We Are Social have published their much awaited “Digital in 2016” report. Their study provides abundance of valuable insights for marketers in every industry. Important to note; a key takeaway from this year’s report is the social media usage + penetration that has continued to increase at a fast pace.  In fact the pace at which it has rocketed is impressive.
Global Growth
- 2015 saw 332 million new active internet users. An increase of 10% since 2014
- Social media active users increased by a huge 219 million, an increase of 10% as well from previous year
- Unique mobile users increase by 4% with 141 million active new users
- Lastly the mobile social accounts grew by 17% since the previous year with 283 million new accounts created
Social Media Usage & Penetration
For all marketers this set of data would be of the most importance.  According to We Are Social nearly one-third of the world’s population now uses social media, with the number of reported users around the world jumping an impressive 10% in the past twelve months.
- There are 2.31 Billion active Social Media users in globally
- This comprises of almost 31% of the world’s population
- Total number of users accessing Social media sites via mobile are 1.97Billion
- This comprises of almost 27% of the world’s population
The report further provides information on the most popular networks worldwide ranked by number of active users.
- Facebook still leads the list with 1.5Billion users in Jan 2016. A growth of almost 184Million users since Jan 2015.
- Meanwhile, the company’s other chat platform – Facebook Messenger – continues to grow too, with the team announcing that the app had surpassed 800 million active users just a few days ago, so we’re likely to see a more diverse social landscape in the coming months as people’s habits broaden beyond the Facebook heartland.
- What’sApp overtakes the global rank with 900 million users in Jan 2016. However QQ meseenger platform still ranks no. 1 in China.Â
- According to We Are Social, QQ messenger platform grew slightly to register 860 million active accounts last quarter. However, they noted that many people continue to operate two or more QQ accounts, so these numbers cannot be used to represent social media penetration. They also believe that WeChat (or Weixin) will likely overtake QZone this quarter.
- Post acquisition by Facebook, Instagram is on a growth trajectory with 400 million active users in Jan 2016. A growth of almost 100million users since Jan 2015
- Twitter went down a rank with a total of 320 million users in Jan 2016. A increase of only 36million users since Jan 2015.
- Â LinkedIn takes the last place with 100 million active users
Mobile Social Landscape
‘Mobile first’ nations when it comes to internet and social media access in SoutheEast Asia are:
- Indonesia
- Malaysia
- The Philippines
- Thailand and
- Vietnam
When it comes to Mobile social media, it’s firmly established that with factors such as high adoption of smart phones and improved mobile broadband connectivity mobile phones are now most people’s ‘primary’ day-today device.
- 85% of Facebook’s audience now connects via mobile phones
- 83% accessing via smart phones, and 2% via feature phones.
This represents a significant change from just 9 months ago, when just 69% accessed through smartphones, and 26% used Facebook from a feature phone. Globally, just over half of all Facebook users are ‘mobile only’, meaning they never use a computer to access the platform.
Here’s a quick region wise comparison of the mobile social growth rate.
In 2016 East Asia comprises of more than a quarter of the world’s mobile social media users.  This is partly because of the sheer size of China’s population, but it’s also partly due to the peculiarities of infrastructure in Asia-Pacific. Mobile social media is dominant in Southeast Asia too.
To sum up all the above data, we can positively say that digital is growing at a fast speed. With internet & mobile connectivity increasing and infrastructures improving brands, MNC’s and SME’s cannot ignore social and need to focus on using social media to connect with audiences in more meaningful ways than ever.
With increasing mobile connections and social usage, “Mobile First” approach for marketers will continue through 2016 as well.
Facebook will continue to dominate the social landscape with all eyes on the China messenger apps competing to acquire more users. 2016 will be a challenging year for Twitter which has been struggling to improve its appeal to users.
Reference:
http://wearesocial.sg/
http://www.slideshare.net/wearesocialsg?utm_campaign=profiletracking&utm_medium=sssite&utm_source=ssslideview
Leave a Reply