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Friday, April 13th, 2012
Social media usage continues to rise, without any sign of reaching a saturation point in the near future, as Christian Arno points out in an article published on Search Engine Watch.
Arno pulls together statistics from a number of different sources to paint a picture of social media usage in 2012 – and generally speaking, it’s good news for those engaged in social media marketing. Some of the key statistics that he mentions are:
- Last month, EMarketer predicted that the number of people using social networks would increase by 19.2 per cent compared to last year – bringing the total number of users up to 1.43 billion
- A Pew Internet survey conducted last year discovered that 65 per cent of internet users in the US used social networking sites. In addition, 61 per cent of adults under the age of 30 used these sites at least once per day. The figure for daily usage amongst internet users between 50 and 64 was 32 per cent
- Another survey from late last year found that 96 per cent of companies surveyed would be spending more money on social media marketing
The article also looks at the continuing dominance of Facebook in 2012, pointing out that:
- The site has not faltered as the dominant social network since overtaking MySpace in 2008
- It boasts more than 845 million active users
- There are only six countries in the world in which Facebook is not the dominant social network – China (where TencentQZone is top of the pack), Russia (where Vkontakte and Odnoklassniki fight for the crown), as well as Japan, Vietnam, South Korea and Poland
- Facebook has recently tripled in audience size in the emerging Brazilian market, overtaking Orkut as the leading social media site in December
It looks like Facebook will rule the roost for some time. However, despite easily beating Twitter in terms of total users, Facebook is behind in terms of growth in the US. Twitter’s growth in the US will be four times greater than Facebook’s over the next two years, according to predictions made by The Realtime Report.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.
Tags: Christian Arno, facebook, myspace, Search Engine Watch, twitter
Posted in Social Media Marketing
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Tuesday, March 27th, 2012
The first big social network in the UK, Friends Reunited, is set to relaunch with a new focus on online nostalgia.
The website was one of the pioneers of social media: offering old school friends a place to meet up, reminisce and contact lost loves.
At its height, Friends Reunited had 20 million users – small potatoes when compared to Facebook’s 800m-strong base – but still a huge figure considering Friends Reunited opened in 2000 and peaked almost a decade ago.
In 2005, ITV bought out the site for £175m, but by then, MySpace had already become the network of choice. Just two years later, MySpace was abandoned in favour of Facebook. Friends Reunited saw its userbase fall and it became all-but-forgotten.
ITV cut its losses and shifted the site for £25.6m in 2009, selling to publisher Brightsolid, but losing £150m on its original investment.
Brightsolid has since been looking at ways to rejuvenate the site: and has settled on a nostalgia focus.
It believes providing an open network for reminiscing, sharing memories and asking questions to fill the gaps in long-forgotten will be unique enough to attract users back. The homepage offers users the chance to log-in with their Facebook account, so it’s clear Brightsolid hasn’t set its sights on dislodging the current king of social networks.
The refocus has been based loosely on the success of a brand new social site, Pinterest.
In an interview with BBC News, Brightsolid chief executive Chris van der Kuyl said: “We wouldn’t do this if we thought it was just another also-ran. It’s about every blast from your past – every kind of great memory you have.”
Rather than relying solely on users’ recollections, Friends Reunited has enlisted professional archivists, including the British Library and the Press Association, to provide historical information, newspaper clippings, and other documents, which users can then attach to their “memory box”. The boxes can then be shared with other Friends Reunited users, or posted to Facebook via a special app.
Friends Reunited will stay free at first, but clearly, Brightsolid will investigate potential revenue streams, such as nostalgic brand pages. How effective the site could be for social media marketing remains to be seen.
It’s likely older users will make up most of Friends Reunited’s userbase: it’s unlikely to draw younger users away from Pinterest or Tumblr or Facebook – but, with a focus on simplicity, and memories from the past, it may be that less web-savvy, older Internet users help make this relaunch worthwhile for Brightsolid.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in SEO, Pay Per Click Services, Multilingual Search Marketing and Website Conversion Enhancement services.
Tags: brightsolid, facebook, friends reunited, myspace, network, nostalgia, Pinterest, Social Media
Posted in Social Media Marketing
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Thursday, March 1st, 2012
For 5 years, Twitter has somehow escaped the notice of the younger generation, with many quite happy to reside on Bebo, MySpace, and then Facebook. However, one has to wonder whether the decline of the latter of these three social networks may begin when the teens grow bored, and move on to pastures new, as they did with MySpace (now almost exclusively the haunt of bands) and Bebo (is it still the place to be for anyone?). If so, then the tipping point for Facebook may have been reached as there seems to be a growing realisation amongst the yoof that Twitter offers a cheap and simple way to communicate. Not only that, but it gives these youngsters a chance to be noticed and a remarkably quick way to share information.
