With all of the recent
buzz over Social Media, many people are left to wonder if this is just “another
passing fad.” I seem to remember similar conversations just a short 15
years ago about that silly email thing. (“What the heck is a
Yahoo?”) I recently saw a quick little YouTube video regarding Social
Media and thought that I would share some of the staggering statistics it
contained. I also thought I would throw in some running commentary for
you as well (in parentheses).
Social Media: Is it a fad? Or the biggest shift since the
industrial revolution?
BY 2010, Generation Y’ers
will outnumber baby boomers and 96% of them have joined a social network.
(Generation Y is also
known as Generation “Next.” They are the offspring of the Baby Boomer generation
and, according to the Wikipedia definition; “Characteristics of the generation
vary by region, depending on social and economic conditions. However, it is
generally marked by an increased use and familiarity with communications,
media, and digital technologies.” If all of these people--OK almost
all--are in some sort of a social network and they eventually, if not today,
will be your customers, can you afford to NOT be present and involved in those
same networks?)
Social Media has overtaken
PORN as the #1 activity on the web.
(I didn’t realize THAT was the number one activity…people need to get to work.)
1 in 8 couples married in
the US last year met through online social media.
(This brings an entire new meaning to online shopping. I wonder if Al
Gore had this in mind when he “invented” the internet.)
Years to reach 50 million
users:
Radio--38
TV—13
Internet—4
Ipod---3
Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months!
Ipod app downloads hit 1 BILLION in nine months!
(Now, if the above statistic didn’t leave you a little slack-jawed, I don’t
know if anything could. The numbers are mind boggling.)
If Facebook were a
country, it would be the world’s 4th largest behind only China,
India, and the US. China has a similar service called Q-Zone that has 300
million users.
(And it all started with a college kid building a communication portal for
students at Harvard.)
A 2009 US Dept of
Education survey found that, on average, online students outperformed those
receiving a face-to-face education and that 1 in 6 higher education students
are enrolled in an online curriculum.
(Do you think that our educational institutions are looking out into the future
to determine what theirs are?)
80% of companies are using
Linked In as their primary tool to find employees.
(And once you’ve connected on LinkedIn, you had better have a squeaky clean
image on your Facebook and MySpace pages because that’s where the prospective
employer is looking next. There is no place to hide online. The
good news though? You can also create a brand, an image, and a following
that YOU define.)
The fastest growing
demographic on Facebook is 55-65 year old females.
(Mom and Grandma are reaching out in ways they’ve never done before.)
80% of Twitter usage is on
mobile devices. People update anywhere at any time. Imagine what
that means for bad customer experiences?
(Although I don’t 100%
understand the random thoughts that many seem to post, I DO understand the
power of positive AND negative press. When the power to "throw you
or your company under the bus” is in the customer’s hands—literally—and that
power can be asserted instantly, we all need to pay a lot more attention to the
experiences that we are creating!)
Generation Y and Z
consider email “passé”.
(Think about that! We all still use email daily to communicate both on
our computers and our handheld devices but those who will be our customers
soon, consider email “passe?” So, tomorrow’s buyers have grown up—according to
Wikipedia-- highly connected, many having lifelong use of communications and
media technologies such as the World Wide Web, instant messaging, text
messaging, MP3 players, cell phones, and YouTube, earning them the nickname
“digital natives.” What does this mean? We need to get tuned in and
dialed into the way that our customers are--or will be--communicating. Whether
you agree with it or like it is totally irrelevant!)
YouTube is the 2nd
largest search engine in the world with more than 100,000,000 videos.
(I guess it’s important
to get some video online about you and your offerings. If the prospective
customer might be looking there, you had better be there.)
Wikipedia has over 13
million articles and is considered more accurate than Encyclopedia
Britannica—and 78% of those articles are in languages other than English.
(I guess that the WORLD now has the right to decide what the definitions of
things are. I find it amazing that the “open” technology that is the World Wide
Web has placed the power directly in all of our hands. This is not simply
to define and discuss where we have been but also where we are going and
how! WE are now the authorities on all of this!)
There are over 200,000,000
blogs and 54% of bloggers Tweet or post content daily.
(Many of you may be thinking that too many people have too much time on their
hands. I am wondering if this is one of the NEW ways that people will
communicate and use their time. In fact, in order to do all of this daily,
imagine how many people have had to establish this habit—a habit which will most
likely be very common in our children. I personally find it an
interesting new challenge that demands my focus and attention.)
Word of mouth is now WORLD of mouth!
25% of search results for
the world’s Top 20 Brands are links to user-generated content.
34% of bloggers post opinions about products and brands.
What are they saying about your brand?
(Although it appears
that we need to “get-in” the Social Media environment, it is important that we
define a plan and LISTEN to what is being said about us, our products,
services, competitors, and the marketplace. “What do you want your
customers saying about you?”)
78% of consumers trust
online peer recommendations vs. 14% trust advertisements.
(Again, when you say it—MARKETING—it is bragging and somewhat suspect as you
have an agenda; to sell something. But when they say it—PEER
RECOMMENDATIONS THROUGH CUSTOMER REVIEWS---it’s fact!)
Hulu (online TV streaming)
had 63 million total streams in April 2008 and has 373 million in April
2009. 70% of 18-34 year olds have watched TV on the web—only 33% have
ever watched a show on Tivo.
(And I thought TIVO was the coolest thing in the world of Television!)
25% of Americans in the
past month have watched a short video on their phone.
(Again, is there any YouTube strategy in your future? Imagine your
product demo or your customer testimonials in video format delivered into your
customer’s hands.)
35% of book sales for
Amazon are for the Kindle.
(That’s more than one out of every three book purchased through Amazon!
WOW! Think for a moment of what an IMPACT that statistic has on the way
that Amazon does business. Think harder, for a moment of how that
statistic could impact you and your business.)
24 of 25 of the nation’s
largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation.
(And yet, we are in a day and age where the media—all facets of it—is
constantly surrounding us, swaying our opinions, yelling and screaming about
what we need to do and why. Everything is transparent. Nothing is
sacred.)
We no longer search for
the news, the news finds us.
In the future, we will no longer search for products and services;
they will find us via social media.
(How will you and your
company embrace this fact? How visible can you be? It seems that
the possibilities, although somewhat daunting, are endless. And the scary
part? If you do it wrong, it could be immediate suicide!)
Social Media isn’t a
fad….it’s a fundamental shift in the way that we communicate!
