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Bit Briefs

About this Amplify

Leveraging a new clipping service called Amplify, BitBriefs.com brings you trends, statistics, news, links and perspective on the latest secondary research around topics such as in-game advertising, mobile phone marketing, email marketing, search engine marketing, online media usage, and traditional media marketing.

Twitter Usage Continues to Grow

Amplifyd from royal.pingdom.com

Twitter processed 2.64 billion tweets this August, an increase of 33% over May. Not a bad increase over just a summer. In August, an average of 85 million tweets passed through Twitter every day.

And if you look at the whole year so far, the increase is even more impressive. Activity on Twitter has already more than doubled this year (August had 115% more tweets than January).

Tweets per month on Twitter
See more at royal.pingdom.com
 

Facebook Users Like Discounts

Amplifyd from www.marketingcharts.com

Showing Support Closely Follows Discounts
As mentioned above, data from “Facebook X-Factors” shows that the highest percentage of consumers (40%) are motivated to like a brand on Facebook by discounts and promotions. Almost the same percentage (39%) is motivated by showing support for the brand.

exact-facebook-like-motivators-sept-2010.JPG
See more at www.marketingcharts.com
 

Major Obstacles in Using Social Media to Reach Local Market Customers

Amplifyd from www.mediapost.com

According to a new poll of brand marketers by Harris Interactive for Buddy Media, 72% of brand managers agree that social media offers great potential to reach existing and potential customers across the globe, but they are lacking tools and information to leverage it successfully.

Major Obstacles in Using Social Media to Reach Local Market Customers

Major Obstacles in Using Social Media to Reach Local Market Customers (% of Brand Managers)

Obstacle

% of Respondents Agreeing

Tracking or measuring success or ROI

48%

Managing information

45

Engaging audience

42

Identifying influencers to carry brand message

39

Keeping specific content fresh

32

Posting multimedia content

28

Tracking real time metrics

24

Finding creative for online social marketing

23

Tools to customize content anywhere

22

Source: Buddy Media / Harris Interactive, August 2010

Read more at www.mediapost.com
 

Promoted Tweets Peforming Well

Amplifyd from techcrunch.com

Online brokerage firm Zecco is one of the participants in Twitter’s Promoted Tweets program – currently in beta – and this morning announced that the ad platform has proven to be very effective for the company to date.

The company says it sampled 50 Promoted Tweets over the past two months and measured their effectiveness, seeing a 50% increase in engagement on average as compared to regular messages posted on Zecco’s Twitter account.

Some of the tweets, which are centered around financial market commentary and new product offerings, even saw a 200% to 300% increase in engagement, the company adds.

Read more at techcrunch.com
 

Chart: Most Popular Twitter Tools

Amplifyd from www.businessinsider.com

The most popular Twitter client going is UberTwitter for BlackBerry, according to a sampling of Twitter’s API done by coder Ed Finkler.

Almost 9% of Tweets sent out each day come from UberTwitter. The next most popular is Tweetdeck at 5%. Twitter for BlackBerry comes in at 4%.

chart of the day, twitter platforms, aug 2010
See more at www.businessinsider.com
 

Social Media Surge in 50+ Age Groups

Amplifyd from www.mediapost.com

U.S. adults ages 50 and up who use the Internet are flocking to social networks, according to the results of a survey of 2,252 adults ages 18+ by Princeton Survey Research Associates on behalf of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The survey provides more evidence suggesting social media could become an effective advertising and marketing platform for reaching older Internet users (chronic offense-takers, please note that I did not write “old people”).

The Pew findings are pretty dramatic: Among Internet users ages 50+ overall, social network use increased from 22% in April 2009 to 42% in May 2010. To boot, 10% of the 50+ cohort uses Twitter or a similar “status update” service, either to post updates or check other people’s updates.

Looking at specific age cohorts, social network use among Internet users ages 50-64 surged from 25% to 47%, with 20% of this group saying they check into social networks on a daily basis — up from 10% last year. Meanwhile the proportion of Internet users ages 65+ using social networks doubled from 13% to 26% over this period, with the number checking in daily jumping from 4% to 13%.

By contrast, social network use among Internet users ages 18-29 appears to be reaching saturation, growing from 76% in April 2009 to 86% in May 2010.

Read more at www.mediapost.com
 

“Young Male” Demographic Key Influencer in Entertainment Decisions

Amplifyd from www.mediapost.com

Many marketers believe that adult women make all the household purchase decisions, and younger women make or break most movies. From the home to Hollywood, however, you can’t discount the influence of 18-34 guys, according to a new report from entertainment portal/ad network Giant Realm.

Indeed, nearly three in five — 58.5% — of 18-34 guys say family and friends ask for their opinion on which video games to buy, and a whopping three-quarters — 77% — say they are asked for recommendations on which movies to see.

Young men also might be seen as a good source for movie recommendations, given that one-quarter — 24.8% — hit the theaters on opening weekends for movies they want to see. An additional 39.8% say they might go to the premieres if the movie suits them.

Read more at www.mediapost.com
 

Key Statstics From the “Marketers’ Current and Future Use of Social Media” Study

Amplifyd from www.mediapost.com

According to a study presented at a Pivot Conference (in partnership with Extra Mile Research) entitled “Marketers’ Current and Future Use of Social Media,” 63% of marketers are already investing in social media marketing, and of the 37% that are not currently investing in social media marketing, 62% are planning to invest, including 46% who plan to do so within one year.

Other key findings include:

  • 57% welcome social media users involvement and participation with their brands
  •  Of those already investing in social media marketing, 87% plan to increase their expenditures in the next 12 months, including 56% who plan significant increases in spending.
  • Only 30% of marketers who conduct social media marketing have measurement and analysis strategy fully implemented.
  • 43% of marketers who conduct social media marketing have not begun implementing any measurement or analysis programs
  • Of those who have measurement and analysis programs in place, 62% are only “somewhat satisfied” with their programs
  •  Despite all of the focus and investment in social media marketing, only 30% consider their social media marketing efforts “very successful.” 59% rate their efforts as “somewhat successful.”
  • 75% of marketers consider the “always-on” 18-34 year old consumers as a primary or secondary target.
  • Marketers feel that the “always-on” 18-34 year old consumers have unique characteristics:
  • 70% of marketers consider them to have a shorter attention span
  • 67% consider them to have different motivations than previous generations
  • 59% consider them to be less accepting and more questioning of marketing messages in general
Read more at www.mediapost.com
 

2/3rds of Marketers Are Challenged to Stay on Top of Social Media

Amplifyd from www.emarketer.com

Little wonder that marketers find it difficult to stay on top of the hottest social media trends. A May 2010 survey from staffing firm The Creative Group found that 65% of US marketing executives considered it at least somewhat challenging to keep up.

Challenge of Staying Current on Social Media Trends, May 2010 (% of US marketing executives)
See more at www.emarketer.com
 

eMarketer Chart: Why People Follow on Twitter