Social Media Statistics for Australia (Updated September 2020)

Updated: September 2020

No business can afford to ignore social media as part of its marketing mix. But, unless you are a global multinational, it is also impossible to effectively manage all of the social media networks that are on offer.

To be most effective, companies and their marketing agencies should look to be active in two or, at most, three networks and distribute their content marketing assets in a focused way. This allows you to become proficient in the nuances of the those platforms and maximise results.

The difficulty for Australian organisations is understanding the nuances of which social media channels are most effective and active locally. Typically the published social media statistics focus on a United States or global centric view of the data.

This post collates Australian social media statistics from across a wide variety of sources. We have then analysed those statistics to provide recommendations to for businesses on which platform are most effective in different use cases.

Table of Contents

1. Overall Australian Social Media Statistics
2. Australian Social Media Average time on Site and Traffic Ranks
3. Social Media Advertising Statistics For Australia
4. Key Australian Facebook Facts
5. Key Australian LinkedIn Facts
6. Key Australian Snapchat Statistics
7. Key Australian Twitter Advertising Statistics
8. Key Australian Pinterest Advertising Statistics

Overall Australian Social Media Statistics

In general, Australians are reasonably avid consumers of social media. At least as avid as the US market, but not as active as some Asian countries.

Australian Social Media Account Statistics

• 71% of the overall Australian population have active social media accounts. That’s 18 million people Source
• 85% of the eligible (age 13+) Australian population have active social media accounts, Source
• Active social media users grew in Australia by 4.3% over the 10 month period Apr 2019 to Jan 2020, this is more than 3.5 time the population growth in same period. Source
• 98% of Australian users access social media via a mobile device. Source
• There are ~1.3 mobile connections for every man, woman and child in Australia . Source
• Australians spend an average of 1 hour 47 minutes per day on social media, and this has been increasing slowly over the past 8 years. Source
• Australian’s have one of the lowest number of social media accounts per person in the world (and average of just 6.2 per person. This should be compared to Japan (3.5) and India (10.0.) Source
• 52% of Australian’s use Social Media as a source of news. This is just below the worldwide average of 55% (Data Source,Analysis: Genroe)
• 30% more Australians trust their social media news sources than those in the USA but only 73% as many Australians trust their social media news sources than those in The Netherlands. (Data Source, Analysis: Genroe)
• Australians are concerned about real or fake online news at about the same rate as those in the United States. (Data Source, Analysis: Genroe)

Australian Social Media Average time on Site and Traffic Ranks

It’s not surprising that social media sites are some of the most commonly accessed in Australia. Below is an analysis of traffic rank Vs the average daily site visit time.

Of course, higher trafficked sites with longer visit times are of most interest to companies wishing to leverage marketing opportunities.

There are several items of particular note in this analysis:

• Youtube, not normally considered a social media site has a long dwell time and offers good opportunities for B2B marketers.
• Reddit, also has a very high traffic (5th most trafficked site in Australia) and dwell time and may present good opportunities for marketers.
• LinkedIn, while not being the highest traffic site, has a respectable dwell time of high value B2B users.
• From January 2020 to July 2020 Twitter fell out of the top 50 most trafficked sites in Australia. Twitter does not have the same influence in Australia as it does in other geographies.
• In Australia the daily average time on site for the top 5 social media networks is:
  • Youtube: 16 minutes 09 seconds per day
  • Facebook: 19 minutes 00 seconds per day
  • Reddit: 5 minutes 33 seconds per day
  • Instagram: 8 minutes 41 seconds per day
  • LinkedIn: 10 minutes 44 seconds per day (Data source. Analysis by Genroe)
• The 5 most popular social media sites in Australia are:
  1. Youtube
  2. Facebook
  3. Reddit
  4. Instagram
  5. LinkedIn (Data source. Analysis by Genroe)

Social Media Advertising Statistics For Australia

• Australian digital advertising is expected to grow by just 2.5% this year (2020) (around the global average), the lowest on record. (Source, Source, Analysis: Genroe)
• Australia is estimated to be the 5th largest Social Media Advertising market in the world. (Source)
• Australia’s total Social Media Advertising market size is estimated to be USD 1,931 in 2020.(Source)
• Australia’s total Social Media Advertising market size is forecast to grow to USD 2,719m by 2024.(Source)

Social media platforms ebb and flow over time – when was the last time you logged into your myspace account?

Investing in a platform it is important to identify which platforms your potential customers use, which are growing and which shrinking. This allows you to invest your time wisely for the longer term.

