Social media stats for South Africa

Affectionately called "Power to the People," Universal McCann's annual social media tracker Wave has mapped key changes in consumer uptake and usage of social media platforms for the past four years. For the first time, Universal McCann South Africa has been included in the latest research, Wave 4.

According to the data, 25% of South Africa's active internet users are uploading videos to a video sharing site and 1.4 million have a social network profile.

"It puts South Africa's internet penetration figure at 9.4%. That figure is expected to grow exponentially over the next two years. From the overall data, it is very clear that consumer generated content is rapidly becoming the norm, a fact that advertisers can't ignore,” says Nazeer Suliman, MD Universal McCann South Africa.

The latest iteration has tracked 23 200 active Internet users in 38 countries, providing an exhaustive study and a wide range of insight. Power to the People provides in-depth understanding into the dramatic changes driven by the uptake of social media, including:

How consumers use social media and what motivates them to use it;
How social media influences consumers' purchase decisions;
How social media allows consumers to influence the purchase decisions of people they don't know;
Which brands are using social media most effectively;
What should be done to maximise the effectiveness of brand communication in these spaces.

For the full report, go to universalmccann.bitecp.com/wave4/.