40 UK stats you need if you work in comms in 2015

We know we live in a changing  landscape. Yet, every year out of the fog like a lighthouse beam comes a moment of clarity. That moment is the Ofcom communications market report. Here are some stats to know by heart. It’s 400-pages. We read it so you don’t have to.

By Dan Slee

Research, said astronaut Neil Armstrong, is creating new knowledge so how often do we really do that?

Alone on a sea of change it is easy to feel as though you are bobbing around on the water uncertain and very often alone. Sure, there’s snippets of information out there. Often it can be confusing and only casts light on a small corner.

All this is why as a communications person you need to spend time a few hours with the Ofcom communications market report 2015. I mean it. You do. It tells you far better than anything else the direction of travel in the UK. Once more, it is free.

A week or two back I sat down and read through it all.

It is shaping what I’m doing. It doesn’t have all the answers but it has many and it’s the starting point of everything that you need to do.

Here’s some key stats from the 2015 report.

We live in a connected nation

83 per cent of buildings in the UK can receive superfast broadband.

89 per cent of buildings have coverage of 4G.

Internet use is 20 hours a week – doubled in 10 years.

We live in a smartphone nation

93 per cent of people have a mobile phone.

66 per cent of people have a smartphone.

65 per cent of homes have a laptop.

In 2014, 4G subscribers rose from 2.7 million to 23.6 million.

16 to 24-year-olds would miss their smartphone more than their TV.

50 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds check their phones within five minutes of waking up.

81 per cent of smartphones are used for email.

45 per cent of smartphones are used for transactions.

We are becoming a video nation

72 per cent of people watch short form video

32 per cent of people watch short form video daily or weekly.

47 per cent of internet users said that had used YouTube as a source.

57 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds have used YouTube as a source.

18 per cent of people use their phone to make video.

Young people are a nation of instant messagers

77 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds are users.

28 per cent of over 55-year-olds are users.

We are a nation using social media

Overall, 72 per cent of adults have a social media profile.

16 to 24-year-olds 93 per cent have a profile

25 to 34-year-olds 90 per cent have a profile

35 to 44-year-olds 80 per cent have a profile

45 to 54-year-olds 68 per cent have a profile

55 to 64-year-olds 49 per cent have a profile

65 over 28 per cent have a profile

As a nation, Facebook remains most popular

97 per cent of social media users have a Facebook account

40 per cent have Twitter

37 per cent have WhatsApp

35 per cent have Instagram

32 per cent have YouTube

26 per cent have Snapchat

8 per cent have Tumblr

4 per cent have Vine

For 12 to 15-year-olds YouTube is most popular

81 per cent of 12 to 15-year-olds use YouTube

72 per cent use Facebook

55 per cent use Instagram

53 per cent use Snapchat

38 per cent use Whats App

How we use Twitter: news and complaints

33 per cent of adults chose news as the most popular topic.

24 per cent of adults said that complaints and frustrations.

Dan Slee is co-founder of comms2point0.

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