DIGITAL DATA 2019 FOR SRI LANKA

Datareportal.com and we are social have shared the global digital data 2019 and data on Sri Lanka . Am happy to share some insights on the data based on the contents below as done last year January .

Above data indicates growth in mobile users and overall internet penetration but we will have 43% of world population with no access to internet and 58% of population yet to be active mobile social media users which means huge potential yet and majority of these populations are from asia and africa where we note heavy mobile phone penetrations.Guess the likes of facebook and google will look at efforts to provide cheap access to keep there relevant business lines growing since stagnation is seen in mature markets .

Above clearly indicates South Asia with over 1.5 bio population has room for improvement along with other asian and african states.

Facebook and family of apps have it over a billion active users and we note both social media platforms have a combine audience of 3.271 billion while both messaging apps have combine audience of 2.8 bio and it makes sense for FB to integrate messaging , enable more services ,and monitize the messaging platforms.

We cant ignore youtube which has 1.9 bio users and synergies with google means its also a very important platform . Business needs to also look at we chat with over 1 bio users and two more chinese apps in the fray. Viber is a notable looser and linkedin growth has slowed .

Whats app clearly dominates the globe in terms of messaging apps closely followed by messenger and we chat . New kid on the block is telegram which is gaining ground due to better data security . You need to have a hybrid approach and leverage all possible platforms relevant to your markets for better optimization and engagement. Viber commands ground in few countries .

The age analysis and gender is common in most platforms except for instagram where younger audiences command with many influencers leveraging the medium since it has better organic reach . Will Facebook look at doing what it did to FBs organic reach , we do not know yet . Business needs to understand audience and run different engagement initiatives relevant to each age group and demography .

We still note room for more penetration in Sri Lanka for internet and mobile social media users . With over 38 mio mobile subscription and 63% accessing via 3 or 4 G content optimization for mobile in all aspects with clear call to action based on attention span will have better return on all efforts .

Although mobile connections is 137% we do not know the active percentage . With 90% on pre paid packages shows clear opportunities for reload options and also means this segment will be restricted in terms of how long can they access content online due to data costs . Mobile companies need to innovate in this space to reduce cost of data and not provide free data at hours and public need to get some good sleep.

Interesting stats here since 91% of internet users access via mobile and this maps to the social media engagement also indicates 92% on mobile . This posses a challenge for all business that want to reach and engage with customers since mobile optimized content will create action . All channels needs to be mobile optimized with user interface and user experience for mobile with customer at the centre of any development .

Good to note 78% growth in mobile internet connection speed and with 4 G adoption growing and 5 G on the way , new ecosystems will emerge and smart phone will be a key device to engage with customers .

Google.com , ,lk and youtube command the way and marketers need to know that you still need to have your websites updated with mobile in mind along with key SEO, SEM strategies integrating with video content for youtube and other platforms .

We note eCommerce sites are among top twenty such as ali express , ebay meaning public are shopping online using there debit, credit cards or ali pay accounts meaning potential for further growth in this space .

Sri Lanka has done better compared to global since in global top 20 sites we had 3 adult entertainment sites while in SL its two meaning public are being good .

Gossip sites and bloggers continue to grow and public look at new revenue streams , adsense contributing to growth in the gig economy .

Ikman seems to command most search showing the site is very active among users while gossip also among top searches while other generic keywords which needs to be understood by marketers and leveraged on.

Digital marketers need to leverage all engagement options on youtube since its second most used website and with more people using the app further options needs to be explored for engagement.More than 9 different search behaviors noted for songs and movies have 4.

Instagram users have grown sand its time digital marketers exploit this channel more than Facebook in time to come . Influencer marketing and stories will have growth in years to come with messaging services due to better organic reach than facebook.

FB growth has slowed and users now active more on alternate channels such as IG, Messenger and whats app. Digital marketers need to have an integrated approach to leverage all mediums based on relevance and reach.

We note linkedin is reaching a million users here and this base is mostly professionals and entrepreneurs , startups and a good platform for B to B or B to C targeting. Digital marketers need to leverage this medium and allocate few dollars since cost per click is high but cheaper than traditional media.

Female population at 52% means we still have more room for adoption of channels by females in time to come. With growth in smart phones and other factors will c for sure better mix .

Online spend will c growth with many local business also going online and payment options becomes more digital than use of cash . Further females using online channels will grow and marketers and business owners need to keep in mind emerging segments and growth in gig economy .

Very interesting insights on categories of online spending and similar behavior will be seen in SL as well . Business owners , marketers need to watch these trends to support in campaign development and collaborations in the future.

Hope above data and interpretations will be usefull and am open for comments and feedback on same. If you wish to compare with my previous analysis done in Jan 2018 please refer to link below :

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/digital-data-2018-sri-lanka-dinesh-jebamani/

I wish to acknowledge we are social and datareportal for publishing this data annually .

Data Source :https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2019-sri-lanka and https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2019-global-digital-overview?rq=Digital%20data%202019