Social media is becoming an integral part of our lives. It allows us to connect with our friends, update our status, share photos and interesting links. It is also being used to engage with celebrities, brands and products more closely than other forms of media. The use and popularity of social media has moved communications that were previously happening offline into the online space.
Australian social media use is second in the world
Currently, internet users spend a significant amount of time on social media websites. The latest statistics for February 2010 by Nielsen research show that Australians spent 6.5 hours on social networks. This is second in the world after Italy, and more than in the USA. Australians are clearly heavy users of social media!
Relationship between social networking users and top online properties
Perennial lists of the top websites have a strong skew towards social networking sites. In Australia, Comscore noted a strong correlation between visitors of top online properties and social networking sites. Comscore noted that approximately 72% of Australian internet users visited a social networking site and 90% of these visitors also visited the top 20 most popular online properties. Heavy social networking users make up 19% of the total internet audience (e.g. those that constantly need to update their status on Twitter!)
Facebook is still king
Globally, Facebook still proved to be the most popular social network with 52% reach, averaging 19 sessions and approximately 6 hours per person. Other popular sites include YouTube, MySpace, Twitter, and LinkedIn. These are different ways in which your target market could be interacting with your brand online and talking about your products and services.
Social Networking > Email Usage
An interesting point to note is that the use of social media has overtaken email. A report by Comscore and Morgan Stanley shows that the number of global users has surpassed email and the global time spent on social networking has far exceeded email. Social media channels are supplementing and in some cases replacing email as a form of communication. For example, it can be easier to hit a “like” button on your friend’s Facebook status update, leave a comment on their wall, use instant chat to get a response or upload a photo immediately than to send an email.
The appeal of social networks over other communication channels is the interactivity with your online community, immediacy, and the ability to access these channels anywhere and anytime. These social networks are being accessed from desktops, laptops, mobile handsets, and a myriad of other smaller devices.
Impact on your business
As social networking becomes more ubiquitous in the lives of Australian internet users, it presents opportunities for your business. Your customers could be discussing your products with their friends, uploading photos of your product, watching videos about your company and reading reviews on blogs regarding your customer service. Hence, it is critical for businesses to first understand their social media presence, develop a strategy and to engage with their customers using these communication channels.
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