Social media is alive and thriving for New Zealand business

Social media is alive and thriving for New Zealand business

A social media survey was conducted by four independent businesses late last year to provide an overview of how New Zealand businesses are using social media, the success they are having, and to provide a benchmark businesses can measure themselves against.

A cross section of industry types were represented in the survey: social services, telcos, government, SOE, retailers, tourism, health, education, agriculture, construction, creatives, automotive and more. A wide range of business types and sizes were represented: B2B, B2C, Trusts, and non-profit.

“Though there is no previous comparative data, one can speculate that the number of businesses using social media has increased over the years, and even better than that participants are getting results that are helping to grow their business,” says Kathleen Boyd of OMG Solutions.

In terms of objectives, most businesses are primarily concerned with being found online, building brand awareness and credibility, and engaging with their audience. Those actively engaging on social media are finding success.

Promotions, sales and gaining information or data on target audiences are popular objectives and rate second highest for success. Recruitment was not a main objective, however comments showed that for those who do use it the success rate is high.

“Over time, as businesses become more adept at using social media, objectives and results will change, recruitment using social media will be a key area for the future,” says Kathleen. “It was apparent some businesses find it difficult to manage an online presence, and others are not online nor even considering it, but social media is here to stay and if a business is not online they are potentially losing customers.”

Key areas addressed in the survey:

· The type of social media platform used and the frequency of use

· The location, size and type, and industry of each business

· Hours spent on social media

· Use of paid advertising

· Business objectives

· Success rate

Survey highlights:

• 217 New Zealand businesses participated in the survey.

• 93.6 percent use social media for business.

• 98 percent plan on continuing to use it in the future.

• Facebook is the most actively used platform (74.7 percent), followed by LinkedIn (27.6 percent).

• 9 percent spend 21 - 40+ hours per week on social media

• 89 percent use social media for brand awareness, followed by engaging with their audience (85 percent)

• 54 percent pay for advertising online

• Facebook is the most popular form of online advertising (57 percent), followed by Google adwords (28 percent)

• 41 percent find advertising beneficial for business.

• 98 percent plan on using social media for business in the future.

Download the survey report here. http://www.omgsolutionsnz.co.nz/uploads/4/2/3/5/42351475/social_media_survey_report_2016.pdf

Involved in the survey were Kathleen Boyd, director of OMG Solutions, online communications and digital marketing in Hawke’s Bay. Jef Kay, director of Easy Social Media based in Auckland, Christchurch and Sydney. Philippa Crick, director of Cre8ive Advertising, a strategy, branding, design and digital marketing company based in Dunedin. Wendy Thompson, CEO of Socialites, a social media marketing company based in Auckland.

Ends

© Scoop Media