Sensis, in association with the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA), commissioned research into how Australian people and businesses are using social media. The Sensis Social Media Report contains survey results from 803 Australian consumers and 1,944 businesses. Sweeney Research conducted the surveys earlier this year. A key finding of the study is 63 percent of social network users read online reviews before they make buying decisions, reading an average of six reviews each time. These findings are consistent with a recap of our Social Local Media webinar where we recommended blogs, reviews and online forums as effective engagement channels for SMBs.

More research findings include:

• Twelve percent of social networkers use these sites to research products.
• When looking at the last search occasion for social networking users, more than 36 percent of searches resulted in a purchase, 70 percent of which were made online.
• Social media users are most interested in what businesses can give them in the form of discounts (57 percent), giveaways (45 percent), invitations to events (41 percent) and product information (41 percent).

The report is part of the company’s plan to position itself as a digital solutions provider to small businesses as we reported earlier in the year. The report is free to access and download.