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Teens Starting To Show Facebook Fatigue
Online gaming site Roiworld surveyed 600 teens ages 13 to 17 in late April and found that teens spend two hours per day online on average, 80% of which is spent using a social network. These same teens are, however, showing signs of “Facebook Fatigue.” Nearly one in five (19%) who have an account no longer visit Facebook or are using it less.
Of the group that are saying goodbye to Facebook, 45% have lost interest, 16% are leaving because their parents are there, 14% say there are “too many adults/older people” and 13% are concerned about the privacy of their personal information.
While interest in Facebook may be waning, it’s still the most popular social network among teens — 78% have created a profile and 69% still use it. YouTube ranks second; 64% of teens claim to have a YouTube profile and continue to use the site. MySpace comes in a distant third (41%) and Twitter takes the fourth spot (20%).
What’s interesting to me is that 30% of those that are leaving report that it’s because of their parents or “adults/older people,” which tells me that the while the social value to teenagers may be starting to wane, the networking and business potential for companies with their parents and other consumers in their 30s, 40s, 50s or 60s keeps getting better all the time!
To read the full article at Mashable and see the video: more…
Top Myths About Social Media Marketing
Myth #2: I Can’t Measure the Impact / ROI of Social Media on My Business
The social media return on investment debate has been picked apart by so many intelligent and creative marketers, you would think it wouldn’t make this list. But it continues to rank high on the list of objections about social media and I completely understand why.
Since the interaction mechanisms are different with social media than traditional marketing, judging purchase intent and likely customers from social media behavior is a completely new skill for many marketing professionals.
But there are methods to measure the impact of your social media campaigns:
Include Your Phone Number – If your business has more of a consultative sales process, starting conversations on your social networks or blog is a great way to generate more leads. And then be sure to include your phone number in every update or post that you make. You can use a separate Google Voice number that allows you to track the number of inbound calls you receive from your social media activities.
Promote offline events – Facebook has a robust functions for creating events and promoting them. You can post pictures and event location information, while also inviting your entire fan base to participate. You can also send reminders as the event draws nearer.
Offer Coupons Exclusive to Social Media Channels – Make specific offers through each social media channel you use, like 15% off a purchase if you print a coupon from Facebook, or a buy one, get one free if you use a code that was sent out via Twitter. Keep a spreadsheet of the different offers and what the response rates have been, to allow you to optimize your marketing campaigns for each channel.
Connect Your Social Media and Email Campaigns – Many businesses have established email lists they use to stay in touch with customers. Drive visitors on your social media accounts to sign up for your email list to receive more information about your business. Getting social media visitors on your email list can connect you with people you might not otherwise reach with social media. Bolstering your email list gives you an additional way to inform people about offline events and specials, in case they don’t see a specific offer you make on a social media channel.
The important thing to note is that you CAN tie online behavior to purchase decisions or offline actions, so you can track the impact social media is having on your bottom line. Also, pay close attention also to the referrals from social media sites on your web pages and these people’s behavior compared to users who get to your site through other means.
Top Myths About Social Media Marketing
There are a number of myths that are common among many businesses that are keeping them from joining everyone else in the social media marketing world. We would like to address each of these myths and expose them for the misconceptions that they are.
Myth #1: My Customers Aren’t on Social Media
Wow, if we had had a dollar for every time we’ve heard this one….This myth keeps more companies and business owners from interacting with their potential customers through social media than any other myth.
The nice thing is that all you need is a little bit of data to convince people that their target customers are indeed on social networks.
For instance, 80% of female Internet users have become fans of a product or brand on a social network site and 72% report that they learned about a new product through social media. Take a look at the graph below – more than half of Facebook and Twitter users are over 35, not to mention LinkedIn.
Social networking is a pervasive cultural phenomenon, and there is no demographic that isn’t represented substantially on one or more social networking sites.