Here are more Australia social media statistics for 2020 in Civic Web Media’s now traditional breakdown of the most popular platforms and what this means for digital marketing in the year ahead.

Most popular platforms by number of unique monthly visitors – January 2020

1. Facebook – 16 million
2. YouTube – 15 million
3. Instagram – 9 million
4. WhatsApp – 7 million
5. Snapchat – 6.4 million
6. WordPress – 5.8 million
7. LinkedIn – 5.5 million
8. Twitter – 5.3 million
9. Tumblr – 3.7 million
10. Tinder – 3 million

Statistics compiled by SocialMediaNews.com.au for January 2020. Source: Vivid Social – Social Media Agency. Figures correct as of 31/01/20.

Social media statistics 2020

• Social media in Australia continues to grow at a significant rate, the number of users increasing by 5.9% in 2019 (Talkwalker)
• Young adults aged 18–35 account for more than 75% of Australian social media users (Talkwalker)
• Image and video sharing platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat are the fastest growing (Roy Morgan)
• Chinese social media apps such as WeChat, RenRen and Weibo are also growing rapidly in Australia’s Chinese community, with WeChat poised to enter the top 10 this year (Roy Morgan)
• Google Plus was closed down in 2019, though it never had much of a following in Australia

Top 10 social networks in Australia 2020

1. Facebook

16,000,000 unique active monthly users

Despite a campaign to “delete Facebook” after the company was involved in high-profile data scandals, more Australians continue to sign up for the social network, which has now reached 16 million active users (up from 15 million in 2019).

60% of Australia is on Facebook and 1 in 2 people check the site or app at least once daily.

Facebook’s user base is strong across all age demographics, but especially among 25–39 year olds. Teenagers are the most likely to shun Facebook for younger alternatives.

With such a huge audience, Facebook is usually the first port of call for businesses getting started in social media marketing, with 9 in 10 Australian businesses having Facebook accounts. Facebook posts with videos have the highest rate of engagement.

2. YouTube

15,000,000 unique monthly visitors

The world’s biggest video sharing platform is also the most visited website in Australia after Google, according to Alexa.

While it takes second place to Facebook in the social apps, it’s the number one for Generation Z Australians (aged 14–27), according to the most recent Roy Morgan Single Source survey. Use of YouTube generally declines with age.

Between Facebook and YouTube, video marketing is one of the most engaging types of content that brands can create. In 2019, the top 5 search queries on Facebook in Australia were: Songs, Music, Fortnite, IT and Kids.

3. Instagram

9,000,000 active monthly users

After rapid growth in 2019, Instagram has stabilised as Australia’s third favourite social media site in 2020.

Like YouTube, Instagram users are more likely to be younger. More than two thirds (68%) of Generation Z and over half (52%) of Millennials use the image-based platform, compared to less than one third (32%) of Generation X (Roy Morgan Single Source).

Instagram users are more likely to follow brands than Facebook users, as long as those brands post worthwhile content. Almost half of Australian businesses (46%) use Instagram, according to the most recent Yellow Social Media Report.

Instagram made drastic changes in 2019 when it removed Like counts and made follower counts less prominent to reduce social pressure on users. It also launched Instagram Checkout, to make transactions easier, and Creator Accounts, to support the lucrative influencer marketing industry. It remains to be seen how much of an impact these changes will have on Instagram marketing in 2020.

Want to start or grow your Instagram account in 2020? Find out everything you need to know about hashtags.

4. WhatsApp

7,000,000 active users

Since it was acquired by Facebook, WhatsApp exploded in popularity but now remains stable with approximately seven million Australian users per month in 2020. It’s the country’s second most popular social media messaging app after Facebook Messenger.

5. Snapchat

6,400,000 active monthly users

Another non-mover, Snapchat has matured at a stable 6.4 million monthly users. More impressively, 4.5 million people use the app every day, averaging 36 times per week.

Around half (49%) of social media users aged 18–29 are on Snapchat, the app being used less by older audiences. Like Instagram, it’s used by more females (55%) than males (45%).

6. WordPress

5,800,000 monthly users

Australia’s favourite CMS platform for creating websites and blogs, WordPress hasn’t gained or lost substantial users in 2020. It remains the top choice for its ease of use, customisable features and, most of all, the fact that it’s free.

7. LinkedIn

5,500,000 active monthly users

The first change in the social media ranking for 2020, LinkedIn has now overtaken Twitter with around one million new users year on year. The website reports that around 10 million Australians have registered accounts on LinkedIn, though just over half are active every month.

