Social Facts 2014

Social Facts – 2014

I started out doing some research on Pinterest (yes that Pinterest again), but instead found this blog post by Jeff Bullas.

Here are the basic facts as outlined by Jeff titled “22 Social Media Facts and Statistics You Should Know in 2014”. The most significant from my view is the continued growth as well as the changing and encompassing demographics.

Here are the highlights from the article:

“Social media is a blur of tweets, shares and content. No longer is it just used by the young and the restless. It is global and embedded in every corner of the web.

So some questions…Which age groups are using social media? What countries are big Facebook users and what percentage are using mobile to access social media?

This is the who and the where of social media users:

1. 72% of all internet users are now active on social media
2. 18-29 year olds have 89% usage
3. The 30-49 bracket sits at 72%
4. 60 percent of 50 to 60 year olds are active on social media
5. In the 65 plus bracket, 43% are using social media
6. Time spent on Facebook per hour spent online by country. Here are the top three: USA citizens get the top gong at 16% followed by the Aussies at 14 minutes and the Brits at 13 minutes.
7. 71% of users access social media from a mobile device

The paradigm of social media only being used by the younger generation should be put to rest now.”

There is an outstanding infographic as provided by Search Engine Journal that will give you the marketer enough information to ensure that your current marketing efforts are directed appropriately. The infographics is titled “The Growth of Social Media – The Social Media Obsession”. If you think this is dying off, you might consider the time spend on social media networks (PER HOUR).

1)     United States 16 minutes per hour

2)     Australia 14 minutes per hour

3)     United Kingdom 13 minutes per hour

As well, one must note that “Older Users” and the amazing growth of mobile & social usage, 71% of users use mobile (smartphone & tablets) to access social media. The point here is that just in time marketing is more and more relevant. Location based marketing should be part of your marketing budget and testing is recommended. When 23% of Facebook users login FIVE times a day we recommend you ensure that you are active in this ever-changing space.

Michael Bickerton, Raven5 Ltd, Oakville, Ontario March 2014