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How small, medium and large businesses in Australia are using social media in 2017
More people are using social media than ever before, but there is a glaring disconnect between the ways consumers and businesses are using social media in Australia.
The 2017 Sensis Social Media Report revealed record numbers of people are using social media to connect with brands they love, yet social media use is declining among Australian businesses.
The 2017 report has for the first time incorporated an exclusive chapter on business social media trends, providing valuable insight into how small, medium and large businesses are using – or not using – social media.
We’ve analysed the report to provide you with insights into what’s driving these trends, and how your business can gain a competitive edge on social media.
Snapshot of Australian businesses with a social media presence
Big business is leading the social media movement in Australia, and 6 in 10 large businesses (60%) are using at least one social network. But that number has fallen quite dramatically since 2016, when 79% of the large businesses surveyed used social media.
Of those still on social media today, only 42% of large businesses are optimising their online reach using paid social media advertising.
Social media presence has dropped among Australia’s small (47%) and medium (49%) businesses too.
With the declining organic reach of social media, paid advertising has become a necessity to effectively reach and grow audiences on platforms like Facebook. But the report revealed only one quarter of the small businesses on social media are investing in advertising, along with 37% of medium business.
As for businesses without a social media presence, 40% of the large businesses not on social media today had been in the past, as had 8% of small businesses and just under 1% of medium businesses.
These figures are a startling contrast to the consumer behaviour report, which revealed 8 in 10 Australians are now active on social media including 99% of 18-29 year olds, and 96% of people aged 30-39. Of that age group, 41% use social media to connect with brands and businesses. And three quarters of all consumers indicated they were more likely to trust a brand that interacted positively on social media. Unfortunately, without a social media presence many Australian businesses are just nowhere to be seen.

About the businesses using social media
The hospitality sector is the most socially savvy, with 70% of Australia’s cafes, restaurants and accommodation providers now on social media.
Other industries with an above average representation on social media include Cultural Recreational and Personal services (66%), Retail (58%), Communication, Property and Business services (58%) and Wholesale Trade (53%).
The bottom performers were Transport and Storage businesses (27%) – down from 38% the year before, and Finance and Insurance services (32%) down from 41% in 2017.
This indicates Australian businesses are switching off social media, probably due to lower than expected reach, ROI and ultimately sales. Which is why it is so important to understand how to maximise your online presence and make social media work for your business, in any industry. 
The highest use of social media among small and medium businesses is occurring in the Northern Territory (55%), followed by New South Wales (51%) and Queensland (50%). Less than half of small and medium businesses are using social media in Western Australia (47%), Tasmania (45%), Victoria (42%), ACT (39%) and South Australia (36%).
There is very little difference in social media presence between regional and metro businesses, at 47% and 46% respectively. In the previous year, regional businesses had a higher rate of social media use with 51% uptake, leading their city counterparts by 5 points. 
Social media channels used by Australian businesses
Continuing to be the platform of choice, Facebook is used by nine of 10 businesses with a social media presence. LinkedIn is the second most used platform overall, but it’s more popular with large businesses (82%), over their medium (41%) and small (35%) counterparts.
Instagram is being used by four in 10 medium businesses, compared to just 20% of both the small and large organisations, and Twitter usage grows with business size, from 24% of small businesses to 36% of medium and 55% of large businesses.
The survey revealed very little uptake of other social media platforms, with only 16% of small businesses on Google+, 11% on YouTube, 4% on Pinterest and 1% on Snapchat.
This is perhaps surprising, considering the Sensis consumer report revealed Australians are significantly increasing their time using video-based platforms, with 51% of Australians now regularly using YouTube, and some users spending up to three hours per day on Snapchat.
Businesses switching off social
The use of social media among Australian consumers grew 10% in 2017, to 8 in 10 people. But the social media presence of businesses has dropped since 2016, by as much as 19% among large business, prompting us to question why they’re switching off.
The Sensis Social Media Business Report found more than half of all small and medium businesses, and four in 10 large businesses, do not have a presence on any form of social media.
Of those, nine per cent of the small businesses and 11 per cent of the medium businesses said they hoped to start using social media within the next year. But none of the large businesses had these intentions.
The most common reasons large businesses gave for not being on social media, was the belief it took too much time (70%) and they couldn’t see any benefit (65%). Almost half (48%) admitted to not understanding social media, while 43% were afraid of having a visible public rating system. Five per cent of small businesses felt being on social media was ‘too risky’, while 3% said it was too expensive.
