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Wow. Remember when MySpace was the dominant social network? Seems like a long time ago, as the past three years have seen Facebook approach, catch, and blow past MySpace to become our preferred online hangout spot.
Now, new data released by Facebook and third party researchers show just how influential Facebook has become in our daily lives. Combined with several critical adjustments to how Facebook publishes “news” and intersects with other sites, the state of Facebook is mind-blowing. And important for business.
Here’s 11 things about Facebook that you need to know:
1. 400 Million Global Users, and Counting
Facebook announced recently that they had passed 400 million members, making Facebook the third-largest country in the world, if it was a country. (perhaps that’s their end-game, joining the UN and raising an army?)
2. 100 Million U.S. Users
Sure, Facebook is strong around-the-world (Canada has the highest penetration rate), but nearly 1/3 of all Facebookers are here in the U.S. You may have heard of a TV show called American Idol. On a good night, it averages 20 million viewers. Facebook has 100 million American members. Hmmm.
3. Average Facebook User Spends 55 Minutes Per Day
Nearly one hour per day, per user. That’s a lot of Facebook time. How can your company grab a bit of consumer attention? This data is based on Facebook’s own published stats, covered by Inside Facebook.
4. Nearly 80,000 sites using Facebook Connect
Connect is the Facebook initiative that has the greatest long-range impact. By integrating Facebook closely, sites are making our personal social graphs truly portable. Instead of having to go to Facebook and other sites to visit our friends, they travel with us online (and in our pockets via mobile devices), always there to provide advice or commentary. Even Yahoo! and MySpace are rolling out deep Facebook integrations.
This of course makes Facebook the central hub of not just social media, but the Web (which is why Google is scrambling to catch up after their competing Google Connect fell flat).
5. Facebook Fan Box Becoming Pervasive
Perhaps the least powerful, but most prevalent flavor of Facebook Connect is Facebook Fan Box, a simple tool for enabling your Web site visitors, YouTube video watchers, or email newsletter recipients to become a fan of your brand – without even having to go to Facebook.
6. Average Facebook User Has 130 Friends
Will Facebook users continue to add more friends at a rapid pace? It depends upon how they view their Facebook connections. 130 friends almost bumps up against Dunbar’s Number of 150 – the theoretical maximum number of actual friend relationships you can sustain, according to British scientist Robin Dunbar.
If Facebook continues to revolve around relationships that you actually possess in three-dimensions – people you “actually” know, then the addition of bunches of new friends may slow considerably. But, if Facebook makes the leap to tie people together more casually (like Twitter), average friend counts could rise dramatically.
7. Average Facebook User Fans 4 Pages per Month
If you think tons of your customers should become fans of your company’s Facebook page, you might want to recalibrate your expectations. The average Facebook user “fans” only 4 new pages per month. That’s not a lot, considering how many brands, causes, and organizations we come into contact with on a regular basis.
If you’re going to make growth of your Facebook fan base a key part of your social media strategy, you must create a clear rationale for why consumers should participate with you.
You also might consider a robust, organized approach for promoting your Facebook fan page.
8. Only 4% of Pages Have 10,000 or More Fans
If your Facebook fan page is a bit of a ghost town, you’re not alone. A fantastic study by Sysomos of 600,000 Facebook fan pages shows that only 4% of pages have 10,000 or more fans – and only .76% have 100,000 or more.
That’s why it is so critical to focus your Facebook strategy on activating the fans you have, not just collecting fans like baseball cards.
9. Wall Posts Don’t Impact Popularity
The Sysomos study also found very little correlation between how frequently the Facebook page admin posted to the wall, and total number of fans. However – and this is important – there is a strong correlation between amount of other content (notes, links, photos, videos) and number of fans.
Thus, if you want to grow your Facebook fan base, it is imperative that you move beyond simple Wall posts and add photos, videos, links and other content.
10. Customized News Feed
Facebook’s recent move to an algorithm-driven news feed means that just because someone is your fan, does not mean they will see your wall posts or status updates (true for both individuals, and brands). Instead, the default news feed is now comprised of content that Facebook thinks you’ll like, based on your interactions with content from that author in the past, and interactions by your friends with that content.
This puts a tremendous premium on posting engaging content that will get comments and likes and shares. If you’re not paying attention to your content engagement scores within your Facebook analytics, start doing so now, and testing content types to see what works best for your brand.
11. Real-time Search Changes the Game
Facebook is now making most content available publicly, unless you tell them not to via your privacy settings. Twitter opened their data stream to anyone (not just big developers). Google and Bing are incorporating this data into search results, in real-time.
