Social Bee Marketing/August 2012Some shocking statistics were released by Edison Research. These stats come from the best & brightest in the business (Jason Falls, Jay Baer, Tom Webster, Mark Schaefer). Some of top “wow” statistics (based on Baer analysis):

10 Wow Social Media Statistics:

1. 47% = Facebook has greatest impact on purchase behavior

Last year, 68% of Americans using social networks said that none of those networks had an influence on their buying decisions. This year, only 36% said that there was no influence. Now, 47% say Facebook has the greatest impact on purchase behavior (up from 24% in 2011). Incidentally, Twitter dramatically underperforms in this category at 5%. If you want to drive purchase behavior -> Facebook is the place to start. Now, can Facebook figure out how to monetize this?

2. Twitter users are 33% more likely to be Democrats

40% of Twitter users are Democrats vs. 30% of the U.S. population overall.

3. Users that follow brands on social media increases 106%

From 2010 to 2012 the percentage of Americans following any brand on a social network has increased from 16% to 33%. This is a sharp increase, but also means that 2/3 of Americans using social networks have never followed a brand. So, there is still a tremendous amount of room for growth here.

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4. Fastest growing segment in social media = 45-54 year-olds

It’s not just for kids any more. The biggest growth of any age cohort from 2011 to 2012 was 45-54 year-olds, in fact 55% of Americans 45-54 now have a profile on a social networking site. The only group that is below average, in terms of expected participation, on social networks, are 55+ Americans, and even 3 out of 10 of them are in the social networking game.

5. People don’t “Check-in” | Sorry Foursquare

74% of Americans are unfamiliar with the concept of checking in to a location via mobile device, and only 3% have ever checked in. This is a drop-off from 2011 where 4% of those surveyed had checked. Foursquare would be best served trying to be the solution that replaces all of our loyalty cards (CVS, Eddie Bauer, Kroger) at the point of purchase rather than continue with a lackluster business model.

6. 54% of Facebookers access via mobile

54% of Facebook members have used the social network via a phone, and 33% use a phone as their primary way to access Facebook. This despite the fact that the Facebook mobile experience and mobile apps are mediocre, at best. Part of Facebook IPO woes have been the result of them, not properly monetizing, the mobile market.

7. Facebook is the most addicting social network

23% of Facebook’s users check their account 5 or more times DAILY. The mean number of daily look-ins by Facebook users is 4.

8. Twitter is grabbing more new customers

53% of Twitter users have been a member for less than a year, compared to just 19% for Facebook. This fresher base could prove an advantage to Twitter moving forward.

9. 76% of Twitter users now post status updates

This is one of the biggest behavioral changes of the past two years. In 2010, the Social Habit research found that just 47% of Twitter users actually sent tweets, with more than half the user base in listen-only mode. The overwhelming majority of new Twitter users are active tweeters, driving the overall average to 76%.

10. 22% use social networking sites several times per day

It really is a “Social Habit.” In the past year, 12 million more Americans are using social networking many times daily.
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Which stat was your favorite?  We found #4 fascinating, What do you think?