Remember the Yellow pages? That big, chunky book that you got delivered every year without asking, only for it to be used as a spider squasher or a step to get the chocolate off the top shelf? Well, it still exists! Much like everything though, it now exists in an online capacity, and every year as part of the Australian Census they conduct a social media report jam-packed with statistics on just about every part of social media you could think of, through the eyes of Australian users – from how much time you spend on each platform right down to which room of the house people are mostly in when checking their apps!
If you don’t have time to read the whole 40-page report – don’t stress! We’ve pulled out some of the best bits and summarised for you below.
Since 2011, Census has been surveying Aussie businesses and consumers about their social media usage and traits. The report aims to educate businesses on what their consumers are doing online, what time they’re online, and even where they are when they’re online!
The research for this survey, in particular, was taken from 2,012 online participants from December 2019 – January 2020 (right before COVID probably changed all of these aspects!). It ensured the data was weighted across a range of factors such as age and gender so that the survey recorded an accurate sample of Australia’s adult population.
The report is full of a complete breakdown of stats by the different audience segments, but here are some of the most interesting ones:
Well, we’re glad you asked! If you’re not doing your research, there’s a good chance that you’re not hitting your audience as well as you could be. It could be as simple as checking when your followers are online the most, to as detailed as some of the things in this report such as how they engage with areas like social media ads and influencers.
The report also provides a great breakdown of the survey questions, so it’s easy to find what relates to your audience specifically. If your audience falls into the category that checks social media at least 10 times a day, are you posting enough content to keep your business top of mind to them?
If your target consumers sit in the 60+ age bracket where only 11% of them have stated that they follow businesses on social media, are you reaching them in other ways? There’s no point posting multiple times on social media if they’re not even going to see it!
We think that these statistics are particularly relevant to businesses, as they explain the link and influence social media plays in influencing purchasing decisions, and really highlights the need to update your social media strategy as the world around us evolves.
If you want to learn more about how your own audience interacts with social media why not create a survey through a tool like Survey Monkey? Or, for a super quick result for a question, try using the polls feature on Instagram stories.
If looking at the report makes you feel overwhelmed and slightly nauseous, get in touch with our friendly team here.