In July, almost 41% of the Australian population was on Instagram.
And with Australia being one of the biggest growth regions for internet and social media, Instagram audiences are likely to keep growing.
Yes. Regardless of which country you are marketing in, Instagram’s platform is geared towards brand awareness. With growth stats like this, you might think Australian brands are rushing to Instagram. But that’s not the case – a lot of Australian companies are actually missing out on the opportunities Instagram offers. Recent research shows that only 32% of Australian SMEs use it in their social media strategy.
While Instagram sounds promising, SMBs with limited time, budget, or bandwidth may be reluctant to add a new social platform.
Why? While an Instagram account can significantly increase brand awareness locally and globally, creating a scalable strategy for smaller brands can seem intimidating and time-consuming.
Fortunately, Australian businesses don’t just have to open an Instagram account and hope it works. There is plenty of data in 2020 that these brands can use to determine if the platform is right for their goals and how to target the Australian audience after creating a business page.
If you’re an Australian social media marketer looking to improve your Instagram strategy or remotely increase a brand’s Australian exposure, here are 20 stats to keep you informed about the Australian Instagram usage, marketing and peak hours Commitments should inform.
Knowing Australian Instagram Usage Statistics
Australian Instagram users
- In July 2020, there were 10.45 million Instagram users in Australia: around 40.8% of the total population. (NapoleonCat, 2020)
- Australian Instagram users grew from just over 9 million to 10.45 million between May 2019 and July 2020. (NapoleonCat, 2020)
- 46% of Australian social media users say they use Instagram regularly. This makes it the second most popular canal in the region. (Yellow Sensis Social Media Report, 2018)
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- Most of Australia’s Instagram users are women, with the highest female to male ratio in the 45-54 age bracket. (NapoleonCat, 2020)
- More than 3.2 million Australian Instagram users are 25 to 34 years old, making it the largest group of users. (NapoleonCat, 2020)
- About 9.1 million Instagram users are over 18 years old. (Laurel Papworth, 2020)
- 48% of Australian Instagram users follow a brand on the platform. (Yellow Sensis Social Media Report, 2020)
- Instagram is the third most popular non-gaming mobile app in Australia. (We are social, 2019)
Instagram user behavior in Australia
- More than 51% of Australian Instagram users log into the app at least three to five times a week. (Statista, 2018)
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- Three regularly trending Instagram hashtags in Australia are #photography, #Australia and #Sydney, which have 450 million, 55 million and 28 million posts, respectively. (Talkwalker, 2019)
- 45% of Australian social media users have taken a selfie for platforms like Instagram. Selfie posts are more common among men and 18 to 29 year olds. (Yellow Sensis Social Media Report, 2018)
- Around 40% of Australian social media users have posted a picture of food on channels like Instagram. (Yellow Sensis Social Media Report, 2018)
Australian business on Instagram
- 22% of Australian SMEs advertised on Instagram (Yellow Sensis Social Media Report, 2020)
- 32% of Australian SMEs have an Instagram account compared to 90% and 33% on Facebook and LinkedIn, respectively. (Yellow Sensis Social Media Report, 2020)
- Instagram influencers whose reports covered yoga saw Australian engagement grow 127% in March 2020. (Statista, 2020)
- Also in March 2020, hotel-related Instagram accounts saw a 100% drop in Australian exposure. (Statista, 2020)
Peak times in Australia
- If you’re using Instagram in a global region, the best time to post to get local post engagements is 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM in your brand’s time zone. (HubSpot, 2020)
- The best day to post on Instagram in Australia is Thursday in the AEDT time zone. (ShareMyInsights, 2020)
- Weekday posts on Instagram get more impressions from Australians than weekend posts. (ShareMyInsights, 2020)
- The best times to post on Instagram from Australia are 12pm to 2pm, 6am to 8pm, and 9pm to 10pm AEDT. (ShareMyInsights, 2020)
Growing awareness of the Australian brand with Instagram
From the data above, it appears that Australian businesses can benefit from Instagram, which has a huge pool of users who are following, engaging with, and potentially buying products of all kinds of brands on the platform.
However, just creating an Instagram account and forgetting about it will not increase your brand awareness. To really gain audience engagement, create an active account with content that will entertain users, grab their attention, and educate them about your brand and products.
If this list inspired you to stay one step ahead of the third of Australian SMEs missing on Instagram, check out this guide or the free resource below for proven tips on building an effective Instagram strategy.
