Note: This blog is based on the Digital 2023 Global Overview Report – produced in partnership with Meltwater and We Are Social. See Simon Kemp's article about The Changing World of Digital in 2023. Download the Global Digital Report and the Global Digital Report 2023 for free.
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Social media marketing, when done correctly, may lead to exponential expansion for a business. Marketers may utilise these channels to increase their visibility, build their email list, spread the word about their products, learn more about their target demographic, discover fresh content ideas, and interact with their target audience.
With so many users on social media, it's evident that advertising specialists need reliable information to set goals, create a spending strategy, forecast results, and win over customers. As we've seen with Hong Kong's evolving digital media landscape, brands and organisations need to be adaptable and constantly developing to keep up with the ever-evolving circumstances in which they operate.
We understand how exhausting tracking for recent and reliable social media statistics can be. On top of this, Hong Kong's digital culture makes it hard for newer, upstart companies to get a foothold on the market versus those with established name brands. Like the Philippines, where media is king in its influence on its people, these companies use effective social media marketing to empower further and engage their audiences.
To help you make sense of Hong Kong's social media landscape in 2023, we compiled all the relevant data and information in one place.
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Want to read more about other APAC countries' evolving social media landscapes? Check out the digitalisation of the media landscape in Malaysia, study the demystification of China's digital media landscape, and analyse the digitalisation of the media landscape in Singapore.
Table of Contents
General social media statistics in Hong Kong
Internet usage statistics in Hong Kong
Social media usage statistics in Hong Kong
Mobile usage statistics in Hong Kong
Ecommerce statistics in Hong Kong
Digital marketing statistics in Hong Kong
Tip: Download our free Insight Brief Report: Hello Hong Kong
General social media statistics in Hong Kong
Hong Kong social media statistics help us learn about the unrealised potential for enhancing a brand's online reputation. Being able to monitor appropriate channels and the dominant trends shaping the Hong Kong digital media landscape help understand the way consumers act to stay ahead of the game.
Hong Kong has a highly urbanised population, with 100% of its citizens residing in high-rise flats in congested districts. The high land cost in Hong Kong is another factor in the city's very dense urban planning. High-rises are the sole affordable housing option for those with low, moderate, and even high salaries. While relatively compact, Hong Kong is home to a wide range of ethnic groups and various cuisines and cultural practices.
The figure of 7.49 million has remained constant over the past few years, with population growth almost non-existent since 2017. The residents of the so-called Fragrant Harbour are only getting older, having an average age of 45.7; it’s an important statistic to remember for gaining insight into the local market. In 2023, companies in Hong Kong with the resources to conduct social media analytics with a solid foundation to adapt their strategies will thrive.
Internet usage statistics in Hong Kong
Like the growth of its population, the development of its internet population is non-existent. It has only risen by around 4.5% since 2017, which is tiny compared to other APAC nations like the Philippines, which grew 13.4% between 2022 and 2023 alone.
Nonetheless, Hong Kong has an advanced internet infrastructure, with fast broadband speeds and abundant free Wi-Fi in public places. Over the last year, the median cellular mobile connection speed increased by 32.2%, while fixed internet connections rose by 26.2%.
The introduction of the national security legislation in June 2020 may be to blame for the stunted internet expansion in Hong Kong since it raises serious questions about protecting personal information and the right to free speech online.
Concerns about censorship and self-censorship have been expressed by the Hong Kong online community due to this legislation, which grants the government additional powers to control online behaviour and monitor internet users.
Social media usage statistics in Hong Kong
In January of 2023, 6.73 million people in Hong Kong were active on social media. Although 89.9% of Hong Kong's population was active on social media as of the beginning of 2023, this percentage may differ from actual people using these platforms. An individual could, for instance, use many identities on the same social networking site to actively pursue different personas. Some accounts may also represent non-humans, such as pets or historical figures.
How national security legislation and government censorship practices affect the city's social media usage is one to monitor, as there are several steps to observe and ban internet information that it views as politically sensitive or a danger to national security. The country’s 1 hour and 52 minutes of daily social media use is among the lowest in APAC, with only two countries spending less time on it.
The leading social media platforms' ad planning tools reveal that 5.87 million Hong Kong residents aged 18 and up used social media at the beginning of 2023, or 91.3% of the city's adult population. Meanwhile, those aged 25 to 34 are the target demographic to consider when creating your social marketing plans, as they comprise 30.6% of the country’s social media users.
In light of these Hong Kong social media statistics, it's clear that companies need a deeper understanding of customer behaviour and what drives people to make purchases. Brands in Hong Kong's competitive digital and social media landscape must consider consumer insights when deciding where to invest the most advertising capital.
These consumer choices may be monitored with the help of real-time, dynamic data gathered from social media users' diverse opinions and feedback.
Most used social media platforms in Hong Kong
It is becoming increasingly vital for Hong Kong's companies to pay attention to and listen to chatter on social media platforms through social listening. Access to these kinds of social media statistics allows them to draw actionable insights and properly publish sound social media on their engagement platforms. Since their audiences are and will continue to be, growing in online places, addressing issues raised there is at the top of the to-do list for marketers in Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong, most citizens utilise WhatsApp (79.7%) to have immediate conversations, as it's widely used for keeping in contact with family and friends and planning fun outings and adventures. It is also the most common choice for businesses, allowing it to better manage customer interactions, set up pre-programmed messages, create rapid replies, and organise discussion labels.