Overwhelmingly, these figures show a majority of Australian businesses still do not understand the capabilities of social media as a marketing or sales tool, and they’re missing out on the opportunities, customers and profit it can provide.
Importantly, Australian businesses need to realise they don’t need to manage their social media marketing themselves, and engaging a professional social media manager and content developer with digital marketing experience is the best way to get the greatest results from their social media investment.
Why businesses are using social media
 Of the businesses that are on social media, most are using a mix of written content, images and videos.
We know Facebook posts with images see almost 2 ½ times more engagement than those without, yet 30% of small businesses post exclusively written content on social media.
Similarly, 34% restrict their social media posts to either photos or images, which fails to take advantage of the benefits of content marketing.
The leading reason for maintaining a social media presence was advertising or promoting a business, followed by acting as an avenue for customer contact and interaction. Surprisingly, only 4% of small businesses are using social media to actively increase sales and only 7% of large businesses use social media to drive new business and grow their customer base.
Discounts and giveaways were identified in the consumer report as the main offering customers want from businesses and brands they follow on social media. These reasons topped the chart at 54% and 48% respectively, up from 41% and 30% last year.
However, only 17% of large businesses are offering incentives to consumers via social media, along with 25% of medium businesses and 29% of small businesses.
The report also revealed small and medium businesses need to pick up their act when it comes to engaging with and responding to followers on their social channels. Only 51% of medium businesses and 61% of small businesses engaged with people who provided reviews or ratings on their social media pages, compared to 93% of large businesses. 
Marketing and advertising on social media
The rate of paid advertising on social media has increased among SMBs, but dropped 20% among large businesses.
A vast majority of businesses paying for social media advertising are doing so on Facebook, and 100% of large businesses that did advertise on social networks found it effective, compared to 74% of medium and 69% of small businesses.
Bigger organisations are also showing interest in other platforms, with 24% of large businesses advertising on Twitter and 20% on LinkedIn.
Annual budgets for social media investment have dropped across the board, and one quarter of small businesses now have no budget for social media spending at all.
Two out of every 10 small businesses using social media only have up to $500 per annum to spend, while 80% of large businesses are spending less than $5000 a year. This figure is significantly lower than five years ago, when the 2012 Sensis report found large businesses were spending an average of $100,480 on social media per year.
Interestingly though, a majority of these businesses now allocate more than half of their annual marketing budget to social media, investing in advertising (54%), strategic management services (24%) and content services (22%). 
Managing social media channels in business
Most Australian businesses are continuing to manage social media internally, with small businesses being the most likely to outsource social media management (8%).
Seven in 10 small business owners manage their own social media, compared to just 10% of large business owners, who are more likely to enrol the help of their marketing department (85%), up from 53% the year before.
Daily social media updates are increasing among all sectors of business, and 88% of large businesses now post on social media everyday, up from 65% in 2016.
This reflects the response to growing consumer demand for social content, with 59% of Australians now using social media daily, and more than a third checking their newsfeeds at least five times a day.
Interestingly, the report shows almost 50% of small businesses are only posting content on social media once a week or less, while 4% of medium businesses and 3% of small businesses never update their social media channels. It comes as no surprise then, some of these businesses are not achieving their sales and marketing goals.
How businesses measure the ROI of social media
One of the most important elements of social media strategies for business, is to set clear and measurable goals. This can include specific social media elements like page likes and engagement on posts, but should also measure leads, conversions and sales in real terms.
Facebook’s inbuilt analytics and marketing tools provide businesses with this capacity, but according to the figures, many businesses are missing the mark when it comes to measuring their social media success. Only 33% of large businesses, 20% of medium businesses and 23% of small businesses analyse their performance, so most Australian businesses aren’t measuring their ROI from social media at all.
Of those that do, eight in 10 large businesses determine their ROI on the number of responses they receive on social media. While 95% of large businesses and 52% of small businesses measure their success based on the number of likes and followers.
This fails to provide insight into how many of those responses and followers are being converted to paying customers, or whether they’re positive or negative interactions. Vague or irrelevant measuring could be further contributing to the downward trends revealed in the 2017 report.
Future plans and expectations
Perhaps many of the holes in the performance of social media efforts among businesses can be explained by poor strategic planning. The 2017 Sensis report revealed only four in 10 SMBs have a social media strategy in place, compared to 90% of large businesses.
And if the figures are accurate, perhaps not a lot will change, with a vast majority of businesses expecting to maintain the same expenditure on social media in the year ahead. Medium businesses (39%) were the most likely to increase their social media investment.
