content Creation. With these valuable services, you’ll be attracting your target audience in no time!