Estimated current ad spend in Australia on social media platforms, including SEO
- Total digital ad spend: A$20.539 billion (US$13.46 billion) in 2023, up 6.8% from the previous year.
- Social media advertising: Overall: A$5.669 billion (US$3.71 billion), accounting for 27.6% of total digital ad spend.
- Influencer marketing: A$703 million (US$460 million), up 15% year-over-year, accounting for 3.4% of digital ad spend.
- SEO (Search and directories): A$10.09 billion (US$6.6 billion), up 6.1% year-on-year.
Reach versus non-disclosed ad spend
YouTube: Dollar amount not specified, but it has the highest reach among social platforms at 86.8% of the population (18+).
LinkedIn: Exact spending not provided, but it reached 64.9% of Australians 13+ as of July 2022.
Facebook: A specific dollar amount is not provided, but it has the highest reach, with 16.65 million users (66% of internet users).
Instagram: The dollar amount is not specified, but it has a potential ad reach of nearly 14 million users.
TikTok: Specific spend not mentioned, but it's growing rapidly with a potential ad reach of almost 10 million users.
Snapchat: Specific spend not mentioned, but it reaches 29.9% of the population.
X (Twitter): Exact spend not provided, but reaches 24.5% of the population.
It's important to note that while specific dollar amounts for each individual platform are never provided, the overall trend shows significant growth in social media advertising spend in Australia. The data also indicates that Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram have the highest reach among social media platforms in the country.
Here is an ROI comparison on digital media marketing detailing ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) across the main social media channels, email, and websites. These figures are general industry averages and can vary significantly based on industry, target audience, campaign quality, and specific business goals.
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) is calculated by dividing the revenue generated by the amount spent on advertising. For example, a ROAS of 3.5:1 means that for every $1 spent on advertising, $3.50 in revenue was generated.
Website (Organic) = 5.3:1
Email = 4.2:1
Facebook = 3.5:1
Instagram = 3.2:1
TikTok = 2.8:1
Twitter (X) = 2.7:1
LinkedIn = 2.5:1
Google Ads = 2:1
Some key points to consider:
- The average email open rate across industries is around 21.33%.
- Facebook and Instagram tend to have higher ROAS than other social media platforms due to their large user base and advanced targeting options.
- LinkedIn, while having a lower ROAS, is often more effective for B2B marketing and reaching professional audiences.
- Email marketing consistently shows a high ROAS, making it one of the most cost-effective digital marketing channels.
- Website organic traffic (SEO) often provides the highest ROAS as it doesn't involve direct ad spend, but it requires significant time and effort to achieve results.
- While Google Ads show a lower ROAS, they can be highly effective for targeting users with high purchase intent.
Finally, it's important to note that spending on large advertising platforms is dead money for Australia. You are giving money away to overseas businesses that pay very small taxes or do not pay any taxes at all in this country.
All your money into email marketing is an investment in building your database and customer relationships. SEO investment is also reflected as an investment in your own web properties and is not specific to search engines. It is about bettering your site's performance in organic search, the non-paid section of search engine results. It's important to note that these figures are averages and can vary widely based on individual campaign performance, industry, and other factors.
Data Published in Digital 2024 Australia Report. Released by We Are Social in partnership with Meltwater.
