In the past, social network demographics were mostly made up of 18-25 year olds, but those days are quickly changing. While the 18-25 demographic still has the highest rate of users, others are quickly growing. Check out these recent statistics provided be eMarketer.
What does this mean for marketers? I think many businesses have put social media marketing on the side burner because they did not believe their target demographic was active on the sites. It turns out that these businesses are most likely wrong. Although these statistics show changes over the past 30 days, the older age demographics have been turning to Facebook for the past several months.
Aside from age, businesses also avoid social media marketing because it is difficult to monetize its effectiveness. It is important to look outside the box with social media marketing. Companies are often set on seeing hard conversions because they can see the money coming in immediately, but soft conversions are key in the social networks. Pay attention to activity, followers, re-tweets, etc. Like never before advertisers can communicate with their audience on an extremely personal level. And while they may not turn into immediate sales, your company is building brand awareness, trust, loyalty and you will receive constant feedback from your customers.
If your company is staying away from social networks because of either of these reasons, it is time to reconsider. With an appropriate social media marketing strategy, this type of inbound marketing can pay off tremendously down the road. Start building your strategy today.
