The digital marketing intelligence platform Pathmatics has revealed digital advertising spend on the Australian government’s COVID vaccine campaign.
It has found that of the $6 million spent by the Australian government on digital ads (e.g. Facebook and Google) between April 2020 – June 2021:
- Half of this ($3 million) has been spent on COVID-related campaigns
- Just $32,000 has been spent on vaccine-specific campaigns
Despite vaccine hesitancy being at an all-time high, along with confusion around who is eligible for what, the Australian government has publicly stated it sees no reason to increase investment on an education campaign.
A state by state breakdown on COVID campaign ad spend reveals:
- NSW has led the way with its COVID campaign ad spend, totalling $4.7 million
- This is closely followed by Queensland at $3.5 million
- Despite experiencing Australia’s harshest lockdowns, Victoria has spent $900,000
The full insights can be found below:
Government campaign breakdown from April 2020-June 2021:
- Government total ad spend – $6,000,000 ($5,600,000 of which has been spent on Facebook ads)
- Government COVID ad spend – $3,000,000
- Government vaccine ad spend – $32,000
How COVID campaign spend has changed over the quarter at a government level:
- Q2 2020 – $2,600,000
- Q3 2020 – $145,000
- Q4 2020 – $9,000
- Q1 2021 – $32,000
- Q2 2021 – $38,000
How vaccine campaign spend has changed over the quarter at a government level:
- Q2 2020 – $7,000
- Q1 2021 – $22,000
- Q2 2021 – $4,000
Top government COVID campaigns from April 2020 – June 2021 (based on spend):
- How to stay informed & safe during COVID – $2,600,000
- Smartraveller overseas restrictions info – $145,000
- Smartraveller travel advice for New Zealand – $38,000
State by state breakdown for COVID campaigns from April 2020 – June 2021:
- New South Wales – $4,700,000
- Queensland – $3,500,000
- Victoria – $900,000
- South Australia – $700,000
- The Australian Capital Territory – $200,000
- Tasmania – $53,000
- Western Australian – $1,700
- The Northern Territory – $0
