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Regulars
More than ever, it’s
all about linking up
for greater success
I went recently to an enlightening presentation
hosted by leading research specialists
Nielsen.
Social networking has been the global consumer
phenomenon of 2008.
Two thirds of the world’s internet population
visit a social network or blogging site and the sector
now accounts for almost 10 per cent of all internet
time.
During the past year, Facebook accounted for
the largest increase, with user growth of 125 per
cent.
Because time spent on social networks is growing
at a dramatically faster rate than the internet
average, social networks are gaining a larger share
of all internet time.
In terms of sheer audience numbers, for example,
the greatest growth for Facebook has come
from people aged 35 to 49 (+24.1m). Furthermore,
Facebook has added almost twice as many
50 to 64-year-old visitors (+13.6m) than it has
added under-18 visitors.
Why I find some of these results fascinating is
how people relate to relevant communities. There
are now specific groups in the promotional sector
that relate to this.
Discussion groups give distributors and suppliers
and opportunity to engage and have their say
and also become friends. Linkedin has more relevance
to the business community.
Facebook has a global unique audience of 108
million against MySpace at 81m and Linkedin at
15m.
Social networks lend themselves greatly to generating
brand affinity for advertisers though these
fan sites, which in, essence act as advertising.
For example, Facebook’s “Addicted to Starbucks”
group has almost 124,000 members over 670
discussion topics and almost 10,000 wall posts.
A Changing World
Gordon Glenister
What social networking provides, over many other
forms of advertising, is authenticity and trust.
Facebook has a phenomenal retention rate of
84 per cent and this is judged on which members
come back to the site the following month.
More and more content is also being delivered
by mobile, with this set to increase rapidly over the
coming years.
So my advice to you is, get networking!
Sites to consider and join:
www.facebook.com: bpma group and
Gordon Glenister
www.linkedin.com: bpma group and Gordon
Glenister
www.twitter.com: bpma group
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