Interesting statistics have been published recently from Digital Surgeons on the social demographic breakdown of the top two social networking websites Facebook and Twitter. While the data is predominantly sourced in the US, the profiling of the usage and brand loyalty on these social giants is equally valid in the UK market, and it’s fair to assume that if UK car dealers choose to ignore what many of them view as an expensive branding exercise to a young audience, they could be missing out on a huge opportunity to engage and ultimately sell to today’s web-savvy customers.
In terms of visibility and potential audience, the stats are not too surprising – nearly 90% of all people surveyed knew of both Facebook and Twitter. What is really eye-opening is the age and economic breakdown we can infer from the 600+ million site users. Dispelling the image of it being a youth-dominated network, in actual fact 89% of Facebook’s users are old enough to drive (and therefore buy!) a car. That same figure is a staggering 96% of Twitterers!
In terms of customer buying power and economic segmentation, 53% of Facebook and 50% of Twitter users are on an income of £30,000 or more (with 34% of Facebook and 33% of Twitter users on £15-30,000). So in reality, you are looking at about 90% of the social networkers out there being able to afford a new car. But will they buy one, or will they even bother to look at or like your brand pages?
In short, yes they will…with 4 in 10 Facebook and 1 in 4 Twitter users following a brand, the opportunity is there to get your business and brand out to the UK or world, and more importantly for it to be viewed, liked, posted, shared and tweeted by a good proportion of your market. What’s really remarkable is the loyalty to those brands that the social networkers are displaying – 67% of Twitter and 51% of Facebook users who follow that brand will go on to purchase from that particular brand!
The other really insightful statistic we can draw from this survey is the rise and rise of the mobile device as a web accessing tool, and the importance therefore of catering specially for these browsers by optimising the mobile experience of websites. A third (30% FB, 37% Twitter) of users surveyed accessed the social networks from their phone, so you can bet your bottom dollar that they will also be browsing other websites from their phone too. Are you showing your website in a suitable format for mobile devices? This report says you need to be.
So what does all this tell us? Well, in short, you should be thinking about getting on both Twitter and Facebook sooner rather than later, as they are both potential sales avenues that are consistently performing for other brands and businesses. 90% of the public know of the sites, 90% of them are old enough and earning enough to get your product, and should they start following your page, over half of them will buy from you! The stats say it all really…it’s now down to how you manage your presence, their experience and what you can offer them as reward for their loyalty.
Progress can offer website development (mobile ready and PC), social media and internet advertising services. Get in touch for more information.
Alex Knight
Internet Operations Manager
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