The B2B platform is used by 73% of large businesses but fewer SMBs. Users are more likely to be male (53% vs 47%).

8. Twitter

5,300,000 active monthly users

It continues to drop in the rankings, but Twitter gained more than half a million users in Australia in 2020. The site is overwhelmingly male, with almost 1.8 males to every female, and is mainly used by people in their 30s. Australian users say they check Twitter 23 times per week on average.

While it may not be the most effective platform for reaching your target audience, the speed and brevity of tweets makes Twitter popular with large businesses, which are more likely to use Twitter marketing than small businesses (60% vs. 14%).

9. Tumblr

3,700,000 monthly users

After losing users last year, following the introduction of stricter rules such as the ban on adult content, Tumblr is stable in ninth place for 2020. The image sharing and blogging site is mainly used by women, and around two-thirds of users (66%) are under 35.

10. Tinder

3,000,000 users

The world’s most popular dating app, Tinder was downloaded more times than any other app in Australia last year and is used by an estimated three million Australians every month.

While business accounts aren’t permitted on the app, advertising is. Depending on your product or service, you may find a suitable audience here.

For more industry news and online marketing tips, follow the Civic Web Media Blog.

Find out more in Civic Web Media‘s annual breakdown of the most popular social media sites in Australia as we begin 2019.

Update: Australia’s most popular social media sites 2020

How many Australians use social media in 2019?

The latest Yellow Social Media Report released in June last year found that almost 9 in 10 people (88%) have a social media profile in Australia. This figure is up from 79% in 2017 and 69% in 2016, showing remarkable growth over a relatively short period.

The average Australian now owns 3.5 internet-enabled devices, with most preferring to use their smartphones to access social media. 60% of people say they use the internet more than five times per day.

How do customers interact with businesses on social media?

The Yellow report found that 44% of consumers follow brands on social media. This increases to 52% for females and 65% for people aged 18-29.

More than 50% of social media users say they value brand interactions on social networks and are more likely to trust a business if it offers engaging and relevant content on a regular basis.

Discounts (62%) and giveaways (51%) are the most popular reasons people follow brands.

Top 10 social networks in Australia 2019

Statistics compiled by SocialMediaNews.com.au for December 2018. Source: Vivid Social – Social Media Agency. Figures correct as of 31/12/18.

1. Facebook

15,000,000 unique active monthly users

Facebook’s dominance and popularity have remained stable since this time last year, despite the organisation’s high-profile data scandals in early 2018 that saw users worldwide being urged to ‘Delete Facebook’. Around 60% of the Australian population has a Facebook account and around 1 in 2 people check it every day.

According to Yellow, 91% of Aussies who use social media are on Facebook, which includes more women than men (95% vs 88%). The average user spends almost 10 hours a week on the platform and more than a quarter (28%) watch live streaming videos on Facebook Live.

More Australian businesses use and advertise on Facebook than any other social platform – around 9 in 10 SMBs and large businesses. This connects them with Australia’s biggest online audience.

2. YouTube

15,000,000 unique monthly visitors

More than half of the population (53%) watches videos on YouTube. This includes slightly more men than women (56% vs 50%) and 65% of people under 30. 46% of people share videos or photos on social media.

Video is one of the most engaging types of content for consumers, but most businesses are still hesitant to produce video content due to the time and effort involved in making it look professional.

3. Instagram

9,000,000 active monthly users

Instagram is still Australia’s favourite image-sharing website, retaining a stable user base over the past 12 months after having doubled its users the previous year. The site is more popular with women than men (44% vs 34%).

Instagram users are more likely to follow brands than users of other social networks at 44% (compared to 39% of Facebook users). Formerly more popular with SMBs, the number of large businesses advertising on Instagram has more than doubled in the past year from 20% to 46% according to the Yellow survey of Australian businesses.

Read more: Hashtag hacks: Everything you need to know about hashtags

4. WhatsApp

7,000,000 active users

Steadily rising through the ranks – gaining two million users each year for the past two years – WhatsApp is Australia’s second most popular social media messaging service after parent company Facebook’s own Messenger.

5. Snapchat

6,400,000 active monthly users

Snapchat is once again the fastest growing social media app in Australia, rising two places from last year’s count. As well as its high monthly user base, more than 4.5 million Australians use Snapchat every day – around 36 times per week on average.

