Just Who Are Social Networkers?

Across the US, 45% of all adults are engaged in social networks.  As more and more social networks develop and companies get involved in social media, knowing just who social users are is very important.  A recent study from Nielsen shows us who is using social networks.

•       There are more women on social media than men – 53% of social networkers are female

•       There are more seniors on social networks than teens – Over 30% of social networkers are age 50+.  The majority of social networkers are 18-34 (27%) and
25-49 (28%)
Less than 15% of those involved in social networks are under 18

•       Nearly 80% of social media users are white, 12% are Hispanic and 10% are African-American.  3% are Asian or Pacific-Islanders .

•      Over 40% of adults social media users have household incomes of $75,000+.  More than one in four have househ9ld incomes of $100,000+

•       One-half of social networkers have children in their homes.  Adults who use social media are 25% more likely to have children

 

What Does This Mean To You?

There are over 800 million Facebook users and there it is estimated that they could reach 1 billion members this year. Twitter is on pace to have 500 million total users and 250 million active users by year end.  Google+ is still growing and Pinterest has recently burst upon the scene.  There is no doubt that social networks have given consumers new ways of learning about, recommending and reviewing products.  Just having a social presence is not enough.  Successful brands on social networks interact with their users and provide them content.  Unique content and promotions are the reasons why people follow brands in the first place.  Social Media also means that customer service is even more important.  Consumers now have the ability to tell everyone all at once about poor customer service and sub-par products.  Developing a robust social media strategy is incredibly important.  You need to think about how you interact with consumers & followers and negative comment response mechanisms.  The bright spot is that consumers can also tell everyone about positive experiences and recommend you to all their friends.  These virtual testimonials are worth their weight in gold.  For more information about winning social media strategies and reputation management, please contact:
Al Fiala
amfiala@gmail.com

Source: Nielsen; The 2011 Scarborough Report, Release 1, Facebook; All Things Twitter