After yet another turbulent year, it’s a relief to look forward to what the digital marketing landscape in Singapore will look like in 2023 and years beyond.
Let’s find out if you’ll still need it or if it’s already passé.
And why Singapore?
Well, if you haven’t heard it, Singapore has the eight-highest GDP per capita worldwide (ahead of Australia, 9th, and Qatar, 10th) and is home to a host of international companies.
With a digitally savvy population and a booming economy, it’s no wonder Singapore is such an attractive destination for digital marketers.
A Brief Overview of the Digital Marketing Landscape and Usage in Singapore
On average, Singaporeans spend around 7.5 hours daily on the internet — 2 hours 53 minutes watching videos and 2 hours 31 minutes interacting on social media.
As you can use, our internet usage is significantly higher than the global average of 6 hours 57 minutes.
Worldwide, the average person spends 2 hours 27 minutes scrolling through social media, 55 minutes listening to podcasts, and 1 hour 33 minutes streaming music
What Do We Do Online
Most Singaporeans are glued to the internet at all times. We shop, socialize, watch videos, listen to music, play video games, and even work online.
In a week, Singaporeans spend 2 hours 32 minutes shopping online, 6 hours 16 minutes streaming TV shows and movies, 3 hours 34 minutes listening to music, and 5 hours 32 minutes interacting on social media.
How Singaporeans Use the Internet
| What Singaporeans Do Online | The Time Spend Per Week (in Hours: Minutes) |
| Listening to music | 3 hours 34 minutes |
| Online shopping | 2 hours 32 minutes |
| Watching videos | 7 hours 17 minutes |
| Researching | 1 hour 46 minutes |
| Gaming | 1 hour 46minutes |
| E-learning | 1 hour 43minutes |
| Looking for Recipes | 1 hour 27 minutes |
| Video calling | 1 hour 46 minutes |
| Life admin | 1 hour 55 minutes |
| Streaming TV shows and movies | 6 hours 16 minutes |
| Interacting on social media | 5 hours 32 minutes |
Source: NordVPN
What Information Do Singaporeans Reveal Online?
Since Singaporeans spend much of their time online, their real-life inevitably spills over onto the internet.
Whether it’s searching for products, streaming videos, or signing up for services — Singaporeans share a large amount of personal information online.
16.3% of Singaporeans have shared their bank details online, 35.7% have shared their relationship status, and 53.3% have shared their full address.
18.4% have shared their likes and dislikes, while 13.4% have shared their clothing size.
Mobile Internet Usage in Singapore
Source: Nielsen
In January 2022, Singapore’s population was estimated to be 5.92 million. Of this, 47.7% are females, while 52.3% are males.
Out of the 5.92 million, 5.45 million (92.2%) are active internet users, and 5.04 million (85%) of those users access the internet via mobile.
The majority of mobile usage goes toward entertainment and social media.
Many people use more than one device for their online connections — for example, one might have one connection for personal use, another for work, and a third for family.
The GSMA numbers indicate mobile connections are equivalent to 147% of the population, meaning an average adult Singaporean has at least two mobile connections.
The number of mobile connections increased by 204 thousand between 2021 and 2022, a growth rate of 2.4%. The majority (99%) of these connections are to 3G and 4G networks, while the remainder (1%) are still on 2G networks.
99% of Singaporeans access social media and other online activities through mobile devices.
Smartphones are also the most popular device used to access e-commerce websites, accounting for 63% of e-commerce revenue.
Overall, mobile devices in Singapore account for about 66.8% of the total web traffic, with three-quarters coming from Android devices.
Ecommerce Stats in Singapore
The pandemic was the biggest catalyst for the growth of ecommerce in Singapore. In 2022, Singaporeans spent over U$6.16 billion on online consumer goods.
In this case, 55% of Singaporeans have already purchased consumer goods online.
The annual growth for B2C ecommerce spending increased by 38% between 2021 to 2022.
Here are the four top categories of consumer spending:
- Electronics: U$1.68 billion
- Fashion and Beauty: U$1.63 billion
- Furniture: U$892.7 million
- Toys, Hobby, and DIYs: U$458.6 million
- Personal and Household care: $637.1 million
- Food: U$333.8 million
- Beverages: U$382.7 millions
- Physical media: U$147.9 million
As you can see, Singapore is a highly digitalized nation, and the use of technology in everyday life is growing exponentially.
Top Digital Marketing Platforms in Singapore
The social media platforms you use can significantly influence the success of your digital marketing campaign.
The most popular social media platforms in Singapore are WhatsApp (83.7%), Facebook (79.4%), Facebook Messenger (46.6%), Telegram (49.2%), and WeChat (30.3%).
There are also quite a number of relatively new social media platforms on the rise, such as LinkedIn (36.1%), TikTok (44.3%), and Twitter (33.6%).
TikTok, particularly, has seen a rapid surge in popularity since 2021 and is now the sixth most popular social media platform among Singaporeans.
Singaporeans use it to watch short-form videos, follow influencers, join communities and collaborate with other creatives.
They use LinkedIn to get the latest job updates and industry news, while Twitter keeps them updated with the latest in politics, sports, entertainment, etc.
- WhatsApp: 83.7%
- Facebook: 79.4%
- Instagram: 66.3%
- Telegram: 49.2%
- Facebook Messenger: 46.6%
- TikTok: 44.3%
- Twitter: 33.6%
- LinkedIn: 36.1%
- WeChat: 30.3%
Singapore’s market has been taking advantage of these platforms to create campaigns that resonate with their target audiences.
