The Growth of Social Media
Social media is here to stay. It’s no longer the neglected step child that it used to be. Businesses are now jumping on social media platforms and utilizing the amazing power of these platforms to increase their brand exposure, connect with past, current, and future customers, open a dialogue with the world and putting a face on an otherwise faceless entity. (Editor’s note: Seriously. Did you ever think you’d be able to get in touch with your cable company or airline to discuss a growing service issue without having to wait through endless hours of Muzak and “Let me put you on hold for a second” dialogue?) And as social media continues to grow and confirm its power grip on the world, are you aware of exactly who this growing audience is?
Our friends at Search Engine Journal published an article back in 2011 about the growth of social media. That was 2011. Can much have changed in just 3 years or so? The answer is, “Of course it can, silly. It changes and grows everyday. It’s not even the same today as it was this time last week.” That said, SEJ took a new look at the growth of social media in the past few years. What they found was that social media, not surprisingly, has grown from a novelty to a new way of life for consumers. Proof? There are over 1 BILLION users on each Facebook and Google + with no sign of stopping. 1 Billion. Let that sink in…
Going beyond just the staggering numbers associated with social media, SEJ dug deeper to figure out how people are using social media. For instance, have you checked the mobile stats lately in regards to social media? Studies are finding that 71% of those that have a mobile device use it to access social media. If you’re a business and people are finding you on their smartphones but your site isn’t optimized for mobile, you might be missing out on new fans and sales. SEO Inc offers mobile optimization services in case you find yourself in this predicament.
Hopefully, too, by now you realize that it’s not just the younger demographics taking to social media. Sure, they are still there, but as it continues to grow, the fastest growing area of social media users is the 45-65 year olds. On Twitter alone, this demographic increased over 79% in two years with Google+ up 56% and Facebook increasing 46%. Is your business ready for this new audience on social media?
Now let’s get down to some numbers:
- Facebook is still king ruling with 1.15 billion active monthly users.
- Google+, though it has 1 billion registered users (tied to Gmail accounts), only 359 million of those are active every month.
- Twitter is third with 215 million active users every month.
While Twitter was behind Facebook and Google+ in monthly users, it lead in growth, increasing by 44% from June 2012 to March 2013. Google+ increased by 33% and Facebook 23%.
Knowing who you are reaching on your social media platforms helps your business understand how to better increase interactions and gain new customers.
This might be a great deal to take in. But no worries. the good people at Search Engine Journal put together a pretty terrific infographic explaining these numbers.
Enjoy.
Source: Search Engine Journal
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