In the near future, Social Media Marketing is slated to drive more traffic than search engines. If you don’t have a social media strategy in your marketing plan then you should probably get one.
Here’s Some Interesting Statistics…
Currently, most people in the United States still use traditional search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo to find what they are searching. What’s interesting is statistics are now trending that users, especially younger ones, are discovering websites through social networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr, to name just a few.
2012 information reflects that 50% of all Internet users ages 18 to 23, and 43% of users ages 24 to 32 used a social network as their resource, according to a new report published by Forrester Research, an independent technology and market research company based in Cambridge, MA.
Nearly 1/3 of all Americans polled cited Facebook and Twitter as their preferred social network, up from 18% in 2010.
During the same time, 54% of U.S. Internet users still used traditional search engines to find the information they needed. As indicated in the report, this number is declining, representing a 7 point drop in search engine popularity from 61% in 2010.
Why Am I Telling You This?
Consumers are rapidly changing their behavior and habits online at lightning speed. Marketers are playing catch up re-prioritizing those services we offer that will give our customers the biggest bang for their buck.
We are learning that engagement with social media coupled with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and PPC (Pay Per Click Campaigns) will offer our clients a more broader engagement.
Other highlights you’ll find interesting…
- Direct marketing still works. 2012 numbers show that 26% of users reported finding websites through branded emails, an 11% jump from 2011.
- Sponsored Search (PPC) has surged in popularity. In 2012, 18% of web users stated that paid web search results help them find what they were seeking. That’s up from 8% in 2011.
- Links on the website they are visiting keep users engaged. Approximately 28% of all users polled reported they discovered new sites from links on websites they were already visiting.