A classic quote from this evening’s investigations as to why the younger generation are leaping aboard the Twitter ship was, “Be warned, Justin Bieber and Glee will be trending before you know it.” Whilst this may strike fear into the hearts of many, especially those who have enjoyed the relative obscurity of Twitter to date, for youngsters, the ability to use Twitter to be heard through something as simple as power in numbers causing global trends, (as was the case with the Arab Spring etc), may prove a bigger pull than even the simplicity. And for marketers targeting the pockets of an increasingly canny set of customers, ignoring Twitter for much longer may carry a costly penalty.
IF, and it is a big IF, the trend towards Twitter amongst teens continues at its seemingly increasing pace, it is likely that shortly the de facto place for youngsters will not be on Facebook, but in 140 character texts and twitpics. At that point, it is likely that Facebook will lose its appeal for many. Just as Pinterest appears to seemingly cater mainly for women of a certain age (but that demographic is rapidly skewing as Pinterest takes advantage of being the de rigueur site for now), Facebook may end up a wasteland without the youngsters to keep us all entertained. After all, how many people over 30 are on Facebook simply because those younger than them made it the site du jour?
Marketers and brands who have omitted to work a Twitter thread into their strategy may find themselves playing a fast catch up, and will also need to understand the fickle nature of this generation. “Everything is only a click away” means that unfollowing a particular brand or company really is incredibly simple, far more so than Unlike on Facebook where so few companies have actually mastered social engagement that your Feed is not constantly cluttered with marketing messages. If a brand ceases to be the flavour of the month, be prepared for your number of followers to decrease rapidly as peer pressure and possibly even a certain type of bullying could take place if your Tweetstream is seen to be full of RTs of the wrong company.
2012 may well be the Year of the Younger Tweet, and we are currently carrying out a survey of 13-18 year olds to determine what is the trigger for the mass move, aside from two which we have heard all too often recently, “Facebook is boring” and “All the good stuff happens first on Twitter”. Some of us oldies knew that a while ago, but it seems the realisation has dawned amongst our teenagers and the sooner internet marketers realise that the downward shift is occurring in Facebook, the sooner it may become obvious that the next budget and strategy meeting of the Marcomms team should probably include a long, hard look at Twitter. After all, Gen Y may not be your customers today, but is is highly likely that they will be in 5-10 years time. Alienate them now at your peril……
Tags: bebo, customers, facebook, gen y, marketing, myspace, Social network, teens, tweets, twitter, younger generation
Posted in Blog, Social Media, Stats & Trends, Uncategorised
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Tuesday, February 14th, 2012
Social networking site MySpace is thought to have gained an extra million users since it was sold by News International last year, according to an article published by New Media Age.
Formerly the most popular social media site, MySpace has been overtaken in recent years by the likes of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn – all of which are popular amongst social media marketing professionals.
However, since its acquisition by Specific Media and Justin Timberlake for $35 million, performance is thought to have improved – though the site continues to lose traffic.
Reports have suggested that the rise in users is down to MySpace’s decision to integrate with Facebook and Twitter. A new music player, launched in December, is also thought to have provided a boost.
Under the ownership of Specific Media and Timberlake, MySpace is expected to direct its focus towards music and entertainment – with a recording studio already in place at its London office.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.
Tags: facebook, Justin Timberlake, LinkedIn, myspace, New Media Age, News International, Social Media, Specific Media, twitter
Posted in Social Media Marketing
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Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
Traditionally social media rivals, Facebook, Myspace and Twitter have grouped together to create a new tool, aimed at drawing users’ attention to the “biased” results provided as part of Google’s Search Plus Your World, according to an article published by the Telegraph.
Entitled “Don’t be evil” (a nod to one of the search engine giant’s early mottos), the browser add-on is currently only compatible with Firefox.
The tool has been created to prevent Google searches returning content that’s been ‘ranked up’ by Google from its own social network, Google+.
A recent change has seen Google searches return Google+ content at the top of search results – a change previously announced as part of Search Plus Your World – at the expense of results from Twitter and Facebook.
Google has explained how the new update – which could affect SEO – worked.
A post published by Google read: “Starting today, if you search for a topic like (music) or (baseball), you might see prominent people who frequently discuss this topic on Google+ appearing on the right-hand side of the results page.”
