Social Media Marketing Up. Gen Y Usage Down. And UK & Spain Highest Social Networking Penetration.
Some interesting research to get your day started:
- 63% of companies plan to increase their social media marketing budgets this year, with social network advertising alone estimated to rise over 17% this year to $2.35 billion! However 39% of companies find it somewhat difficult and 20% find it very difficult to measure social media. It’s really time that marketers start educating themselves not only on what social media is and why it’s important, but also examing the various ways in which they can measure, assess and evaluate their campaigns in relation to their business goals.
- Baby Boomers (individuals born between 1946 and 1964) are the fastest growing demographic of social networking sites whereas interest by Generation Y (those born in 1978 and 1995) users in social networking sites has plateaued. While I’m a strong believer in social media being used across age groups when carefully researched and thought-through, it’s important to note that the Internet and more specifically social media isn’t just about youth. More importantly though is to use the right social media channels for the right audience.
- 74.6% of European internet users aged 15+ visited a social networking site in December 2008, with the UK and Spain having the highest social-networking penetration - good to know since I’m in London and Barcelona in two weeks! In France, Facebook is the most popular social networking site in France and in Germany YouTube tops the charts as the most popular video site.
Non social media specific but interesting nonetheless; searches on search engines for keywords and phrases related to the current econonomic climate have gone up drastically. “Unemployment benefits” and “Unemployment” are two examples, both up by more than 200% in 2008. Another way proving that (a) people are stressed and that (b) search engine activity reflects what’s happening offline.
Have a great day!
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Comments
Thanks for your comment Earrings! Your point highlights something we see clients too learning each day - the Internet can and does mimic offline trends and activities, be it of societal or corporate relation. In terms of social networking, I’m currently conducting research into human resources use of these platforms and there’s definately a trend of engaging with peers or networks on a career level, over and above using it as a way of keeping busy.
A lot of people are out of job these days so in order to keep themselves busy they’ve been using social networks.