Ten Social Media Statistics that Will Improve Your Online Marketing
The amount of statistics available for our current obsession with social media is staggering and among all of that noise and confusion there must be some information that is genuinely useful to businesses that are marketing themselves online. These ten stand out because they show gaps in the online marketplace and suggest ways to use social media more effectively.
23% Of All Time Online is Spent on Social Networks or Blogs (Marketing Pilgrim)
Almost one quarter of all internet use is now some sort of social networking while the remaining 75% is made up of over thirty different activities. Social media is increasingly becoming a busy marketplace and equaling television as an advertising medium.
87% Of Social Media Marketers Also Use E-mail Marketing, 65% Also Focus on SEO and Only 10% Use Television (Social Media Examiner)
E-mail marketing is the most reliable method of converting fans on social media pages to customers on your corporate website while television is seen as having much less conversion power.
50% Of All Mobile Internet Use in the UK is on Facebook (The Guardian)
While Google location based searches is the most common use for mobile web connections, Facebook users are logging on wherever they are and whenever they can find the time. Making Facebook a part of your mobile friendly internet presence effectively targets this audience.
58% Of Fortune 500 Companies Have a Facebook Page (Viral Blog)
Over half of the largest corporations have seen the value of a social media presence but there are still huge gaps in the market on Facebook for many niches with almost half of businesses generally not bothering to make a Facebook page.
Only 17% Facebook Brand Pages Feature Products and Only 4% Have Enabled Checkout (All Twitter)
Even when businesses do set up a Facebook brand page they aren’t using it effectively to directly promote their products, much less sell them. Businesses that have shopping cart facilities on their Facebook page obviously have an edge on their competitors.
95% Of Brands Don’t Answer Comments on Their Wall Posts (All Facebook)
Part of this statistic can be explained by the difficulty that larger companies have in making the personal kind of connections that Facebook uses. The fact that smaller brands aren’t taking advantage of this opportunity to engage with a willing customer gives an obvious advantage to those that do.
34% Of Marketers Have Generated Leads and 20% Have Closed Deals Using Twitter (All Twitter)
While connecting customers with your brand is best done on Facebook the real time quality and mobile friendly nature of Twitter make it a natural tool for the negotiating stage of a sale.
Daily Pinterest Users Are Up By 145% Since the Beginning of 2012 (Social Times)
Pinterest is growing faster than Facebook or Twitter did at the same stage of development and the graphic base of the site makes it simple to use implying that it will continue to grow its membership at this pace for a while yet. Most businesses are underutilizing Pinterest now so it is an excellent opportunity to get established there ahead of your competition.
80% Of Pinterest’s User Base Are Women (Social Times)
For anyone with a business that focuses on the female demographic this statistic should have them opening a Pinterest account straight away. Pinterest users are also educated and cashed up.
Only 23% of Fortune 500 Companies Have a Blog While 35% of the Top 100 Fortune Companies and 37% of the INC Fastest Growing Companies Do (Viral Blog)
At first it looks as if this means that corporate blogs are in decline but closer inspection shows that over one third of the biggest and fasted growing companies are bloggers.