Social Media Demographics and SEO
Ever since the last two presidential elections, we’ve been hearing a lot about the shift in demographics in the United States. If that shift can influence presidential race outcomes, it can certainly influence consumer buying trends and, therefore, marketing campaigns. Let’s look at the different social media and see what the 2012 breakdown was.
Overall statistics. Of the 24 sites analyzed, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn, women seem to dominate social media with a breakdown of 51% to 49%. Women were the majority users on 17 of the 24, with Pinterest being the outstanding favorite. (There are a few sites in which men are more active than women, like Slashdot.) More than half are between the ages of 25 to 44, with LinkedIn having the oldest average age, and DeviantART having the youngest. The majority of Facebook users (65%) are 35 or older.
Usage by Ethnic Groups: Hispanics dominate the use of social media among ethnic groups, with statistics showing that almost 28% spend more than six hours a day tweeting, linking and posting. That relates to 20% of black users and 8.5% for all users. Facebook led the way at 43% as the social outlet of choice among Hispanics in that they logged in at least once a day. Twitter followed at 17.3%.
According to a February 2013 USA Today report, black internet users tweet more than other groups, 26% versus 19% for Hispanics and 14% for whites. Black users also InstaGram more often at 23% versus Hispanic usage of 18% and 11% for whites.
Marketing to a specific audience is certainly not new to business, and the internet does give thousands of very measurable data reports to help you pinpoint the group you’re trying to reach. However, it’s recommended that you hire an SEO company to assist you, because knowing where your audience is answers only one piece of the puzzle. Your SEO team will also help you turn that data into a marketing strategy that can be implemented to maximize your message for your specific target market and for the search engines.