Three quarters of medium businesses also believed social media could contribute to an increase in sales, while only 53% of small businesses and four in 10 large businesses shared this enthusiasm.
Overall the report demonstrates some Australian businesses are turning their backs on social media because it isn’t working for them, yet the figures clearly show us why.
Lack of strategic planning and advertising investment, failure to set targets and measure performance, and a lack of professional knowledge and experience in content development and social media management are all contributing to the downfall of this digital marketing tool.
While those businesses that are dedicating sufficient advertising budgets, setting measurable goals, and engaging the expertise of trained staff or external agencies to manage their social media marketing for them, are more likely to experience greater success in converting those virtual likes and thumbs up to paying customers and real dollars.

The must-have consumer behaviour report to boost digital marketing for your business
From staying in touch with friends to posting snaps of Sunday brunch or sharing viral cat videos, many of us now live our lives through social media.
Facebook remains the world’s largest social media platform and recently reached the record of 2-billion monthly active users – that’s two thirds of the world’s population with internet access.
The rise of social media is reflected here in Australia too, where the 2017 Sensis Social Media Report has revealed eight in 10 Australians now use social media.
Understanding who these people are, and how, when and why they use social media, is key to making this important digital marketing platform work for your business.
The 7th annual Sensis Social Media Report reveals that while social media use is increasing, what consumers want from brands on social media and why they use it continues to change.
We’ve read all 81 pages of the report to bring you a summary of must-have information to maximise the ROI of your social media marketing, starting today.
A snapshot of who is using social media in Australia in 2017
According to the report, 8 in 10 Australians are now using social media. That figure rises to more than 99% of Australians in the 18-29 age group using social media, with use gradually dropping off as the ages progress, down to just under half of senior Australians aged 65+. (Sensis Social Media Report 2017, p13)
Females are slightly more active on social media, as 60% of Australian women use social media at least once a day, compared to 58% of men.
Daily social networking is highest in the Northern Territory with 82% of Territorians using social media at least once daily, followed by Tasmania and South Australia with 75% and New South Wales with 62%. Social media appears to be less popular in Queensland, with 26% of Queenslanders saying they never use social networking.
Social media users in Australia have potential to connect with, and importantly influence, hundreds of immediate contacts.  The average Australian has 234 Facebook friends, and an average of 469 people in their networks across the six top platforms including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Google+ and Instagram.
Why Australians use social media
The 2017 Sensis Social Media Report reveals the main reason Australians use social media is to catch up with family and friends (89%). This has dropped since the peak of 95% in the 2014 report. (Sensis Social Media Report 2017, pp33-34)
Other top reasons Australians regularly use social media are sharing photographs and videos (57%), watching videos (43%), getting information on news and current events (37%), playing games (34%) and making new friends (30%). Of all reasons people have ever used social media, 45% have posted a selfie, 40% have posted photos of food, and 39% have deleted friends.
Australians aged 30-39 are most likely to use social media to follow or find out about particular brands or businesses (27%), and more specifically to obtain offers or promotions (22%). Internet savvy seniors aged 65+ are the most likely age group to use social media to research products and services before they buy.
Men are more likely to use social media to engage with a brand for customer service issues rather than using email or telephone, 11% vs only 8% of women.
Products and services Australians are searching for on social media
Clothing and fashion used to top the list of social media searches in Australia, but this year more Australians are using social media to search for items for their homes. Electrical goods are the most common product search (47%), followed by furniture and ‘other things’ for the home (42%).
Among the people who regularly use social media to research purchases, their most recent searches were for clothing and fashion or appliances and electrical equipment (both 17% respectively), holidays, travel and accommodation (10%), movies or TV shows (9%) and entertainment, furniture or things for the home (8%). A total of 15% of people indicated they were searching for something other than the provided options on their most recent search.
Products and services are more likely to be researched on mobile devices (52%) compared to computers (35%).
And in tracking the pathway to purchase, the survey found 52% of social media product research led to a purchase, slightly down from 59% in 2016. Of those purchases, 61% were made online. (Sensis Social Media Report 2017, p36)
When and where people use social media in Australia
Seven in ten Australians are active on social media in the evenings, still the most popular time for social media usage across all gender and age brackets.
The biggest gender divide occurs at lunchtime and during breaks, when more males use social media than females. Overall, 21% of Australians are using social media while they are working, but this figure rises where almost half of Australians aged 18-29 admit to using social media while at work (46%).
