Chasing the Changing Demographic

Look into a mirror sometime: You are the future of Facebook. Young, middleaged,elderly, male, female, Hispanic, Caucasian, African American, Asian,Indian — no single defining demographic represents Facebook members. Ifyou thought you were too old, guess again. Facebook is experiencing its fastestgrowth among women 55 and older. Furthermore, teenagers now make up a paltry 12 percent of the Facebook audience. Overall, however, the fastest growing group by total users is still age 26 to 34. So why are adults flocking to Facebook in droves? Could it be the desire to reconnect with old friends, former co-workers, and family separated by time and distance? That pull is strong within most of us. Or, is it the basic human need to be part of a community, recognized for one’s contributions and right to express thyself? One thing’s for sure, Facebook is no longer a fad and is not to be ignored by marketers, big or small. Facebook opened to non-students in May 2006. Since then, Facebook has grown to become much more than a social network. According to Facebook, it is the largest online depository of photos, with more than 850 million images uploaded to the site each month. Additionally, Facebook is available in 35 languages(another 60 languages are promised) with more than 70 percent of users coming from outside the U.S.

The Facebook factor

The astounding growth rate of Facebook continues More than 50 translations are available on the site, with more than 40 in development More than 70% of Facebook users are located outside the United States Platform More than one million developers and entrepreneurs from more than 180 countries are creating applications for the Facebook Platform More than 350,000 active applications are currently available on the Facebook Platform More than 200 applications have more than one million monthly active users More than 15,000 Web sites, devices, and applications have implemented Facebook Connect More than 95% of Facebook members have used at least one application built on the Facebook Platform Mobile More than 30 million active users who access Facebook through their mobile devices People that use Facebook via their mobile devices are almost 50% more active on Facebook than non-mobile users There are more than 150 mobile operators in 50 countries working to deploy Facebook mobile products to amaze. Below are some stats provided by Facebook as of February 1, 2009. For updated stats, visit the Facebook statistics page. Scroll to the bottom of your Facebook screen, click the About link, and at the top of your screen, click the Press tab to access the Latest Statistics link. General Growth More than 250 million active users More than 120 million users log on to Facebook at least once each day More than two-thirds of Facebook users are outside of college The fastest growing demographic are people 35 years old and older User Engagement Average user has 120 friends on the site Users spend more than 5 billion minutes on Facebook each day (worldwide) More than 30 million users update their statuses at least once per day More than 8 million users become fans of Pages each day Applications More than 1 billion photos are uploaded to the site each month More than 10 million videos are uploaded each month More than 1 billion pieces of content are shared each week More than 2.5 million events are created each month More than 45 million active user groups exist on the site International Growth More than 50 translations are available on the site, with more than 40 in development More than 70% of Facebook users are located outside the United States Platform More than one million developers and entrepreneurs from more than 180 countries are creating applications for the Facebook Platform More than 350,000 active applications are currently available on the Facebook Platform More than 200 applications have more than one million monthly active users More than 15,000 Web sites, devices, and applications have implemented Facebook Connect More than 95% of Facebook members have used at least one application built on the Facebook Platform Mobile More than 30 million active users who access Facebook through their mobile devices People that use Facebook via their mobile devices are almost 50% more active on Facebook than non-mobile users There are more than 150 mobile operators in 50 countries working to deploy Facebook mobile products Take a closer look at Facebook’s recent demographics, as reported by notedFacebook blog, Inside Facebook, in February 2009. Clearly, the site’s appeal is both broad and growing, highlighted by the following: ✓ Facebook is growing in every age and gender demographic. Fastest growing segment: Women over age 55, up 175 percent over the previous 120 days. ✓ Facebook is growing faster with women than men in almost every age group. Women comprise 56 percent of Facebook’s audience, up from 54 percent in 2008. ✓ In Facebook, 45 percent of the U.S. audience is now 26 years of age or older. Facebook offers you the opportunity to get your message to all these demographics for free. What an efficient way to reach out and expand your customer base

Building a Presence on Facebook

Earlier It’s been said that if Facebook were a country, it would be the sixth most populated nation in the world. Imagine being able to get your message in front of the Facebook nation free. That’s exactly what Facebook is offering companies with Pages: an online location for businesses, organizations, and individuals looking to market themselves to the Facebook community. Not just for businesses, Pages can be created by not-for-profit organizations, public figures, entertainers, photographers, and professionals of all types. Facebook Pages are fun and easy to set up, provide a powerful set of online tools for engaging with your customers (or, as they are called in Facebook, fans), and easy-to-understand metrics to measure your success. Every day, 3.5 million people become fans of a Facebook Page, according to eMetric’s February. 2009 Facebook Usage Metrics Worldwide study. That’s a lot of fans. Although popular consumer brands, such as Apple, Coke, and Skittles enjoy large installed fan bases, smaller brands, business-to-business (B2B) companies, consultants, and personalities can also build a loyal following by using Facebook Pages to enhance their businesses. Prior to online social networks, companies centered their Internet strategies on their Web site. Typically, advertisements and promotions focused on driving traffic to that site and success was measured by traffic metrics and conversions, such as how many forms were completed or how many items were purchased. Now, the market is throwing these companies a twist: With the growing popularity of social networks in general, and Facebook in particular, people’s online consumption habits are changing. For one, they’re spending a lot of time on Facebook. The average Facebook member visits the site an average of nearly 18 times per month, according to recent figures by Web traffic analytics provider comScore. That’s why marketers like you can no longer be content to stay on your.dot-com islands. In response to the challenge, many marketers are adapting their Internet strategies to include these major hubs of social activity by using a mix of advertising, promotional, and word-of-mouth campaigns to drive awareness, traffic, and engagement. And they’re interacting with their customers in new and unprecedented ways. Facebook has remade itself to satisfy marketers’ needs to take part in the conversation. They’ve managed to balance commercialism with its members’ strong desire for privacy while fostering an open, transparent environment where discussion flows freely between consumer and marketer. It’s within this new Facebook marketing paradigm that the role of traditional marketing is changing. It’s no longer a question of whether your business should have a dedicated marketing presence on Facebook. Now, the only question is do you really need a Web site anymore! Think again.