Snapchat is more popular with younger demographics, with almost half (49%) of 18-29 year olds on social media using the platform. It’s also used by more males than females (28% vs 17%).

6. WordPress.com

5,800,000 monthly users

Australia’s favourite CMS platform had a modest gain of 100,000 users over the past year. Its free business model, ease of use and extensive customisation makes WordPress the go-to option for many bloggers and SMBs creating websites and blogs.

7. Twitter

4,700,000 active monthly users

Twitter is gaining popularity in Australia, rising from 9th place and 3,000,000 users this time last year. Unlike most social networks, Twitter is most widely used by people in their 30s. It’s also much more popular with men than women (26% vs 13%). Aussie Twitter users check the site 23 times per week on average.

Twitter’s speed and ease of use make it popular with large businesses, of which 60% advertise on the platform. Small businesses are much less enthusiastic however, with use dropping to just 14%.

8. LinkedIn

4,500,000 active monthly users

Dropping down the ranks, but still gaining users, the “Facebook for professionals” is notably more popular with men than women (28% vs 17%). LinkedIn reports that approximately 8 million Australians have signed up for LinkedIn accounts, which means that just over half log in to their account regularly.

Naturally, LinkedIn is widely used by businesses. It’s the second most popular social media site after Facebook for large businesses (used by 73% that use social media) and medium businesses (48%). It’s less popular with small businesses though, which are more likely to use Instagram.

9. Tumblr

3,700,000 monthly users

The only site on this list to lose rather than gain users over the past year (though only by around 100,000), Tumblr’s slow decline continues. However, the microblogging site retains a loyal user base.

10. Tinder

3,000,000 users

Just holding on to 10th place, Australia’s most popular dating app has an estimated 3 million users. This has remained stable over the past year, after increasing in 2017 when premium paid services were introduced.

Hot on Tinder’s heels in 11th place is WeChat with around 2,900,000 active monthly users. Hugely popular with Australia’s Chinese community, WeChat and other Chinese social networks such as RenRen and Weibo are expected to increasingly challenge traditional social networks in the coming years.

For more industry news and online marketing tips for your business, follow the Civic Web Media Blog.

If you’re sceptical about how content marketing can work for your company, take a look at how Australia’s leading sugar brand CSR has done it.

In an increasingly health-conscious society where the product they’re selling gets a lot of negative press, CSR’s website and their other online activities shift the focus away from sugar itself and towards recipes, helpful advice and engaging with customers.

Self-appointed sugar experts

To be successful, your content marketing needs to be in tune with what your customers want. A timeless nugget of marketing advice is to talk about the benefits rather than the features of your product.

To take brown sugar as an example, features would be:

• made from cane sugar
• 16 Cal per serving
• available in 500g/1kg packs.

While its benefits include:

• used in dessert recipes
• adds sweetness to stir fries and sauces
• makes porridge edible.

Which approach has more potential for interesting, varied and shareable content?

Since CSR doesn’t sell products through its website, it’s free to focus entirely on marketing and information. The most prominent area on the site is recipes, which gets the first tab after the homepage as well as a dedicated search box. Every recipe includes a list of ingredients, which link to the CSR products you need to buy to bring the recipe to life.

The content is impressive, both in quality and quantity. By publishing useful step-by-step recipes for every dessert imaginable, CSR has positioned itself as an authority in the field, even if it isn’t at the level of more traditional recipe sites like Taste.com.au, Good Food and Gourmet Traveller in the search engine stakes.

Another section offers handy advice on the practical aspects of baking – what equipment to buy, how to weigh and measure, and crowd-sourced tips to get better baking results.

Also important for customers to know is how sugar relates to their health and nutrition. Stringent Australian advertising standards require that this information is included on the site, and CSR has complied – even if these sections are tucked away in the footer where they’re less prominent.

Building a baking community

Social interaction is all but mandatory on the modern web, and CSR has embraced this by hosting its own community of baking aficionados and curating the #BakingNation hashtag on social media.

Both the recipes and baking advice sections of the site invite users to contribute their own entries to the collection (writing CSR’s content and helping to grow their website for free), as well as to rate and comment on existing entries.

Users are also encouraged to join the Baking Nation to receive updates on exclusive promotions, new products and new recipes in their inbox. In other words, “sign up to our newsletter” with benefits.

Spreading the word

Even if you fill your site with quality content, it’s not going to reach its potential audience if you don’t actively promote it.