Ironically, most Australians are getting social while at home, with 96% using social media in their own house. This is followed by 43% on public transport, up from 25% in 2016, 37% in the car, up from 20% last year, and 33% at restaurants, bars or parties, up from 19% previously. Despite those requests to switch off, 5% admit to using social media at the cinema, and 9% use it at the gym.
The living room is the most popular room of the house for accessing social media (84%), followed by the bedroom (59%) up from 42% in 2016, and the kitchen (34%) up from 22%. Overall, 14% of Australians are using social media while on the toilet, but this is most common among the younger age group, where 29% of 18-29 year olds admit to social networking while on the loo. Facebooking from the toilet is a popular pastime in the Northern Territory, too (35%). (Sensis Social Media Report 2017, pp28-29)
How Australians access social media
We are all opting for the convenience of mobile devices, and now 81% of Australian social media users access social networking on their smartphones, up nine points from 2016. Smartphones are most popular with 18-29 year olds, with 97% accessing social media this way.
Desktop computer usage has plummeted from 60% in 2011, to just 28% this year, and even laptop use has declined, from a peak of 69% in 2012, to a low of 30% in 2017. Females (31%) are more likely to access social media on a tablet than males (18%).
With mobile devices so popular, most people are accessing social media on apps rather than websites (68% vs 9%). Seven out of 10 social media users prefer using apps, but the number of people using both websites and apps has almost doubled since last year, from 12% to 23%. (Sensis Social Media Report 2017, p27)
The most popular social media channels in Australia
It is the largest and most popular social networking platform in the world, so it comes as no surprise 94% of Australian social media users are on Facebook.
Snapchat has seen the biggest jump in Australian users, doubling from 20% to 40% in one year, but it is still topped by Instagram (46%) and YouTube (51%). Twitter’s popularity has also increased from 20% to 32%, likely due to the increasing visual capability of the network.
LinkedIn and Google+ are least appealing to those aged under 30, and more females than males prefer Facebook (97% v 91%), but males have higher usage of all other platforms. (Sensis Social Media Report 2017, pp17-18)
Snapchat is the most frequently accessed social media platform, with its users averaging 42 uses per week, while most Australian Twitter users Tweet more than 5 times a day (67%).
In each individual session, Australians are spending an average of 32 minutes on Snapchat, 28.1 minutes on Twitter, 26.9 minutes on Instagram and 23.2 minutes on Facebook. This equates to up to three hours a day on Snapchat for some users, and 10 hours per week on Facebook. (Sensis Social Media Report 2017, p22)
What Australian consumers want from brands and businesses on social media
It’s the question on the lips of every business and social media marketer – what do they want from us? Well, the 2017 Sensis Social Media Report has the answer for you.
Free stuff!
Discounts and giveaways are the main offering consumers want from businesses and brands they follow on social media. These reasons topped the chart at 54% and 48% respectively, up from 41% and 30% last year.
Three in 10 followers are looking for product information, while 22% want information about the company, or invitations to events. Twenty per cent would like free tips and advice, and 19% are looking for feedback forums. Unfortunately 29% keep us guessing, indicating their reasons for following businesses don’t fit into any of the provided categories.
The types of brands and businesses people follow on Facebook have changed too, with lifts in sporting brands and clubs, work or profession related pages, and electronics and technology businesses, while telecommunication providers and fashion brand follows have declined. Interestingly, this was reversed on Twitter, where the only increase was in fashion and clothing related businesses, while there was significant drop off in interest in sporting brands and work related content.
Attitudes towards social media advertising are softening, with more users welcoming suggested pages. Fewer people are ignoring social media ads (44% down from 53%) and compared to last year, more people are more likely to inspect a brand’s social media presence before making their first online purchase with them.
Business can build trust with users by interacting positively with customers on social media, as indicated by 64% of survey respondents, up from 52% last year. Engaging and relevant content is also key to building trust (63%), as well as regularly updating content (59%). These reasons were all more important than having a large number of followers (46%).
Consumers won’t hesitate to unfollow a brand on social media if they share irrelevant or unappealing content (43%) or show too many ads (35%). Interestingly, showing too much content is more likely to get a page unfollowed than sharing too little (28% v 7%).

Sensis Social Media Report, p42
And while only 22% leave business reviews or ratings, 44% of Australian social media users read business reviews and blogs, and 60% of those will read up to five reviews before making a purchase decision.
 
While there is still a very delicate path to tread in order to get your social media mix just right, the 2017 Sensis Social Media Report provides valuable insights into consumer behaviour in Australia.
With the right management and digital marketing team on your side, this information can help you make the most of your brand’s social media presence in 2017.