This has tremendous implications for search engine optimization and reputation management, since a negative status update about your brand might now show up on the first page of Google search results for your company name (at least temporarily). The shakeout is still happening, but someone in your company needs to be on top of real-time search. Today.
Facebook may not be the ideal environment for every social media initiative, but its huge size forces you to at least consider participating – regardless of what type of business you run. Conversely, some brands are putting an awful lot of eggs in the Facebook basket, which is perhaps justifiable based on the facts above. However, I’m not keen on building the centerpiece of my social media strategy on what amounts to rented land.
Is your business taking advantage of Facebook? How important is it to your social media efforts? What advice do you have for creating content and managing Facebook fan pages?
(This post originally appeared on SocialMediaExaminer.com)
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RT @jaybaer: 11 Mind-Blowing Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook [link to post]
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Jay
Thanks for a great post with good data links. I'm sharing this with a bunch of folks right now that will get true value from it.
@TomMartin
Jay
Thanks for a great post with good data links. I'm sharing this with a bunch of folks right now that will get true value from it.
@TomMartin
USA Today reported today that the Pew Research saying that only 14% of teens blog and 8% use Twitter – they are texting and using Facebook in enormous numbers. If you want to reach younger people, you gotta be on Facebook.
Today's kids are tomorrow's adults, so we are seeing a bit of the future.
USA Today reported today that the Pew Research saying that only 14% of teens blog and 8% use Twitter – they are texting and using Facebook in enormous numbers. If you want to reach younger people, you gotta be on Facebook.
Today's kids are tomorrow's adults, so we are seeing a bit of the future.
For me, the most compelling reason for businesses to use Facebook is to gain access to the Insights data that Pages provide. Other than that, I think the reasons to use it, or not use it, depend on the stage the business is at. For a brand new business I think Facebook is one of the harder platforms on which to gain traction – I think it works better when the company has some type of brand awareness/following elsewhere that can then be transported over to Facebook. Other platforms make it easier to reach out to brand new, potential 'fans'.
For me, the most compelling reason for businesses to use Facebook is to gain access to the Insights data that Pages provide. Other than that, I think the reasons to use it, or not use it, depend on the stage the business is at. For a brand new business I think Facebook is one of the harder platforms on which to gain traction – I think it works better when the company has some type of brand awareness/following elsewhere that can then be transported over to Facebook. Other platforms make it easier to reach out to brand new, potential 'fans'.
Thanks for the great post, Jay. Having relevant data to back up claims makes for a persuasive argument. Also liked the note about working on your incumbent fans as opposed to acquiring mobs. Long live the 80/20 rule.
Thanks for the great post, Jay. Having relevant data to back up claims makes for a persuasive argument. Also liked the note about working on your incumbent fans as opposed to acquiring mobs. Long live the 80/20 rule.
Jay, Thanks for the stats… I have been trying to get my clients to embrace a Facebook Fan Page and now I have some really good ammunition!
Jay, Thanks for the stats… I have been trying to get my clients to embrace a Facebook Fan Page and now I have some really good ammunition!
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RT @jaybaer: 11 Mind-Blowing Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook [link to post]
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RT @jaybaer: 11 Mind-Blowing Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook [link to post]
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RT @thecampdirector: 8 ways to ruin ur socialmedia strtgy http://bit.ly/d7oQCE & 11 Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook [link to post]
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Love this post–great stats–thank you. Facebook is a fabulous tool for just about every kind of business and this reinforces the value and OPPORTUNITY that exists there. Well done!
Love this post–great stats–thank you. Facebook is a fabulous tool for just about every kind of business and this reinforces the value and OPPORTUNITY that exists there. Well done!
A great post Jay. I'm in charge of Social Media for my company and we are using facebook and I don't think it is doing us much good.
As I read your headline and up to #6 on your list, I was shaking my head in disagreement. However, #7, especially for B-to-B marketing, is very important. Your earlier post “Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend” underscores this. Unless you have a service/product/brand which a Facebook user has a deep motivation to really connect with, the Fan Page is probably not going to do so well. Speaking from experience in B-to-B, I know very few people will want to spend their (personal) free time on Facebook connecting with a business services provider, unless of course, they are trying to get OUR business. — @mmanning3
A great post Jay. I'm in charge of Social Media for my company and we are using facebook and I don't think it is doing us much good.