CSR is connected to all of Australia’s most popular social media sites that are relevant to its customer demographics and a good fit for its content. Namely Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube (there’s a @CSRsugar Twitter account too, but it’s never posted anything).

Facebook is the hub of the brand’s social media activity, with more than 13,000 likes and a healthy number of comments. The feed is updated several times a week to maintain interest, and includes a mix of product launches, industry news, cute stock photos (reposted to Instagram and Pinterest) and shout-outs to content from other sites in the baking community.

The brand’s most impressive commitment to social media is the original content they’ve uploaded to YouTube. Many recipes on the CSR site are paired with professionally made instructional videos that have been watched thousands of times and commented on.

Beyond their own social profiles, CSR also reaches out to established audiences elsewhere on the web. The guest posts they write for sites such as Sugar et al promote their products and link back to the main CSR site.

The ‘boring’ stuff

CSR does showcase its own products on its website, but this is a secondary focus and barely mentioned on social media.

Customers can read product descriptions and the same information they’d read on the packet in the store. But because this isn’t an e-commerce site, they’re more interested in developing positive associations with their brand and keeping it in your thoughts the next time you go shopping, just in case you were tempted to opt for the store brand.

As an example of creative content marketing in Australia, CSR is missing one notable ingredient – there’s no CSR Blog. While their recipes, how-to guides, Facebook updates and YouTube tutorials all make up a substantial body of original content published on a regular basis, a blog would be a convenient hub to collect all this together so that readers could get all their updates in one place.

What can we learn from CSR?

By focussing on the tasty end results and fun, fulfilling pastimes that its products can bring, CSR avoids having to address the controversial aspects of its products entirely.

Even if you’re not facing a similar ethical issue in your own business, you can take heart that any seemingly ‘boring’ product – from sugar to sheet metal, accounting software or carpet cleaning – can be made inspiring and engaging for your audience when you have an effective content marketing strategy.

If you’re struggling to make social media work for your business, check out how Australian brands made the best use of their social profiles in July 2016.

What social media sites do Australians use?

For your marketing efforts to be successful, you need to go where the people are. Researching Australia’s most popular social media sites will make it clear that a Facebook presence is essential, and a YouTube channel is just as important if you produce video content.

According to the latest data from StatCounter, more than 15 million Australians have Facebook accounts (62.5% of the population), while YouTube receives more than 14,400,000 unique Australian visitors every month.

Other social networks are also important, depending on your industry and the type of content you are producing. If you primarily market to business customers (B2B), a LinkedIn profile is essential for networking with the site’s 3,450,000 other Australian users (not to mention international users), while Instagram (5,000,000 users) and Pinterest (290,000 users) are useful platforms for sharing infographics and other images.

Twitter shouldn’t be neglected either, despite its comparatively smaller share of 2,800,000 users, as the microblogging site can be a powerful targeted marketing tool.

Most popular brands on social media

The Socialbakers July 2016 Social Marketing Report Australia reveals that Australian brands and customers are much more active on Facebook than on other social networks.

The top 20 brands made 312,994 interactions with Facebook users, compared to just 6,185 interactions on Twitter. The response rate was also higher for Facebook enquiries at 73%, compared to 42% of Twitter responses.

The most ‘liked’ brand on Facebook is McDonald’s, which has 1,229,969 likes as of the end of July 2016. This puts it ahead of other popular brands such as Lorna Jane, Garage Ink Tattoo and Samsung Australia, all of which have more than 1,000,000 likes. The most popular industry overall is e-commerce with 27,251,011 total fans, followed by retail with 23,047,732 likes.

Over on Twitter, Aussie airline Qantas has carved a niche for itself as the most liked brand month-to-month. YouTubers have consumed more videos from Telstra than any other brand (28,417,906 views), but MassiveJoes.com has the most subscribers at 103,953, showing more long-term engagement.

Most interactive brands

Images: Socialbakers

Collecting ‘likes’ is one thing, but companies that take the time to respond to their customers’ questions and comments can develop trusting relationships.

Online fashion store SHOWPO excels at customer interaction on Facebook, with a total 954,616 interactions earning the retailer a consistent lead since December 2015.

On Twitter, Sportsbet.com.au has become the most responsive brand with 36,362 interactions, while YouTube’s most interactive brands include Virgin Australia, ahm health insurance and Pedigree.

Even companies that have a smaller social presence can still build a reputation for caring for their customers. Kraft Nuts Australia & NZ interacted 445 times per 1,000 Facebook fans in July, following other brands such as Duracell, IXL Jam, Golden Circle in previous months.

