Per Facebook’s own Social Ad Platform, they now have 71.9 million US users as of 7/4/09. That is a 70.8% increase since 1/4/09. The most significant increases come from from the 55+ crowd. Losers are at the younger end with 16.5% less high school users, and 21.7% less college users. What does all this mean? We constantly hear about the amazing stats on Facebook and how great an opportunity they are for entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 businesses.
The secret is participation and value. Through Facebook profiles, fan pages and groups, there is an incredible amount of opportunity to meet new prospects, establish relationships and attract new customers. The facts remains, there is more opportunity than any other social network. And as the numbers bear out below, the upside potential is huge is an any age category. If that’s not enough, in April of this year, users spent 13.9 billion minutes using Facebook. The level of engagement is is yet another side of this opportunity. The last reason to jump and start using Facebook and other social networks is due to the influence potential. According to Jupiter Research, online social network users were three times more likely to trust their peer’s opinions over advertising when making purchase decisions.
Facebook Demographics as of July 4th, 2009
The key question on using social media from a business perspective was addressed by Fast Company in their article about THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA – “What do I need to do engage my company, my products, and myself in social media?” The answer is easy: Participate.
If you regularly participate in a way that furthers the conversation, adds value and gives generously from your expertise, you will start to see great returns. To understand the results first hand, please view the video “Three Social Media In Action Stories” and hear directly from an entrepreneur that took this advise to heart. He is the third segment, just over a minute into the video.
The very first strategy is to find an interest network that aligns with your company’s products or services. And Facebook has over 35 million active user groups. With groups from Apple’s iPhone to Zebras, there are certainly ways to get invoved and participate within a related interest group. The opportunity is waiting! To start, get your social media foundation set with a website that conveys a strong brand promise to your prospects. And then keep your online profiles and social networks current so that all that participation can be rewarded with the right connections.
