Australian social media advertising exceeds $3.6 billion in 2021, TikTok usage time increases by 40%

Social media marketing company Hootsuite and creative agency We Are Social have compiled data to show Australians are some of the biggest e-commerce consumers in the world.

The report said that in 2021, Australian social media users spent an average of 1 hour and 57 minutes on it every day, 11 minutes more than in 2020. The number of people using social media also increased by 4.6%. There are 21 million social media users nationwide, an increase of nearly 1 million people compared to the same period last year, equivalent to 83% of Australians using social media.

Among them, the usage rate of TikTok has increased significantly. TikTok users spend an average of 23.4 hours on the platform each month, an increase of 40% from 2020. Although Facebook is still the most commonly used social media platform in Australia, data shows that users spend an average of 17.6 hours on it each month, a decrease of 3% from last year.

The report stated that TikTok was the third most downloaded app in Australia in 2021, second only to official apps for QR code check-ins and vaccine certificates. As a result, TikTok has also attracted a lot of advertiser investment and demonstrated impressive e-commerce capabilities.

On TikTok, ads targeting Australians over the age of 18 reached about 7.38 million people. And in December alone, this number increased by more than 500,000. By 2021, Australia's social media advertising spending was about A$3.64 billion, an increase of A$5.47 from the previous year. This shows that new platforms such as TikTok will also benefit from it.

Letrecia Tippett , head of Australia and New Zealand at Hootsuite , said: “With social media usage growing steadily in Australia, it’s more important than ever for companies to adopt social media in their marketing strategies to strengthen their connections with customers .

From the survey, we also learned that Australians spent an average of A$3,870 per month on e-commerce in 2021. Australians spent about A$74.3 billion on online consumer goods throughout the year , an increase of about A$15 billion from last year. The continuous and uninterrupted lockdown period in 2021 has greatly contributed to the growth of online spending.

Fashion items accounted for the largest share of consumer spending, with Australian consumers purchasing around A$18.6 billion worth of clothing and shoes throughout the year .

Letrecia Tippett recommends that companies and sellers use the data in the report to help them understand and predict the development of social media platforms in 2022 so as to better advertise and formulate marketing strategies.

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