Brands spent $9.4 billion in Australia last year on social media digital ads but 51% of men and 46% of women take no notice, according to the annual Yellow Social Media Report from Sensis.
The report surveyed 2,000 Australians about their social media behaviour and habits as part of Australia’s largest and longest running research on the topic.
A third (33%) of men and 27% of women are turned off by brands that advertise on social media. Women (44%) are more likely than men (31%) to sometimes click on an ad.
More than half (55%) of men and 50% of women say they ignore sponsored posts with 24% of women and 21% of men liking sponsored posts.
“It is sometimes hard to avoid the ads on your social channels but the findings show that Australians want authentic content," says Hayley Jovanovic, CMO at Yellow.
“Providing customers with engaging content has never been more important with the survey showing 61% of women and 48% of men trust a brand more if they find their content engaging."
Jovanovic says 61% of women and 46% of men trust a brand more if they regularly update content.
The numbers are similar with 60% of women and 42% of men trusting a brand more if they regularly interact with their customers.
More men (66%) made a purchase after researching the product/service compared with 56% of women. And 82% of men and 77% of women purchased online after conducting research.
The survey showed that women liked these more with 66% of women preferring discounts compared to 58% of men and 53% of women lived giveaways compared to 41% of men.”
More than one-third of women (36%) were also more likely to go to social media to get tips/advice compared to men (28%). 53% of women follow a brand on Instagram but only 38% of men do.
The most popular platform to share any brand-related content for both men and women is Facebook Timeline with 65% and 72% respectively.
Messenger was also popular with 55% of women and 53% of men sharing on the platform. One in four men (25%) and women (25%) shared via text message.
The most popular site overall is Facebook with 91% of women and 87% of men using the site, according to the 2020 Sensis Social Media Report released today.
Instagram was, as expected, more popular with women – 56% to 33% - with the most popular age group being 18 to 29-year-old women with 58%. Even for over 65s there is still 50% of women on the platform and 32% of men.
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