The search engine giant has yet to respond to the launch of ‘Don’t be evil’ – which is currently only available in America. However, Google did previously say it had tried to strike a deal with both Twitter and Facebook to include their results in a prominent position – but wrangles over cost and privacy scuppered such a move.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a provider of SEO Services & Pay Per Click strategies.
Tags: 'Don't be evil', facebook, Firefox, Google, myspace, ranking, Search engine results page, Search plus Your World, SEO, Social Media, twitter
Posted in Search Engine Optimisation
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Thursday, December 15th, 2011
New research has revealed that MySpace might not be the best place to go to host a social media marketing campaign.
The research, carried out by Experian Hitwise, and referenced in an article published by Marketing Magazine, has shown that MySpace has fallen out of the top ten most visited social media sites in the UK.
A former giant in social networking, MySpace has been replaced in the top ten by Stumble Upon; other sites in the top ten retained their previous positions, however Twitter, Gumtree and LinkedIn saw their share of the market drop when compared to October’s results.
Meanwhile, Facebook’s popularity continues to grow – with it now accounting for a huge 53 per cent of visits to social media sites in the UK.
Market research analyst for Experian Hitwise, James Murray commented on the results.
He said: “MySpace traffic has been on the decline for at least three years now but this is the first time the social network has fallen out of the top ten.
“As the social media landscape continues to evolve, brands need to be aware of the fast moving trends and which social sites people are visiting.”
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.
Tags: Experian hitwise, facebook, Gumtree, LinkedIn, myspace, Stumble Upon, twitter, youtube
Posted in Social Media Marketing
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Wednesday, August 24th, 2011
Thought Facebook Places might be a serious contender to Foursquare and Gowalla for location marketing? Think again.
Whilst it ought to have stood a chance in the geolocation marketing stakes, Facebook rolled out Places as an afterthought, a feature with no thinking behind it. And now it has gone. In the hullabaloo of yet more privacy changes on Facebook to affect all users, Places has been consigned to the pile of tried and failed apps.
It would be interesting to look at why certain features ‘fit’ in a social network, and why users prefer other features to remain in a dedicated space. For instance, it is unlikely that everyone will start making voice calls within Facebook rather than using already established solutions such as mobile, Skype or the good old landline. Even Ebay has not really resolved that one although it was a logical fit to allow buyers and sellers to communicate via Skype.
Those who use geolocation, for whatever reason, have a preferred tool for the job. Facebook was not it. And never could be without becoming increasingly good at delivering what the dedicated solutions had found to be the big wins – badges, tips, photos, event location, crowdsourced and unique awards, discounts etc.
It will be interesting to note during 2012 how far down the social graph Facebook sinks. Already, it is feeling like it has lost its edge. And for that, you should probably blame Google+. Not that Google+ is going to fill in the space, more the space has moved.
Facebook has suddenly taken on a MySpace tumbleweed type feel, and once sites such as this lose the interest of users, there is rarely a way back up.
Which geolocation tool do you use, and why? Is it to inform friends of your whereabouts? To track down deals? To meet people you share common interests with, or FOAF? (Remember that?!)
Or are you as a marketer far less interested in any time of check ins than you were 12 months ago? In which case, what is piquing your interest right now? Tell us more……
Tags: awards, badges, facebook, foaf, foursquare, geolocation, geolocation marketing, gowalla, local search, location, marketing, myspace, places
Posted in Blog, SEM Industry, Social Media, Stats & Trends
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Friday, June 20th, 2008
A new report from Jupiter Research, entitled ‘Branded Social Networking Pages: Best Practices for Successfully Engaging Users’ shows that over half of the branded social network pages in Europe created by marketers for brands have fewer than 1000 friends.
NetImperative’s take on the report should give some Internet Marketing companies and their clients a chance to assess whether they are actually employing the correct strategies to harness the power of their ‘friends’ in such spaces.
Too many of the MySpace and FaceBook branded pages are mini sites rather than an opportunity to get interactive and involved with consumers. Additionally, the lack of multimedia is a hindrance to user engagement – social networkers love entertaining video and music, but marketers are still not thinking out of the box with social media.
David Schatsky, President of JupiterResearch said, “By following the examples of what’s worked for other marketers and listening to what consumers want-such as original and entertaining multimedia content-advertisers can greatly improve the effectiveness of their social marketing efforts.”
Tags: facebook, friends, myspace, social networks
Posted in Social Media