For instance, they use chatbots to automate customer service and set up content marketing campaigns on social media. They also use influencer marketing to build relationships and drive sales.
Top 10 Mobile Apps in Singapore
Mobile apps are an integral part of digital marketing in Singapore. From banking to shopping, people use mobile apps for all sorts of activities.
The most actively used mobile app in Singapore is WhatsApp, a messaging app that enables users to send texts and voice messages.
It is followed by Trace Together, Facebook, SingPass, Instagram, Grab, Shopee, Lazada, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, and WeChat.
- WhatsApp: Meta
- Trace Together: Government Technology Agency of Singapore
- Facebook: Meta.
- SingPass: Government Technology Agency of Singapore
- Instagram: Meta
- Grab: Grab Taxi Holdings Pte Ltd.
- Shopee: Sea Group
- Lazada: Alibaba Group Holding Limited
- Telegram: Telegram FZ-LLC
- Facebook Messenger: Meta
E-commerce platforms such as Lazada and Shopee are among the top 10 apps in the country.
Shopee, launched in 2015, is one of Singapore’s most popular eCommerce platforms. Users can shop for clothing, electronics, beauty products, and more at great prices.
Meanwhile, Lazada is an online marketplace owned by Alibaba group offering a wide range of items from groceries to electronics.
The Digital Marketing Opportunities to Take Advantage of in 2023
It is expected that digital marketing in Singapore will continue to grow rapidly in 2023.
The increasing number of social media platforms and mobile apps have created immense opportunities for marketers to reach their target audiences, build relationships, and trigger conversions.
Podcasting is on the Rise
Singaporeans spend an average of 56 minutes per day listening to podcasts. That’s roughly the same as the number of Americans listening to podcasts.
Between the first quarter of 2020 and the 1st quarter of 2021, the listenership of mental health-themed podcasts grew by 323% among the Genzers and 411% among the millennials.
Health:
Gen Zs: 117% Millennials 142%
Self-help
Gen Zs: 220% Millennials: 223%
mental Health
Gen Z’s: 323% Millennials: 411%
Marketers can use podcasts to build relationships with their target audience, create brand awareness and promote products.
What Are Podcasts, exactly?
Podcasts are audio or video programs that generally focus on a single topic or theme. They’re usually placed online for anyone to watch or listen to. Podcasts have become increasingly popular over the years as they allow users to learn new things and stay up-to-date on topics they care about while multitasking.
Marketers have two approaches to podcasting:
- Product placements: Marketers can have their products and services featured in someone else’s podcast, or they can sponsor an episode.
- Content creation: Marketers can create their own podcasts to engage with their target audience and build meaningful relationships.
Compared to traditional display ads, podcast audio ads have been found to be 6% more effective.
This number might seem small, but you have to remember over 70% of podcast listeners take action after listening to a podcast.
There’s also the added benefit of the generated brand awareness.
It’s sensible to say podcasting should be part of your digital marketing strategy in Singapore in 2023.
Video Marketing in Singapore: Watch and Shop
Video marketing is on a steady rise in Singapore. Different studies show Singaporeans spend more than two-fifth of their online time watching videos.
Video commerce, or v-commerce, is a trend that many brands in Singapore have adopted.
It allows customers to watch product videos and shop directly from the video itself.
YouTube continues to dominate the video streaming market in Singapore, with 1.71 billion visits in 2021.
On average, a Singaporean user spends about 20.3 hours on YouTube per month.
79% of consumers in Singapore say they watch YouTube videos to gain insights about a product or service before purchasing it.
A quarter visits YouTube to watch product reviews and learn more about a product they’re about to buy.
Gaming in Singapore (2023)
Image Credit: Vulcan PostSingaporeans love gaming.
Studies show more than 1.4 million Singaporeans spend an average of 7.44 hours per week playing video games. That’s about 24% of the population.
Just by seeing the generated revenue, you can already tell that gaming in Singapore is a booming industry, expected to reach U$250 million by the end of 2023.
Marketers can use mobile games to their advantage by creating partnerships with game developers.
Gaming could be your favourite marketing tool in 2023. It’s a great way to reach your target audience and engage with them in a fun environment.
Plus, you’ll get the added bonus of brand awareness.
Display ads in games are known to generate high engagement rates and drive conversions.
In 2019, Singaporeans generated ad revenue of U$42.3 billion.
Worth mentioning is the expeditious growth of e-sport in the country. It took Singapore less than 15 years to emerge as the world’s capital of e-sports.
Attracting both local and international brands, e-sport events in the country are becoming increasingly popular.
Marketers can take advantage of this by sponsoring events, creating brand ambassadors, and investing in online advertisement.
E-sport could be the perfect way to reach your target audience in 2023.
Video Games Players Statistics:
An analysis of the gaming market in Singapore shows:
74% of men and 68% of women in Singapore say they play video games
65% of men and 47% of women say they play PC games
53% of men and 40 of women say they play console games
Adding to this, Newzoo also reports that 23% of the gamers in Singapore are time fillers. By that, they mean people who play games to pass the time or when bored.
They account for the biggest gaming group in the country.
It’s also estimated that about 21% of Singapore’s urban population watch eSports, making it one of the highest in Asia.
