(by Valentina Palmieri, journalist and AIDR member) A clear dividing line, between before and after annus horribilis. Inside a pandemic that upset use and consumption, projecting our society on a digital dimension. The confirmation comes from the data of the Digital 2021 report, published by We Are Social in collaboration with Hootsuite.
The report photographs the trend of internet consumption in the first place and of social platforms. A guide, now more than ever to be read and followed scrupulously for companies, institutions, professionals, associations, who want to capitalize on their online presence and not be swept away by the crisis. One figure above all would be enough to enlighten even the most rebellious. Over 50 million Italians connected to the internet in 2020, 1 million more than the previous year. An even more marked increase if we look at the consumption of social platforms, 2 million more in a year and 41 million users in the galaxy formed by Facebook, WhatsApp, Youtube.
The time spent online, thanks to the rules of social distancing, was almost equal to what we spent sleeping: 6 hours on the internet and two hours on social networks the daily average in Italy. What do you do on average in front of the keyboard, sorry in front of the smartphone, considering that the connections are increasingly mobile? Also according to the Digital report, while confirming the supremacy of the use of the internet to search for information, in 2020 the network was the glue that held several generations together, from Z through millennials to involving kids with hair silver. Online sociality has translated into a transversal growth in the consumption of social platforms.
In fact, the number of people who declared to have actively participated in the online dialogue increased by 4 percentage points, from 81% to 85%. Regarding the preferences regarding the platforms, the big news lies in the growth of Tik Tok, the most discussed social network in recent months is still very distant from the Triunvirate: Youtube, WhatsApp and Facebook, respectively first, second and third most used channel for over the 80% of users. Sociality becomes a fundamental element not only as a moment of leisure, but above all in the online shopping process. Yes, because the Digital 2021 report highlights once again how much the opinion and involvement of other users affects the customer journey.
You search for the product, consult the offers, but before proceeding with the confirmation add to cart, you stay on the net, to check reviews, reviews and why not, to take a look at the tutorials. Speaking of products, ecommerce was the great protagonist of the year just ended: about 33 million people made purchases online, with a growth rate of 24% and very high peaks just in the period before Christmas. Of course, growth in the near future, once the pandemic has passed, may not reach such high peaks, but buying habits have definitely changed. The alibi of the target audience to tone down the tone is also not valid, the propensities to buy, according to the report, are quite similar for all age groups from 16 to 64 years.
If this is the picture, how should we move? Presence in the first place, with 50 million people online and 41 on social networks, we cannot think of not presiding over platforms. People are there and perhaps with a little luck they are already talking about a product or service that the company wants to offer, why let others enter the information circuit, or speak on behalf of our company? The online presence is often confused with the desire to represent oneself, building an image that does not reflect us. Online such a sin is mortal, because if it is true as it is true that reality is digital, we must never forget that the web and social networks are populated by real people. Therefore, be there and then tell each other, dosing the words and also the number of posts to enter in the "cum grain salis" circuit, because social networks are bridges between companies and users, and the relationship is valid only if both parties show equal attention giving and receiving news, without wanting to get straight into a conversation, or impose ourselves with irrelevant adv. Digital is truly an opportunity, because it allows every company to cross physical boundaries to enter the global market and the pandemic has shown it. What we may not have been able to grasp, at least until a few months ago, is that “Markets are conversations… Conversations between human beings sound human. And they take place with a human voice ”. The theses of the Clutrain Manifesto, dating back to 1999, today sound more relevant than ever, and the time has really come to put them into practice.