Is Social Media a Fad? Let's Do the Numbers
:: By Michael E. Rubin, Social Marketing Manager
One of my favorite NPR programs is Marketplace. Just before host Kai Ryssdal gives the day's stock report, he always says "Let's do the numbers."
When it comes to social media, we are repeatedly asked (and asked again) to prove Social Media isn't just a passing fad. Continuous provement is a healthy thing, and I believe it only makes our industry stronger. While I'm a big believer in the power of case studies, I also believe it's helpful to have data on hand to quantify exactly why something is valuable. Researchers Marta Kagan, Karl Fisch, and Scott McLeod have provided 37 data points and a provocative video that lays out all the reasons why social media is no longer a fad.
Let's do the numbers (here are a few of my favorites):
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(#4) Years to Reach 50 millions Users: Radio (38 Years), TV (13 Years), Internet (4 Years), iPod (3 Years) … Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months … iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months.
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(#13) 80% of Twitter usage is on mobile devices…people update anywhere, anytime…imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?
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(#19) 54% = Number of bloggers who post content or tweet daily
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(#23) 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
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(#26) 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations
And of course, they have some fun with this, too. #15 may not be quantitative, but it certainly is true: "What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook."
As Erik Qualman, Global VP of Online Marketing for EF Education, put it on his Socialnomics blog, "Social media isn't a fad, it's a fundamental shift in the way we communicate."
And now we have the numbers to prove it.
Learn More:
Socialnomics: Statistics Show Social Media is Bigger than you Think
Social Media Revolution (YouTube video)
