Global Digital Report 2019, the analysis by Hootsuite and We are Social.
All the numbers from the 2019 Global Digital Report you need to know about working with digital tools
Punctual as every year, the Global Digital Report is back for 2019: theanalysis by Hootsuite and We are Social that examines the state of the Internet and social networks globally, with an interesting country-by-country focus.
The report showed exponential growth in Internet users, averaging about one million more every day. Therefore, now more than ever, it becomes essential to have a presence on the Web with a strategy based on clear objectives.
Below we will take a look together at what are the main numbers highlighted by the Global Digital Report, which represent a highly technological scenario that is changing everyone’s lives, on a personal level and also for business purposes.
According to the analysis by Hootsuite and We are Social, to date we can count:
- 4.39 billion internet users, an increase of 366 million (9 percent) from January 2018;
- 5.11 billion unique mobile phone users, an increase in the last year of 100 million (2%);
- 3.48 billion social users, with a worldwide growth total of 288 million (9 percent) over last year;
- 3.26 billion users using social networks from mobile devices, up 297 million from 2018 (10 percent).
Globally, these are certainly eye-popping numbers, but what is happening in our country? Has digitization come overbearingly here as well?
Global Digital Report 2019: what’s happening in Italy
Focusing on our country, which we can define as the market of our main interest, we can say that we are witnessing amajor transformation from analog to digital, for which very often several companies are not prepared.
We again reiterate the importance of an online strategy for business, this is because the Internet tool has radically changed what are the habits and customs of Italians.
Not surprisingly, the Global Digital Report 2019 highlighted a very interesting point:
We spend more and more time on the web and social networks, averaging 6 hours 4 minutes and 1 hour 51 minutes, respectively.
Many more hours than those devoted to analog entertainment such as TV can be.
However, this number is expected to grow, partly due to the fact that more and more actions users are taking online-from searching for products to buy to entertainment.
Internet world in Italy: statistics to highlight
Following several scandals, Cambridge Analytica in the first place and secondly the leak of information that led to the shutdown of Google Plus set for April 2019, users describe themselves as increasingly afraid of privacy.
In any case, this has not affected the growth of the Internet and social networks in Italy and around the world.
The network is now an integral part of our social fabric: we spend several hours interacting with brands we love (and critiquing those we dislike poorly), creating fun Stories, and researching what content best fits our Instagram feed.
According to the screenshot above, taken from the Hootsuite and We are Social analysis, as of today we are talking about 55 million Italians connected to the Internet out of a total population of 59.25 million.
A penetration of 92 percent, up from 73 percent in FY 2018.
An increase that cannot and should not be ignored when considering starting an online communication strategy.
Social users have also grown: we are talking about 35 million people, +2.9% compared to 2018, of which 31 million are active on mobile devices. Basically, 59% of Italians use social networks to perform a wide variety of actions.
The Facebook suite, which includes the native social platform, WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram, is certainly the most popular in our country.
However, let’s not forget that YouTube is used by 87 percent of users, confirming that videos are taking an increasingly central role in daily entertainment.
Also noteworthy is the growth achieved by LinkedIn (+11% over 2018), Pinterest (same percentage) and Twitter (+9%). Google Plus, for obvious reasons, has disappeared from the platforms most used by Italians and around the world.
Global Digital Report 2019: what we can learn
The analysis by Hootsuite and We are Social highlighted several important data points for companies:
- theFacebook ecosystem mostly sees users ranging from 25-34 years old, followed by the 35-44 age group and the 45-54 age group;
- WhatsApp is the most beloved Instant Messaging platform in our country, but it has unexplored potential for business purposes;
- Italians search the web for entertainment and leisure content.
Another interesting fact is the boom in Instagram Stories (or for that matter the format in general) that we have witnessed in 2018, a phenomenon that is still growing and does not seem destined to see a stop. In addition, an absolutely growing trend is that of voice search.
From Alexa to Google, via Siri, 30 percent of Internet users use voice search for a wide variety of reasons: no need to use our hands, it is faster to dictate than to type, we can listen to results without looking, and we are all somewhat dependent on our smartphones, as well as on the need to have the answers to our doubts immediately.
As you can see there are a variety of conclusions that can be drawn from the Global Digital Report 2019.
The scenario painted is that of a hyper-connected world, with a growing number of Internet users (especially from mobile).
In order to survive within the market, it has become essential to change the way the network is conceived: no longer as an entertainment tool but as a true marketing channel.
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