As I read your headline and up to #6 on your list, I was shaking my head in disagreement. However, #7, especially for B-to-B marketing, is very important. Your earlier post “Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend” underscores this. Unless you have a service/product/brand which a Facebook user has a deep motivation to really connect with, the Fan Page is probably not going to do so well. Speaking from experience in B-to-B, I know very few people will want to spend their (personal) free time on Facebook connecting with a business services provider, unless of course, they are trying to get OUR business. — @mmanning3
Justttt waaaiiitting for FB to approve my “vanity” url. Been about a week since I submitted it. Once that happens, the biz will be on the FB fanwagon.
Justttt waaaiiitting for FB to approve my “vanity” url. Been about a week since I submitted it. Once that happens, the biz will be on the FB fanwagon.
Great content, Jay. This is information will be sharing with my clients to help them expand their online presence. Facebook must be a part of anyone's online marketing strategy. It clearly can't be ignored any longer. Thanks for the data!
Great content, Jay. This is information will be sharing with my clients to help them expand their online presence. Facebook must be a part of anyone's online marketing strategy. It clearly can't be ignored any longer. Thanks for the data!
Great information!! I'm begining to spread the word to local businesses and offering them the service of creating and maintaining their social media sites. Thanks for providing more amunition.
Great information!! I'm begining to spread the word to local businesses and offering them the service of creating and maintaining their social media sites. Thanks for providing more amunition.
Has anyone seen any value in using facebook for B-to-B marketing or could provide links to any B-to-B success stories involving facebook?
Has anyone seen any value in using facebook for B-to-B marketing or could provide links to any B-to-B success stories involving facebook?
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RT @thecampdirector: 8 ways to ruin ur socialmedia strtgy http://bit.ly/d7oQCE & 11 Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook [link to post]
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RT @thecampdirector: 8 ways to ruin ur socialmedia strtgy http://bit.ly/d7oQCE & 11 Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook [link to post]
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RT @punkrockHR RT @jaybaer 11 Mind-Blowing Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook [link to post]
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As usual, a very helpful post! Thanks!
As usual, a very helpful post! Thanks!
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RT @punkrockHR RT @jaybaer 11 Mind-Blowing Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook [link to post]
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RT @punkrockHR RT @jaybaer 11 Mind-Blowing Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook [link to post]
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11 Mind-Blowing Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook [link to post]) via @jaybaer
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Jay,
I have been following your blog lately and the stuff you write is very interesting. I myself have been following various trends and researching a lot on Social Media.
Actually i had a doubt, if you can help me. In this particular post, you have written about- Facebook Fan Box Becoming Pervasive. I completely buy your point in that. But i want to know how we can reach YouTube video watchers to become a fan of your brand – without even having to go to Facebook.
Pleaselet me know. Thanks
Jay,
I have been following your blog lately and the stuff you write is very interesting. I myself have been following various trends and researching a lot on Social Media.
Actually i had a doubt, if you can help me. In this particular post, you have written about- Facebook Fan Box Becoming Pervasive. I completely buy your point in that. But i want to know how we can reach YouTube video watchers to become a fan of your brand – without even having to go to Facebook.
Pleaselet me know. Thanks
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11 Mind-Blowing Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook [link to post]) via @jaybaer
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11 Mind-Blowing Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook [link to post]) via @jaybaer
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11 Mind-Blowing Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook [link to post]
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11 Mind-Blowing Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook [link to post]
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11 Mind-Blowing Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook [link to post]
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Well said! I especially like that you highlighted the difference between regular Facebook Wall post and adding content such as video, photos, etc. To add, I think if you have a link to share it should be shared once without a thumbnail so it reads as a status update, and once with the thumbnail…because let's face it we're all visual. If the link doesn't get a click the image/video, etc. might. Why not hit it at both ends for maximum exposure?
Well said! I especially like that you highlighted the difference between regular Facebook Wall post and adding content such as video, photos, etc. To add, I think if you have a link to share it should be shared once without a thumbnail so it reads as a status update, and once with the thumbnail…because let's face it we're all visual. If the link doesn't get a click the image/video, etc. might. Why not hit it at both ends for maximum exposure?
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'11 Mind-Blowing Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook' [link to post]
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11 Mind-Blowing Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook – [link to post] (via @jaybaer)
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11 Mind-Blowing Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook – [link to post] (via @jaybaer)
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11 Mind-Blowing Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook – [link to post] (via @jaybaer)
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11 Mind-Blowing Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook – [link to post] (via @jaybaer) ~ LOL had to tweet it!
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