Effectively engaging with consumers on social media networks is more important than ever, with the amount of time Australians spend on social media decreasing over the past year.
Almost a quarter of every hour Australians spend online is used on social networking, with nine minutes on entertainment sites and four minutes spent on shopping, according to new research.
“The online landscape is constantly changing and it could be that we’re starting to see social networking sites reaching their peak,” says Matt Glasner, general manager of Experian Marketing Services.
The research, conducted by Experian Hitwise, monitored the interactions of 25 million internet users around the world, analysing the total monthly visits to 170 online categories, and the average length of visits to websites in these categories.
“Consumers on a local and global scale are changing the way they interact online, and marketers should take notice. The rise of 3G and now 4G mobile internet access means more visits are being made on the move, particularly in social and email,” says Glasner.
“As brands become increasingly global entities, it’s more important than ever to understand the differences between the regional online behaviours of their customers so that marketing campaigns can be tailored for better and more effective brand engagement.”
The decline in social media use follows a global trend, with usage also down in the US and the UK.
The research also showed Australian users emerging as the largest consumers of news online, with Australian users spending six percent of all their time online in 2012 on news websites.
