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Tell Your Statistics to Shut Up: Social Media in 2013
January 14, 2013 |Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
You can, as Charlie Brown famously told Lucy, “tell your statistics to shut up,” but that won’t make social media go away. With that in mind, here are a whole mess of social media statistics to chew on as we begin 2013:
- The Ford Explorer launch on Facebook generated more traffic than a Super Bowl ad. What it means: Social media is becoming a viable alternative--not just an adjunct, but an alternative--to traditional media. By the way, do you think Ford’s social media launch cost more than a Super Bowl ad?
- Ninety percent of consumers trust peer recommendations while only 14% trust advertisements. What it means: Customers are going out to the social networks to ask for opinions on products. If you aren’t there, you don’t know what they're saying about you.
- Generations Y and Z consider e-mail passé and some universities have even stopped distributing e-mail accounts. What this means: More and more people are using alternatives to e-mail for online communication. In my own case, I use e-mail, Gmail, my blog, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to communicate online. E-mail ranks third in importance for me, but then, I’m neither Generation Y or Z--I’m old enough to be Gen Y plus Gen Z!
The findings above all are part of Social Media Video 2013. I highly recommend viewing the under four minute video. It’s good. Fifty-two percent of job seekers used Facebook to look for jobs in 2012 according to jobvite.com. Takeaway: Social media is seen as a viable research tool. Along the same lines, 80% of social media users prefer to connect with brands using social media. Takeaway: They want you to come to them. You need to be where they are. The average Facebook user is 40.5 years old, the average LinkedIn user is also 40.5 and the average Twitter user slightly younger at 37.4, according to pingdom.com. Takeaway: Social media isn’t just for kids. And from a ResearchNow study undertaken in Q3 2012, here’s how social media is affecting one line of work: Ninety-five percent of IT professionals used LinkedIn for business in the past year. Three out of five IT professionals say that social networks influenced their buying decision. They use social networks to contact trusted peers (see my column from last summer). They use social networks to quickly find information. Why go to 50 websites when you can go to the company pages on LinkedIn and get all the information you need? It gives them access to a broader network--they aren't stuck with the same old vendors. This is a double-edged sword. If you’re one of the same old vendors, you lose. If you’re one of the ones they find on LinkedIn, you win. And finally, a study of 1,700 CEOs from IBM shows that CEOs ranked the future of engaging with customers as: 1) direct sales reps; 2) social media; 3) website; 4) sales channel; and 5) call centers. Takeaway: The majority of CEOs think social media will be more important than their website and more important than their sales channel (representative firms and distributors). Are you making use of this valuable and cost-effective method to increase sales? Are you taking advantage of social media in 2013? Bruce Johnston is a sales consultant specializing in social media. He has over 25 years' experience in high-tech sales and management, most recently as general manager of a PCB manufacturer. He can be reached through his website www.practicalsmm.com or through his profile on LinkedIn.