Social media usage is now standard practice in our daily lives with 80 percent of online New Zealanders using these sites each month.
Facebook alone had 2.5 million unique visitors in March with the most visited brand page on the platform being Z Energy.
And according to Tony Boyte, Research Director, Media New Zealand, in attempting to offer Kiwi businesses insight into the world of social media, New Zealanders are also flocking to retail, banking, supermarket, radio and food retailer pages.
While some measure success on the number of their Facebook fans, latest insights highlight how a brand’s social media campaign can resonate with its audience by measuring the number of people visiting the page.
“Z Energy had over 100,000 people visit its Facebook page in the month of March,” Boyte explains.
“Likely from their marketing campaigns, Z Energy’s Good in the Hood, Free Fuel Draw and Z Fuel Gift Card, that ran during the month.
“ASB at number two, ran their Like Loan promo while Countdown gave away five Homebrand Prize Packs. Student Job Search Facebook visitation was high for March as a result of cash prize competitions on the page.”
But according to Boyte, major global brands are not attracting many New Zealand eyeballs.
McDonalds’ global page had less than 3,000 Kiwis visit on Facebook when compared to McDonalds NZ at 30,000.
“This illustrates that global brands need to act locally,” he explains. “Consumers want content, especially the promotions, to be relevant to them.”
Boyte says that there are a number of New Zealand brands that have a high number of Facebook fans that do not appear in the top 10 pages for visitation.
“Fans will be regularly exposed to brand updates when they appear on their news feed but the number of fans does not necessarily translate to greater engagement with their page,” he adds.
“Whereas Countdown, which has 191,000 fans had nearly a third of this number visiting the site in March.”
In looking at Kiwis behaviour on Facebook outside of these New Zealand brand pages, Boyte says “there is very high use” of embedded applications.
“There is the virtual pokies with Slotomania, Heart of Vegas and Double Down Casino the most visited of those applications,” he adds.
For gaming Candy Crush is most popular with over 264,000 New Zealand visitors swarming to its Facebook page where they each spent on average more than three hours playing in March - Farm Heroes was number two, followed by Pet Rescue Saga, Criminal Case and Farmville.
“Facebook brand pages can be a useful tool for marketers,” he adds. “It is a platform to raise your brand’s awareness, create a conversation and glean customer feedback.
“Looking at the brands successfully having visitors returning and engaging with their site, it is apparent there needs to be value to the customer, it is a transaction - a promotion or freebie, often exclusive to the platform, information or them simply being entertained.”
