10 takeaways from the Sensis 2018 social media report

What it means for your business

1. Social media links on businesses websites are the most popular way of generating social media traffic

This means: incorporate your socials onto your website and ensure they’re responsive on mobile.

2. The biggest struggle for businesses is thinking of new content

This means: having unique, informative, appealing and entertaining content will easily put you ahead of the rest.

3. 6/10 businesses believe social media will contribute to higher sales

This means: you should think of your website and your social media accounts all as elements of your business interface that are contributing in important ways. Integrating your social media with your website will help lead users who follow you on social media to a sale.

4. 51% of users are keen on discounts or giveaways

This means: you should leverage this to get ahead of competitors and increase your social media engagement. If you don’t sell traditional products, think about creating online guides or downloadable information for your followers which will allow you to interact with them on a further level and create strong relationships.

5. Interacting positively, having engaging and relevant content and regularly updating your socials are the 3 ways consumers believe build trust with a company

This means: you should think of your social media followers as real people who are knocking on your businesses door! Act on social media as you would in real life, this means communicating regularly, being friendly and open and sharing relevant information.

6. 53% of businesses measure their social media success via comments and likes

This means: if you’re measuring your social media success by not only comments and likes, but engagement, reach, impressions and looking at all forms of analytics, you are ahead of your competitors. Measuring your success is just as important as posting content.

7. 60% of Australians and 34% of social media users are online 5 times a day.

This means: consumers are ready and are waiting to be engaged online and on social media! Make your social media accounts and website stand out and people will be there, ready to chat.

8. Popular times for social media use are; evening 61%, first thing in the morning 59%, on lunch breaks 42% and commuting 22%.

This means: people are essentially checking their social media accounts all day….use your insights on Facebook and Instagram to see what time your followers are online and interacting.

9. 79% of consumers are using Facebook messenger

This means: if you’re a customer centric business and are regularly chatting with customers and responding to online queries, start exploring the option of Facebook messenger bots. These can help you answer a variety of questions and provide information to your customers whilst reducing the time you spend doing it!

10. 74% of consumers access social media on their smartphone (compared to 65% in previous research)

This means: we’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, if your website isn’t mobile responsive you’re missing out, consumers will often reach your website through your social media accounts and if it’s not mobile responsive, they’ll click away.

Check out the full Sensis social media report!