Digital and Social Media Marketing Insights for 2019
2018 was the year that brought you GDPR, the Cambridge Analytica scandal and Mark Zuckerberg drinking water in front of the US Congress. In other words, it was a year when social media news went from gossip to current events. Here’s a look back at some 2018 digital and social media marketing insights which will help inform your social media and digital marketing strategy in 2019.
2018 Digital and Social Media Marketing Insights
Social Media Usage
Unsurprisingly, in Ireland, our usage of social media platforms increased in 2018 facilitated by our extensive availability of mobile and fixed internet connection.
- Instagram saw the biggest increase in usage with 39% of Irish consumers using Instagram in 2018, compared with just 32% in 2017 (IPSOS, 2018).
- Facebook continued to be the platform which Irish consumers were most likely to use daily, with 66% of users logging on at least once a day (IPSOS, 2018).
- Household internet access remained stable across the country at 89% (CSO, 2018).
- Meanwhile, a relationship remained between socio-economic status and access to fixed broadband at home with the most deprived groups being less likely to have a fixed broadband connection in their house (CSO, 2018).
Social Privacy Online
GDPR was the buzzword of 2018 and had many companies jumping through hoops to avoid hefty fines while consumers became increasingly wary of how their data was being used. Social media operate on the basis that users are happy to share an amount of personal data in return for the services provided by the platform as well as a more personalised experience. 2018 showed a growing awareness and acceptance of this trade-off amongst consumers.
- In 2018, 87% of Irish consumers were concerned about the ways in which companies online might share their data with 3rd parties (Deloitte, 2018).
- However, just 9% said that they never share information online, a decrease of 4% from 2017 (Deloitte, 2018).
Screen Time
Our screen addiction remained prevalent in 2018, an affliction which Deloitte (2018) discovered has spread to older generations as they begin to explore the online world.
- In Ireland, 93% of consumers have access to a smart phone and look at this device an average of 55 times a day.
- Access to tablets amongst 65+ increased significantly from 57% in 2017 to 70% 2018.
- Given the increased screen time of older age groups, 1 in 4 consumers began to think that their parents use their phone too much.
- In 2018, 59% of Irish people used social media everyday positioning us ahead of the global average of 57%.
Social Media Video Content
In terms of social media content, video quickly became the king of consumer engagement in 2018 with Millennials driving the demand.
- 81% of marketers used a video marketing tool in 2018, up from 63% in 2017 (Animo, 2018).
- 57% of millennial consumers watched more video ads on social media than TV (Animo, 2018).
- 70% of millennials don’t turn their phone horizontally when watching videos, influencing the style of video being created by marketers (Animo, 2018).
- On a similar note, 85% of all consumers watch social media videos without sound (Falcon.ie, 2018). As a result, Facebook introduced closed caption capabilities in 2017 to adapt to that trend and accommodate the 5% of the global population who are deaf or hard of hearing (Facebook, 2017).
So once again it’s safe to say that regardless of your industry, audience demographic or business size, your customer is very much online and social media platforms are increasingly embedded in consumers’ daily lives. Here’s hoping for a GDPR compliant 2019 and a less stressful year for Mark Zuckerberg. You can find our previous digital and social media insights here »
JENNIFER MURPHY, SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST
Jennifer joined Neworld in 2020 fresh out of an MSc in Marketing. Before going back to university Jennifer worked in marketing in the tech industry where she learnt all of the disruptive tech talk she’ll ever need. Now she’s passionate about helping brands to create a meaningful presence on social media and to navigate the dynamic digital marketing world.