Anderson Analytics recently released a study about who is using the most popular Social Networking sites: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn. The data could be useful to marketers who target certain demographics.
Here are some of their more interesting observations, based on the study:
- More than 110 million people – 60% of the online population – use social netowrking sites.
- Twitter has passed LinkedIn in overall popularity.
- MySpace draws the youngest audience (15-24); Facebook is next (18-34); Twitter is third (15-34) while LinkedIn is the most mature (18-44).
- More than half of U.S. consumers who use social networks belong to more than one.
- Social networks are not just for kids – nearly 30 percent of the 45-to-54-year-olds polled said they have a Facebook profile.
- The average social networker logs in about four times a day, five days a week, and spends about an hour online.
- Social networkers’ feelings about brands online are more fairly positive. Some 52% of social networkers had friended or become a fan of at least one brand. When asked by Anderson if they would like more communications from brands, 45% were neutral, while 20% said yes and 35% said no.
- About 32 percent of social networkers are business users; 26 percent say they are fun-seekers; 22 percent consider themselves social media mavens; and 10 percent are casual followers.
The study tracked U.S. user behavior for 11 months. Anderson conducted the study online in June with 5,000 demographically representative respondents, and then went in-depth with 1,250 users, defined as anyone who had signed in to a social network account during the previous 30 days. The company also surveyed about 250 non-users.
After crunching the data, Anderson came up with observations about the typical social network user:
Twitterers: More interested than the others in many subjects but skew particularly high in all news categories, restaurants, sports, politics, personal finance and religion. They also especially like pop culture, with music, movies, TV and reading. Buying habits mirror that. They’re more likely to buy books, movies, shoes and cosmetics online than the other groups. Twitterers are also entrepreneurial. They are more likely than others to use the service to promote their blogs or businesses. More likely to be employed part-time (16% vs. 11% average), have an average income of $58,000, and average 28 followers and 32 other Twitterers they’re following. They’re not particularly attached to the site, though — 43% said they could live without Twitter.
MySpacers: While MySpace users skew younger. They also said they’d used the site much less in the past six months. The 67 million who are still there are into having a good time. They’re more likely to have joined MySpace for fun and more likely to be interested in entertaining friends, humor and comedy, and video games. They’re less into exercise than any other social group but seek out parenting information more than any other. Their average income is the lowest, at $44,000, and they have an average of 131 connections. They’re more likely to be black (9%) or Hispanic (7%) than users of the other social sites. They are also more likely to be single (60%) and students (23%).
Facebookers: There are 77 million Facebook users. Out of 45 categories, only national news, sports, exercise, travel, and home and garden skewed even slightly higher than average, and then by only one or two percentage points. They are more likely to be married (40%), white (80%) and retired (6%) than users of the other social networks. They have the second-highest average income ($61,000) and an average of 121 connections. Facebook users skew a bit older and are more likely to be late adopters of social media. But they are also extremely loyal to the site — 75% claim Facebook is their favorite site, and another 59% say they have increased their use of the site in the past six months.
LinkIners: All about business. More males than females (57% to 43%). Highest average income ($89,000). More likely to have joined the site for business or work, citing keeping in touch with business networks, job searching, business development and recruiting as top reasons. They like news, employment information, sports and politics. More likely to be into the gym, spas, yoga, golf and tennis.
Excluding video-game systems, they own more electronic gadgets than the other social networkers, including digital cameras, high-definition TVs, DVRs and Blu-ray players.
What does all this mean if you’re contemplating using social media for marketing? As is always the case, it starts with knowing your target audience and understanding their habits. Marketing to a younger audience via Twitter might be difficult; likewise, MySpace might now be a good choice for more mature consumers. Organizations really need to take a holistic approach to social media, one that reaches all potential consumers for the brand, and does so in a compelling and consistent way that builds awareness and equity for the brand. Not doing so will result in your brand failing to connect with your customer in a meaningful and viral way.
Popularity: 45% [?]
