Social Media is Popular with the Boomers Too
More and more Boomers are using social media too.
The annual Social Media Consumer Trend and Benchmark Report by Experian Marketing Services shows that although 98 percent of 18 to 24 year olds access social media every month, the 55 to 64 and 65+ age groups are catching up. In fact, it’s the 65+ age group that has grown the most in the past two years, increasing by 49 percent.
Today, nearly 3-in-4 online seniors use social media in a typical month as do 82% of those ages 55 to 64.
The reason for this increased popularity in social media is due to the increase in using it to communicate with family. Experian reports that while 46% of all online adults today say they use social media to communicate with their friends (up from 32% in 2009), 27% of those with a brother or sister say they communicate with their sibling via social media, up from 15% in 2009.
Parents and children are also connecting with one another at an increasingly high rate. In 2009, only 6% of parents said they communicated with their children via social sites, but today fully 18% of parents communicate with their kids through social media. Likewise, 14% of adult children also say they communicate with their parents over social media today, up from just 5% in 2009.
Other Notable Social Media Statistics
- 91 percent of Americans use social media in an average month. That’s 129 million.
- 58 percent use Facebook monthly. The average number of friends is 130.
- Facebook visits last five times longer than visits to Google+.
- Social networks are an infinite loop: 19 percent of all visits are immediately followed by a visit to another social network.
- 20 percent of users now access social media via their phones, up from 11 percent.
- 14 percent use phones to upload photos and video.
Social Media and Email
Email and social combined deliver a one-two punch to boost traffic to branded Websites Companies looking to drive traffic to their core brand sites should strongly consider a social media campaign promoted by email. According to Experian CheetahMail, a leader in digital
marketing, making email the foundation of a social campaign is key, given that the typical company’s email list is 32 times larger than the number of fans they have on Facebook. An analysis conducted by Experian Hitwise also reveals that, 60% of brands that sent out an email with the word “Facebook” in the subject line averaged a 27% increase in traffic to their website the week following the email deployment. Furthermore, time spent on websites also jumps after a social media campaign
Social Media and Business
Just last week, Booz & Company and Buddy Media released the results of a survey (Campaigns to Capabilities: Social Media & Marketing 2011) targeted at leaders of large businesses. The respondents identified the most critical success enablers for launching a social media marketing campaign:
- Education on what can be achieved via social media
- Training of staff who are not accustomed to using social media
- Ability to adapt and react quickly on social media
- Clearly communicated support from executive management
- Having a clear owner of the project
In summary, in order to implement a successful social media marketing plan, it is imperative that you have support from upper management, a clear understanding of what is possible with social media marketing, the ability to train, and the software needed to implement plan in a quick, simple, and efficient manner. Social Media in 7 Minutes provides the tools to allow for successful implementation of a social media marketing plan.
Social Media in 7 Minutes
Social Media in 7 Minutes (SMI7M) is a revolutionary do-it-yourself online training program designed to not only educate small business owners on how to apply social media into their marketing plan, but also to provide a practical tool which will allow them to implement their marketing plan in just 7 minutes a day. This product is designed for small business owners who want to learn and implement a social media marketing plan for themselves without paying thousands of dollars for employees or outsourcing companies.
“There are 2 keys to the successful creation and implementation of a successful social media marketing plan,” states Black Box Social Media co-founder Nick Bridges. “First, you must have a basic understanding of the social networking sites. Without this understanding, you can never envision the marketing possibilities. Second, you must have a simple way to implement your plan.”
In fact, most social media campaigns that fail to live up to expectations fail because of poor implementation.
“Having a software tool that allows you to manage multiple social networking sites at once is a must,” continues Mr. Bridges. “Being able to schedule your posts in advance, monitor your online reputation, and mail out newsletters to keep in touch with your customers in a quick and simple method is the best way to ensure success in your social media marketing plan.”
For more information on Social Media in 7 Minutes, please visit http://SocialMediaIn7Minutes.com.