SOCIAL MEDIA DATA POINTS: Blogging Isn’t Big; Look Who’s Shopping, Facebook Monster-Growth
EDITOR’S NOTE: MSG warmly welcomes Eliza Dashwood, who will regularly share her pick of the stats, facts, reports and industry talk (as a matter of record) and her take on what matters most. Each DATA POINTS post will focus on all things mobile. From mobile advertising and social media to mobile search and apps sales/discovery, look for Eliza to cover it with the professionalism and passion that have become her trademark.
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Social media is more than a trend; it’s part of our daily existence. Whether it’s tagging people on Facebook, using your new smartphone to “tweet”, blogging a review of a brand that’s annoying you or connecting with colleagues and asking for references on LinkedIn, the whole world is talking. So what have we learned? And how has an avalanche of communications channels impacted our interaction? Here are some reports that offer some answers.
BLOGGING VS. SOCIAL: What are people using and why? A recent study from Pew Research Center reports a shift in behavior that could have consequences. For one, “since 2006, blogging has fallen among teens and young adults while simultaneously rising among older adults.” As the tools and technology embedded in social networking websites change, and use of the sites continues to grow, Pew says, “youth may be exchanging ‘macro-blogging’ for micro-blogging with status updates.” The split: adults are finding their voice online through blogs while teens and young adults are going for community. Source
The upshot: In the U.S. young adults are leading the way in mobile and wireless Internet usage. The outcome is a huge reduction in blog commenting and an explosion in two-way and micro-blogging communication. Predictably, Twitter stands out as the exception with only 10 percent of 14-17 year olds tweeting. Mobile uptake is soaring thanks to the fact that a whopping 58 percent of 12-year olds now carry a mobile device (!).
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SOCIAL SHOPPING: Here’s one even I didn’t expect. People are more open to brands that use new media to make the connection. Research findings via eMarketer from Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate, drawn from a survey of some 1,500 U.S. Internet users, indicate that social friends and followers feel more inclined to purchase from the brands they are fans of in the first place.
That’s pretty much common sense. But it’s interesting to note WHY people became fans in the first place.
Some of the top reasons for becoming a brand fan are as follows:
• 49% are customer of the brand
• 42% wish to show support for the brand
• 40% enjoy discounts and promos from the brand
The upshot: Brands that are leveraging the power of social media to truly engage with their fans are walking the talk. They can count on a number of benefits from this – including improved chances of conversion.
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MONSTER MARCH FACEBOOK STATS: Facebook is huge – period. Just how big it is (in numbers AND influence) comes across in this infographic. It’s packed with detail, so allow me to give you a few highlights.
Mobile
• Over 100 million users access Facebook via mobile
• People who access Facebook on their mobiles are twice as active as those who do not
• Over 200 mobile operators worldwide are looking to deploy and promote Facebook via mobile
International
• 70 languages
• 70 percent of Facebook users are outside the U.S.
General Wow-Stats
• Since 2004 Facebook has grown to over 400 million active users worldwide
• More than 3 billion photos are posted on Facebook each month
• The Average user has 130 friends on Facebook
The upshot: Facebook is a monster but where is the money in the long-term? Having been an executive at a marketing company I have to ask myself if the anatomy of Facebook (also revealed in the infographic) doesn’t translate into more opportunities and models beyond simple ad-serving. Would Facebook users tolerate more sledgehammer advertising? Maybe some brand fanatics would and I can think of some brands that could get real value out of this approach. Will big organizations learn from the likes of Coke, Barack Obama and Starbucks? Again, it’s easy to imagine brand strategies that could copy this success. What works? I’ll keep that to myself…
