Digital marketing expert Dave Chaffey* has compiled a Global Social Media research summary in which he breaks down the various studies which were completed by giants such as Hootsuite, Pew Research, Trackmaven and comScore. As industry experts, we at ATKASA have taken cognisance of this. As part of our commitment to offer our clients industry-driven insights, we unpack and examine the findings of the study and how they affect your brand.
SOCIAL MEDIA POPULARITY
Our take-out from this can be summed up as follows – social media marketing is at the forefront of global communication. The Global Social Media report has established that the number of social media users has increased year-on-year by 13% to 3.196 billion. This growth is attributed to the rise of mobile social users which sits at 2.958 billion – a 30% growth from the previous year. Third World countries such as Saudi Arabia, India and Indonesia have achieved the highest annual increase in social media usage indicating the positive effects of the use of technology which makes social media platforms more accessible to more people. The most used social platform, Facebook boasts a recorded 2.234 million users which can be beneficial to both small and large organisations who seek to increase leads to their website. Examining the increase that Third World countries now enjoy in terms of social media penetration, it is clear that a business which seeks to improve its customer retention, client services and its reputational standing needs to be active on social media – especially Facebook. Alongside this, internet penetration in Southern Africa sits at 51% compared to the global average of 53%. This can be linked back to increasing data costs in South Africa, and because of that, brands have to be observant in terms of their digital marketing concepts – shorter videos and smaller images in terms of pixels.
The results collected regarding the popularity of social media networks amongst 32 countries revealed that Indonesia, Mexico, India and Turkey take the lead in having the most users. In the South African context, we placed eighth for Twitter, eleventh for Facebook, eighteenth for YouTube and twelfth for Google Plus. Looking at our impressive Twitter standing, it is no surprise, considering that Twitter is one of the most cost-effective social media networks. At the time this study was conducted, network provider MTN had offered their users unlimited use of the App at no cost while competitor Telkom offered its users cost-efficient internet packages which allowed users to enjoy the benefits of Twitter.
POPULAR SOCIAL NETWORKS
In terms of time spent on social media platforms, it was found that Facebook accounts for 80% of social media minutes followed by Instagram at 10%. From this study, Dave Chaffey* suggests that organisations should capitalise on Instagram ad techniques as they have delivered demonstrable results. Looking at the digital marketing strategy of established music festival Rocking the Daisies, their use of Instagram ad techniques was done in an ingenious way – they used it to announce their headliner act which happens to be world renowned rock band, The 1975. In a space of five days their advert was viewed by more than 27 000 users – which led to almost instant sell-out! It is against this background that we observe the astronomical results that Instagram ad techniques can achieve – well worth the investment.
ENGAGING SOCIAL PLATFORM
In a study conducted by TrackMaven, Instagram was revealed to have achieved the greatest engagement per follower. The platform was able to interact with 80 000 followers per post compared to Facebook and LinkedIn who achieved below 10 000! Referring back to Rocking the Daisies, their response rate on Instagram was particularly impressive. Their decision to use Instagram to release important information relating to the festival allowed them to respond to comments quickly.
With more than 10 years digital marketing experience, our social media marketing and management services are cost-effective, boost customer retention and promote lead generation – and have proven to have had a sizeable impact on our clients’ businesses. It is these results that have made ATKASA one of South Africa’s leading digital agencies through the use of industry-led technology and experience. Through the analysis of studies such as the one above, we pride ourselves on meeting – and exceeding – our clients expectations. Our commitment to excellence ensures we become the heartbeat of your brand.
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