Hong Kong social media use is primarily to fill in spare time throughout the day (45.8%), stay in touch with their friends and family (45.8%), and find out what’s going on in and around the country (33.6%).
There is a thriving social media community in Hong Kong. Many people turn to sites like Facebook and Instagram for their news and information needs, especially since many are on social media to learn about and discuss recent events with others.
To create a well-rounded social media engagement strategy, businesses need a firm grasp on the effects of digital media and how they may profit from the information gleaned from social media. In Hong Kong's cutthroat business environment, brands need every edge to stay ahead of the competition and connect with their consumers through authentic and entertaining methods.
Users in Hong Kong have access to current events and data via their Facebook feeds, as many news outlets there maintain a presence on the social media platform. For Hong Kong companies, Facebook is an essential tool for promotion and advertising. It allows businesses to reach many of Hong Kong’s 4.2 million potential targets while still narrowing in on a specific demographic, such as 62.6% of its users aged 13 and up.
Mobile usage statistics in Hong Kong
For the average Hong Kong resident, cellular phones are one thing that has become increasingly important. Mobile phone use has increased by 5.7% in the past year. It is now crucial for a wide range of activities, including keeping in touch with friends and family, enjoying digital media, making purchases online, and processing payments electronically.
People in Hong Kong use their smartphones for online purchases through social commerce, including those for food delivery, gadgets, and clothing, as we'll see in the following sections of this post. In addition, there has been a rise in mobile banking and payment apps, which facilitate the safe and convenient transfer of funds, payment of bills, and purchase of these goods and services.
Businesses that want to improve their customer service and response times find these functions help give their consumers a tip-top online experience. One of the primary reasons WhatsApp is the most-used application on mobile is its dual-use case: as a way for the ordinary citizen to keep in touch with loved ones and the entrepreneur to manage their business.
Using WhatsApp Business is crucial for every company to improve client communication and drive sales. It's the primary means SMEs communicate changes and field automatic responses, aiding sales and informing customers of necessary updates. Meta’s role in ensuring Hong Kong’s citizens can manage their life - through work and play - cannot be understated enough, with the messaging application and Facebook atop the monthly active users' charts.
Thus, social media is particularly crucial since it gives a collaborative environment where replies are practically authentic and fluid.
Ecommerce statistics in Hong Kong
Customers are showing great initiative by researching available options online. Consequently, they are more capable of discovering low prices on the goods and services they need. E-commerce platforms like HKTVMall and Taobao are aware of this, and as a result, their user interfaces have been streamlined to make it easy for users to locate promotional codes and free shipping deals.
People looking to develop deeper relationships with the companies they support are searching for more straightforward ways to shop. As people's disposable incomes and consumer technology improve, so will their expectations of companies and organisations to deliver a more efficient but engaging shopping experience. With the top-3 purchase drivers directly related to accessing great deals quickly and efficiently, giving customers a hassle-free ecommerce experience is critical.
Communications specialists and marketers can only make informed decisions regarding their brand strategies by first gaining insight into how their target demographics behave. In the last year, the number of people in Hong Kong who have made purchases digitally has increased by 5.8%, with each e-wallet user making $5,643 worth of purchases annually - a 10% increase! By 2024, it is predicted that digital wallets will bethe preferred payment method in Hong Kong.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital payments have skyrocketed. The government has supported the approach as a safer way to make daily purchases for needs and wants. Financial institutions have also committed resources to optimise using e-wallets as a secure and quick way to make payments for products and services. Having payment methods that support electronic transactions to ensure Hong Kong consumers have hassle-free ways of making purchases will be a key trend as we move forward.
Digital marketing statistics in Hong Kong
A well-targeted post may do wonders for your clickthrough and conversion rates. Modifying your article to appeal to a specific audience increases the likelihood that they will read and respond. With a 20% rise in clicks on sponsored social media posts, targeting the right audience with the right message has never been more critical.
But knowing how to reach people more likely to be interested in your products or services is tricky. This may be easier with the necessary social listening tools to guide you in listening to the chatter that matters.
In recent years, various strategies for raising brand recognition via digital marketing have emerged as one of Hong Kong's most rapidly growing economic subsectors. In Hong Kong, digital marketing has expanded into a crucial aspect of the overall marketing strategy, and organisations that fail to implement effective strategies will need help to compete. With a 14.5% growth in digital advertising spending in Hong Kong over the previous year, now is the moment for businesses to make digital marketing a key focus.
Companies may effectively reach their target demographic via digital marketing when they work with prominent influencers, content creators, brand ambassadors, and celebrities - all of which known popularly as key opinion leaders or "KOL". This had the highest spike in digital ad spend, with an overall increase of 23.5% over the previous year.
Tip: Take a look at the top Instagram Influencers in Hong Kong to find the right influencers to partner with.
By aligning with these well-known influencers who already have a solid following and make sense of your brand as a whole, you can help raise the profile of both parties, generate positive buzz, and spread the word about your brand campaign.
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If you want to use social media to promote your brand, contact Meltwater Hong Kong by filling out the form below. We'll work with you to develop a plan that begins with social media monitoring and extends all the way to the metrics you'll need to measure the success of your social media marketing. You may spread the word about your company and win over the hearts and minds of customers in Hong Kong.
