Atlanta No. 4 on Facebook and a plug
Where does the Atlanta area rank in the number of Facebook users? According to the latest report from iStrategyLabs, the area is now No. 4, behind New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. As of June 8, there were 2.937 million Facebook users in the Atlanta area. See the full chart here.
We wrote last year about Atlanta’s phenomenal growth in Facebook users, which moved the area up to second, only behind New York. Now Chicago is experiencing similar growth, closely behind L.A. at No. 3. Chicago’s Facebook users have almost doubled in five months.
iStrategyLabs has been tracking Facebook use since 2007, using data from Facebook’s social ads platform. The agency’s CEO, Peter Corbett, correctly points out that concerns over privacy have not had an impact upon Facebook’s growth, with the U.S. user base growing 21.8% between Jan. 4 and June 8.
Which age group had the highest growth rate? That would be those over 55.
A quick note about our webinar…
OK, I’m going to depart from normal practice here to plug an upcoming webinar in which I’ll be participating. I’m partnering with good friends Tim Morrison and Brownell Landrum on a series of classes devoted to helping writers perfect their craft, build websites for themselves and their books, and market themselves and their writing through social media. Tim is a writing coach and Brownell helps people set up websites using the power of the WordPress platform. And, naturally, I’m the social media coach.
We’re having a free, one-hour webinar next Tuesday, July 13, at 8 p.m Eastern. You can find out more about our classes — and us — at our website. And you can sign up here.
Success stories and an up-and-coming sensation
Let’s start off the week with some recent social media developments you might have missed:
– Since we often hear from people questioning social media’s value, we should mention five “surprise success stories” using Facebook and Twitter for business detailed by Rick Burnes of HubSpot His list includes an equine dentist, a manufacturer of prefabricated steel buildings, makers of specialized paint and paper and an aircraft maintenance and support company. And there are plenty more to come.
– It’s now possible to “follow” companies on LinkedIn. This new feature, quietly introduced in late April, enables users to keep up with companies, whether one is looking for a job, looking for b-to-b-opportunities or just wanting to follow business developments. It’s a primitive, one-way system compared to Twitter and Facebook, in which you can interact directly with a company. Nor can companies offer timely status updates. However, you can see the status updates of key employees as well as promotions and other company news, assuming employees and the company are updating their accounts..While LinkedIn has a lot of work ahead to keep pace with the major social networks, this is still significant step in the right direction.
–Are you a job seeker? Since we regularly work with a local jobs networking group to assist the unemployed, we thought we’d share 13 “essential tips” for finding a job using LinkedIn from author and former pro athlete Lewis Howes. Howes offers solid advice, particularly for those who are new to the business networking site. One follow-up comment: If you add your blog or Twitter feed to your LinkedIn profile — as Howes correctly suggests you should do — make darn sure what you write on those places is professional. Otherwise, you’re asking for trouble.
– We know a lot of folks — of all ages— who don’t “get” Foursquare. Many of these same people also still remain openly skeptical of Twitter (We’re trying!) While the business potential of Foursquare has barely scratched the surface, consider this: Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley told Business Insider’s Henry Blodget last week that the service is adding 15,000 users a day. Not exactly Facebook numbers, but numbers that can’t be ignored.
Twitter Part 3: Of course it works
Note to self: When writing a three-part series, make sure you have time to finish it.
When starting a three-part series on Twitter several months ago I vowed to prove that Twitter isn’t fading, it’s not just noise and that it is, in fact, good not just for big businesses, but smaller companies as well.
What happened? A bunch of people suddenly asked me to help them use Twitter to meet their business goals. I am now working with businesses, non-profits and professional associations every day, coaching them or tweeting on their behalf and achieving objectives. While a few months isn’t nearly enough time to provide thorough case studies, I can report immediate results through Twitter. Such as:
– A group supporting environmental causes wanting to add new chapters asked me to launch a Twitter campaign less than three months ago. In the first week, they received a request for a media interview. They are now quoted regularly in national publications, building their brand awareness. A new chapter is about to form in a coveted area because tweets about the group caught the interest of a Twitter follower there. More chapters are on the horizon — thanks to Twitter and the dedicated followers it can generate.
– A writing coach hoping to expand his business is now connected to a large number of young, inexperienced writers and is now connecting to his ideal client — executives of large companies interested in writing books.
– A start-up that is licensed to sell a safety product in Georgia wants to expand its market. In just two weeks, response to the company has been remarkable.
It’s too early to document the details and name these groups/companies, but that day will come soon enough. These clients — and others — are already convinced of the power of Twitter to target those they most want to reach. More important, they have learned that the road to success is through building relationships and sharing valuable information with their followers.