The bar is set significantly lower on Twitter, with KFC being Australia’s most interactive brand despite interacting only 44 times per 1,000 followers.

Most socially devoted brands

Other brands impress with their dedication to answering as many questions as possible in the fastest possible time.

Telstra was the most socially devoted brand on Facebook in July (overtaking Woolworths in June), responding to 95.15% of enquiries in an average time of 213 minutes (3 hours and 33 minutes).

Australia Post was the most devoted on Twitter, again with slightly less impressive statistics of a 74.20% response rate and a 427-minute wait (7 hours and 7 minutes).

A socially devoted brand is defined as one that responds to at least 65% of its customers’ questions per quarter.

What were the most popular posts in July 2016?

The majority of social media posts are visual in nature, as brands aim to capture users’ attention with images and videos. Last month, 44% of Facebook posts were photos, 37% were videos and 18% were text links.

Facebook: Woolworths

Woolworths inspired the greatest reaction on Facebook in July by tapping into the cultural zeitgeist with a timely post related to Pokémon Go.

This post offered helpful advice to gamers about where to find some of those elusive Pokémon, while also weaving in references to fresh fruit and vegetables. Best of all, there was a creative image to go with it.

By the end of July, the post had provoked 70,878 total interactions, including 40,021 likes, 22,953 comments and 7,904 shares.

Twitter: KFC

KFC Australia also took note of current events by spotting that it was the birthday of 5 Seconds of Summer drummer/singer Ashton Irwin. The fast food giant sent Ashton a short video of birthday wishes that didn’t fail to promote KFC products in a big way.

30,276 Twitter users interacted with this post, including 18,441 likes, 11,185 retweets and 650 replies.

YouTube: Optus

Optus also went down the music route by offering fans of singer-songwriter Troye Sivan an exclusive soundcheck performance of his new single ‘Talk Me Down.’

Between its posting on 11 July and the end of the month, this video was watched 9,492 times, attracting 1,027 likes and 169 comments.

What can we learn from this?

It’s clear that Australia’s biggest brands devote more time and attention to Facebook than other social platforms, but there are still plenty of opportunities for smaller businesses to make a name for themselves as companies that genuinely care about their customers.

While the lower barriers to Twitter prominence also offer opportunities there, the comparatively small number of Australians who actually use that site means that Twitter probably shouldn’t be the main focus for your social media marketing.

With home-grown brands like SHOWPO and Lorna Jane holding their own against the multinationals, social media is revealed to be a democracy where the customer experience truly counts, not just big bucks. If you can regularly provide engaging and timely content to your followers, and your staff are committed to responding to enquiries as often and as quickly as possible, your business can look forward to achieving social media success.

While some of these sites release figures for each country, others don’t so we’ve used Social Media News’ clever formula for working out Aussie numbers.

Facebook is the most well known social media site and it’s no surprise that it comes out on top. Of its almost 1.5 billion members, around 14m of them are Australians — almost two thirds of the entire population. According to data from Sensis, 93% of Australians who use social media sites have an active account on Facebook.

Not far behind Facebook is YouTube, which has more than 13m Australians watching at least one video on the site every month. Even on other sites like Facebook, videos are one of the most engaging types of content and hold someone’s attention for a long time.

Bought by Facebook for $1b in April 2012, Instagram is continuing to grow in popularity. Around 5 million Aussies are signed up to the image-sharing site, up from just over 2 million at this time last year.

Tumblr’s inclusion in the top four may come as a bit of a shock, but recent figures show that around 4.3m Australians have signed up for the micro-blogging site. Many of the most popular Tumblrs revolve around comics, reaction gifs and film quotes, but some game creators, TV stations and newspapers have had success there, too.

With around 3.6m Australian sign-ups, LinkedIn — often described as a Facebook for professionals — rounds off the top five, despite losing around 300,000 members in the past year. Of those who use social media sites, 28% of Australians have a LinkedIn profile where they can keep in touch with former colleagues, build business networks and share industry updates.

The most surprising omissions from this list are Twitter (which has an estimated 2.8m Aussie accounts but hasn’t seen any growth in the past 12 months) and Pinterest (which only has 320,000 Australian accounts, down about 70,000 on its 2014 figures), but this doesn’t mean that you should write them off. With the right social media strategy it’s possible to make the most of any online community.

Image: “Social Media apps” by Jason Howie is licensed under CC BY 2.0