Australian brands spent $9.4 billion in 2019 on digital ads but 51 per cent of men and 46 per cent of women take no notice of ads on social media, according to the Yellow* Social Media Report released today. (*formerly Yellow Pages and part of Sensis).

The report surveyed 2,000 Australians about their social media behaviour and habits as part of Australia’s largest and longest running research on the topic.

Key findings of the report:

• 33% of men and 27% of women are turned off by brands that advertise on social media
• 44% of women are 31% of men are likely to click on asocial media Ad
• 55% of men and 50% of women say they ignore sponsored posts
• 24% of women and 21% of men confess they like sponsored posts
• 61% of women and 46% of men trust a brand more if they regularly update their content
• 60% of women and 42% of men trusting a brand more if they regularly interact with their customers
• 66% of men and 56% of women made online purchases after researching a product

What marketers also might not want to hear is that 33 per cent of men and 27 per cent of women are turned off by brands that advertise on social media.

Women (44 per cent) are more likely than men (31 per cent) to sometimes click on an ad. Some 55 per cent of men and 50 per cent of women say they ignore sponsored posts with 24 per cent of women and 21 per cent of men liking sponsored posts.

Hayley Jovanovic, chief marketing officer at Yellow, said marketers needed to continually evaluate where their marketing spend is targeted.

“It is sometimes hard to avoid the ads on your social channels but the findings show that Australians want authentic content. The fact that so many ignored sponsored posts also supports this,” Jovanovic said.

“Providing customers with engaging content has never been more important with the survey showing 61 per cent of women and 48 per cent of men trust a brand more if they find their content engaging.

“61 per cent of women and 46 per cent of men trust a brand more if they regularly update their content. The numbers are similar with 60 per cent of women and 42 per cent of men trusting a brand more if they regularly interact with their customers.”

Interestingly, more men (66 per cent) made a purchase after researching the product/service compared with 56 per cent of women. And 82 per cent of men and 77 per cent of women purchased online after conducting research.

Jovanovic added many brands offered discounts or giveaways as incentives which were liked by customers. “The survey showed that women liked these more with 66 per cent of women preferring discounts compared to 58 per cent of men and 53 per cent of women lived giveaways compared to 41 per cent of men.”

More than one-third of women (36 per cent) were also more likely to go to social media to get tips/advice compared to men (28 per cent). Some 53 per cent of women follow a brand on Instagram but only but only 38 per cent of men do.

There were some big differences – for men following Entertainment it was 61 per cent on Instagram but just 31 per cent of Facebook, for Music 47per cent to 25 per cent, Movies, 40 per cent to 22 per cent, Clothing/Fashion 42 per cent to 13 per cent, Games 31 per cent to 15 per cent and restaurants/dining 22 per cent to 16 per cent.

There were some big differences – for women following Clothing/Fashion was 66 per cent on Instagram but jut 36 per cent on Facebook, Cosmetics 46 per cent to 22 per cent, Holidays/Travel 50 per cent to 40 per cent and Entertainment 50 per cent to 40 per cent.

Both men (80 per cent) and women (88 per cent) were much more likely to follow a brand on Facebook than they would on Instagram. For men it was 80 per cent on Facebook and 38 per cent on Instagram and for women it was 88 per cent on Facebook and 53 per cent on Instagram.

Not many consumers share brand-related content – just 27 per cent of women and 23 per cent of men.

The most popular platform to share any brand-related content for both men and women is Facebook Timeline with 65 per cent and 72 per cent respectively. Messenger was also popular with 55 per cent of women and 53 per cent of men sharing on the platform. One in four men (25 per cent) and women (25 per cent) shared via text message.

Women are the biggest users of social media on every platform except LinkedIn and Twitter. The most popular site overall is Facebook with 91 per cent of women and 87 per cent of men using the site, according to the 2020 Sensis Social Media Report released today.

Instagram was, as expected, much more popular with women – 56 per cent to 33 per cent – with the most popular age group being 18 to 29-year-old women with 58 per cent. Even for over 65s there is still 50 per cent of women on the platform and 32 per cent of men.

Pinterest is much more popular with women – 28 per cent to 11 per cent. Snapchat has similar usage – 27 per cent to 12 per cent.

Nearly one in four men (24 per cent) are on LinkedIn compared to 17 per cent of women. Twitter is more popular with men – 22 per cent to 17 per cent.

Nearly half the number of women (45 per cent) who go onto social media sites do so to share a photo or video compared to 31 per cent of men.

The report showed that women are the organisers among us with 27 per cent going to social media sites to organise an event/catch up compared with 20 per cent of men.

More women (34 per cent) go to social media to get their news than men (27 per cent) and women are more than twice as likely to follow a celebrity – 20 per cent to eight per cent.

The majority of women use the internet to search for clothes (69 per cent), holidays (65 per cent), movies (60 per cent), restaurants (60 per cent) and cosmetics (56 per cent).

The majority of men use the internet to search for holidays (65 per cent), music (53 per cent), movies (52 per cent), restaurants (42 per cent) and computers (41 per cent).

One of the biggest discrepancies is for over 65s with 64 per cent of women searching for clothing compared with just 38 per cent for men.