That’s a sound business strategy anywhere and Twitter is just the tool to help them make that happen.
In business, social media can’t be an
afterthought
Two unrelated recent posts on Social Media Today got me thinking again about how large companies and small businesses still need education on understanding the purposes and value of using social media.
One post described the flawed attempt by college football’s Bowl Championship Series to start a Twitter account, ostensibly to communicate with fans, answer questions and spruce up the image of the much-maligned bowl system. Heck, fans, most coaches and even the president want a playoff system to crown a football national champion. (Me, too.)
The result? A PR nightmare, according to Social Media Today, as @InsideThe BCS tweeted about 30 times (now up to 57) while screenload after screenload of critics weighed in with negative comments. And SMT wrote whoever was tweeting (they suspect a PR firm) misquoted Florida coach Urban Meyer as being a supporter of the BCS system. He’s not.
While I salute the BCS folks for attempting to enter the social space, it’s clear they needed to think through a strategy and prepare in advance. They should have known they would face an onslaught. Now that the bus has hit them, it’ll be interesting to see how they respond.
The second post focused on a conference where discussion centered on how companies are turning to Gen Y employees to handle their social media marketing.
My take: As we previously wrote, age is no longer a factor in social media. Facebook is gaining more Boomers; Twitter is now attracting Gen Yers. In a bad economy, people of all ages are turning to LinkedIn. So why would companies look to Gen Yers only to handle their social media responsibilities? It’s not like they all have a special gene that makes them marketers.
Whoever handles your company’s social media profiles reflects upon your company. If that employee, intern, contractor, consultant or PR/marketing firm doesn’t know what they’re doing, they can do harm. Many companies have already been burned by well-meaning, low-paid and inexperienced people representing their brand.
I’m reminded of the large Atlanta law firm who advertised earlier this year for someone to manage their social media identity. These lawyers, who spend their days carefully crafting legal arguments for large amounts of money, were paying a miniscule salary and clearly wanted a recent college grad. Nothing against recent college grads — I have two children graduating in the next year — but it was clear this firm wanted the benefits of social media without a seasoned professional. Why would a group of lawyers open themselves to such risk? Let’s hope they were lucky.
If you own a business and you need help in launching — and sustaining — your social media profiles, you should think through who you put in that role. Do you really leave it to an intern? Or the IT guy/Webmaster who can code great things, but can’t spell or write a comprehensible sentence?
Updating Twitter or a Facebook business page doesn’t require technical skills. Anyone of any age can do it. If you don’t have time to do it yourself, the challenge is finding someone with a mature-enough marketing and business sense to meet your needs.
There is great value for businesses to gain through social media. Don’t underestimate that value if you need help. Hiring or contracting someone on the cheap could end up being very costly.
Age no excuse for business to avoid social media
When I talk with small-business people, many who are skeptical of social media — particularly Baby Boomers — often talk about how social sites are just meant for the young. And some say they think spending a lot of time online is unhealthy and antisocial.
I try to show them that people of all ages are adopters of social media. Facebook alone has had dramatic growth this year at nearly all age levels, none more pronounced than women over 50.
Now there are new numbers available on social media users. The median age of a Facebook user has now risen to 33, seven years older than in May 2008. That’s not far behind LinkedIn, the business networking site whose 50 million-plus users have a median age of 39. The median age of a Twitter user has dropped to 31, which shows that Generation Y, which was not an early adopter, is now turning to the microblogging service. There had been numerous articles earlier in the year that Gen Y thought Twitter was pointless. Apparently, that’s changing.
Facebook getting older? Twitter getting younger? What does this mean? It means the old adage is no longer true that only the young are the early adopters of technology. And new social sites designed to attract the young away from Facebook and Twitter are reportedly not having an impact. The young are willing to use the same social media now used by their parents.
So much for age creating a digital divide in social media. (Yes, MySpace remains decidedly young — a median age of 26 — but its focus has shifted to mostly music and entertainment. And it’s certainly not the dominant influence it once was.)
While we’re debunking myths, let’s burst another bubble. Remember the study which found people were becoming more socially isolated because of technology, especially mobile phones and the Internet? Not so fast, according to a new study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Pew found that these technologies do not have a harmful social impact upon people.
In fact, Pew found social networking sites provide an outlet for “discussion networks that are more likely to contain people from different backgrounds.” In other words, people have digital contact with a more diverse group of people.
Boomer business owners, isn’t that one of your company goals? Don’t you want to expand your reach to new people, new contacts outside your regular sphere?
Can’t wait for the next business owner to bring up age, or dismiss the merits of social networking. I’ve got some new research to share.