Below are the eligible audience reaches as a percentage of the total Australian population, (13+) for each of the major networks

It’s no surprise that Facebook’s has the highest overall reach. What may be a surprise is that LinkedIn comes in second.

Also included are that audience changes (quarter over quarter) and it’s clear that Pinterest and Twitter have passed their peak.

Unfortunately there are no locally available data on social media advertising fees for Australia but the following global statistics provide an effective ready reckoner on what to expect on a relative basis.

What is clear here is the predominately B2B network (LinkedIn) has much higher cost per click rates AND much lower click through rates. This generally equates with the value per sale being higher in B2B marketing and the cost per lead being acceptably higher.

It should be noted that Facebook Messenger costs per click have risen steeply it the last year: +47%.

Key Australian Facebook Facts

• Facebook is Australia’s 3rd highest trafficked site after Google and YouTube. (Source)
• 66%, or 16 million, Australians are monthly active Facebook users. This is steady on the previous period (July 2020, Data Source, Analysis by Genroe)
• Australia Facebook users are some of the most active “Likers” in the world an average of 15 likes per month vs the global average of 12. (Data Source, Analysis: Genroe)
• Australia Facebook users are some of the most active “commenters” in the world an average of 9 comments per month vs the global average of just 6. (Data Source, Analysis: Genroe)
• While users skew to the 25-34 age group, there are more than 1.25 million Facebook users over 65 in Australia (Source)
• Visitors spend an average of 18 min 49 secs and view 8.29 pages per day on Facebook (Apr-Jun 2020, (Source)

Australia Facebook Advertising Statistics

• Total audience (aged 13+): 18 million (Source: Facebook data analysis by Genroe)
• Australia Facebook users are some of the most active advert clickers in the world an average of 22 adverts clicked per month. This is in the top 8% of countries globally. (Data Source, Analysis: Genroe)
• Facebook has an estimated 80% market share of the Australian Social Media Advertising market. (Source)

Facebook Advertising Audience By Education

• University Graduate: 5.1 million

Key Australian LinkedIn Facts

• LinkedIn is Australia’s premier B2B Social Media platform.
• Visitors spend an average of 10 min 25 secs and view 8.4 pages per day on LinkedIn (Apr-Jun 2020, Source)
• 59% of LinkedIn Users return fewer than 3 times a week. (Source)
• LinkedIn has an estimated 5% market share of the Australian Social Media Advertising market. (Source)

The implication for B2B business using LinkedIn is that they need to post new content several times a week to ensure that it gets in front of the majority of uses in the infrequent number of times they visit the site.

Australia LinkedIn Advertising Statistics

• Total audience: 11 million (Source: LinkedIn data analysis by Genroe)
• LinkedIn is one of only three major global social network where Australia ranks in the top 20 countries for advertising reach.(Data Source, Analysis: Genroe)
• Australia is the 12 largest LinkedIn advertising reach market in the world. (Data Source, Analysis: Genroe)

LinkedIn Australian Advertising Audience By Seniority

Note that numbers will not add to 11 million as data not available on all users.

LinkedIn Australian Advertising Audience By Company Size

Note that numbers will not add to 11 million as data not available on all users.

LinkedIn Advertising Costs Q1 2020 (Global)

• Average Cost per Click: USD3.20
• Average Cost per Thousand impressions (CPM): USD5.81
• Average Click Through Rate: 0.22%

(Source)

Key Australian Snapchat Advertising Statistics

• Total Australian snapchat advertising audience reach is: 6.750 million (Source: Data Source)
• Australia has the 15th largest Snapchat advertising audience reach market in the world. (Data Source, Analysis: Genroe)
• Snapchat is one of only three major global social networks where Australia ranks in the top 20 countries for advertising reach.(Data Source, Analysis: Genroe)
• Snapchat has an estimated 5% market share of the Australian Social Media Advertising market. (Source)

Key Australian Twitter Advertising Statistics

• Australia is not in the top 20 Twitter advertising audience reach markets in the world. (Data Source, Analysis: Genroe)
• From January 2020 to July 2020 Twitter fell out of the top 50 most trafficked sites in Australia. Twitter does not have the same influence in Australia as it does in other geographies.
• Twitter has an estimated 5% market share of the Australian Social Media Advertising market. (Source)

Key Australian Pinterest Advertising Statistics

• Total Australian Pinterest advertising audience reach is: 4.9 million (Source: Data Source)
• Australia has the 8th largest Pinterest advertising audience reach market in the world. (Data Source, Analysis: Genroe)
• Pinterest is one of only three major global social networks where Australia ranks in the top 20 countries for advertising reach.(Data Source, Analysis: Genroe)