Universal McCanns‘ global research into the impact of social media is a project with an ongoing commitment to measure consumer usage, attitudes and interests in adopting social media platforms and is the largest exploration of its kind.
Wave 3 results were recently released and the statistics, though along the lines of what we all suspected, are nonetheless impressive. Since Wave 1 in September 2006 the research has created genuine insights on the patterns of usage. The latest report seen here demonstrates the continued growth of social media and it's impact all over the world. I recommend viewing it in full screen (hit the "full" button on the lower right) as some of the metrics get too small to see in this mini version.
It's quite comprehensive with 80 slides...here are the highlights:
1. Social media is a global phenomenon happening in all markets regardless of wider economic, social and cultural development.
2. Asian markets (not including Japan) are leading in terms of participation, creating more content than any other region.
3. All social media platforms have grown significantly over the three Waves: Video Clips are the quickest growing platform, up from 31% penetration in Wave 1 to 83% in Wave 3
4. Social Networks: 57% have joined a Social Network, making it the number one platform for creating and sharing content: 55% of users have uploaded photos, 22% of users have uploaded videos
5. The widget economy – 23% of social network users have installed an application – 18% of bloggers have installed applications in their blog templates
6. Blogs are a mainstream media world-wide and a collective rival to traditional media (184m bloggers world-wide, China has the largest blogging community in the world with 42m bloggers...what's up with Japan?) – 73% have read a blog, 45% have started a blog
7. Social media has strong impacts over brand’s reputation – 34% post opinions about products and brands on their blog – 36% think more positively about companies that have blogs
The impact of this data and the tremendous adoption rate for social media all over the world is huge, particularly for brand advertisers looking to establish a conversation with customers. While the old model of advertising is certainly being challenged, in many ways, it's never been easier to advertise to your customers or know what they are thinking and discussing. Whereas years ago such insight may have required costly and time intensive market research, in today's "everyone has a voice" world, advertisers need focus on only one thing--LISTENING. Your consumers are out there blogging, commenting, complaining and telling you what they want. Being well versed in the various technologies they use to do so and developing a comprehensive "listening" strategy will become the definitive factor separating advertisers who "get it" and those who just keep pushing out :30 spots and wondering why they're losing market share.
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