All Posts Tagged With: "social media"

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.

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Now that the holidays are over and 2009 has officially begun, here are six things you can do this week to jump-start your public relations and marketing efforts for the year:

Review Collateral Materials. Take a hard look at the way you present yourself to the public, from your your letterhead, envelopes and business cards to sales brochures to your website. Is the message you are sending consistent with your strengths? Can the public get a sense of who you are just by seeing your marketing material? If not, it’s time to bring in a designer who can make sure your brand stays on message.

Sweat the Small Details. Review items such as your email signature, voice mail message, invoices, checks, shipping labels, and signs. Is everything still accurate? Do they have a consistent look and feel?

Network. Make a promise to attend at least one networking event per month. Check the local chamber of commerce for business card exchanges and mixers. Colleges and universities often hold seminars for small businesses. Pick one that sounds useful and attend as much for the contest as the networking opportunity.

Review Media Contacts. With the media in such flux these days, editors and reporters are on the move. Make sure you know who is making key decisions about coverage.

Social Media. Take advantage of the opportunities presented by Facebook, Linkedin, MySpace, Twitter and any number of social media. Make sure your profile and contact information are accurate.

Become an Expert. Pick a topic or two that you feel comfortable speaking about and let the media know you are willing to serve as a source in stories. Launch a blog or contribute posts or comments to a blog that covers your areas of expertise.

Some of these suggestions will take a few minutes; others will require more time to produce results. But as you prepare to make 2009 a year to remember, they will help you get off to a good start.

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Back in July, I asked the question “Are Newspapers Becoming Irrelevant in Public Relations Campaigns?” My theory was that with newspapers cutting editorial staff and fewer people subscribing, perhaps expending much effort trying to cultivate reporters and editors might be a waste of time.

Well, I’ve changed my mind. It’s not that newspapers have made some remarkable comeback; on the contrary, some of the bigger chains are on the verge of financial meltdown because they have or soon will default on debt payments. More cuts could be forthcoming.

Rather than a challenge, I’ve come to view the slow demise of newspapers as an opportunity. With editorial staffs cut to the bone, editors and reporters are more desperate than ever for good story ideas. I’ve always felt that one of the most important roles a PR person can fill is to make life easier for journalists. The more you can do to provide background and access to sources, the better chance you will have of seeing your story in print.

A well-written press release that follows AP style and isn’t too company oriented is still a powerful tool. The major dailies will continue to develop their own stories, and the small community weeklies will print every word, assuming you follow basic guidelines. But I’ve noticed that some regional dailies — with declining but still significant readership — have become much more receptive to running press releases with minor adjustments. Photos, too, are more acceptable than they once were.

Of course, this is not to say newspapers still carry the influence they did, say, 15 or 20 years ago. You still need to include the Internet, with its myriad of social media outlets, in your PR mix.

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I’ve been newspaper junkie since discovering the sports pages of the old Philadelphia Bulletin in 1964. From the first day I walked into a newsroom more than 30 years ago, I’ve been captivated by the rhythms of putting out the equivalent of a novel a day. The gritty smell of a newspaper fresh off the press still gives me a rush.

So it pains me to see what is happening to the newspaper industry. Three papers I’ve worked for have gone through painful cuts in the last few months with dozens of solid, hard-working journalists losing their jobs. It’s no different anywhere in the country. The villains are precipitous drop in advertising revenue and an unrelenting corporate thirst for unrealistic profit margins. With less quality content, fewer readers subscribe. That means fewer advertisers. Until the bean counters find a way to make a buck off the Internet, the vicious circle will be repeated.

As difficult it is for me to watch as a former journalist, what does the slow demise of the newspaper industry mean to me as a public relations professional? Are newspapers still a relevant part of PR efforts? Should I invest the time and energy it takes to forge relationships with editors and reporters who could be laid off any day? Do enough people read newspapers to make them a worthwhile target?

For now, the answer is a lukewarm yes. But the day is coming – sooner than anyone ever predicted – when printed newspapers will be just an afterthought in most public relations programs. In some cases, that day has already arrived. If your target audience is under 30, forget about newspapers.

So what will take newspapers’ place?

A recent study by the Public Relations Society of America says social media and blogs are becoming a medium for companies to communicate externally – that is, through its public relations. According to the study, “two-thirds of public relations practitioners believe blogs and social media have enhanced what happens in public relations and that social media and traditional mainstream media complement each other.” Furthermore, “61 percent believe the emergence of blogs and social media have changed the way their organizations (or client organizations) communicate.”

While nothing can replace the thrill of a front page story — and I’ll date myself here — “above the fold,” the fact is social media and blogs are the future of public relations.

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