Internet Marketing Blog

Social Networking Statistics

Morgan Stanley's March Internet trends report shows that social networking sites are quickly becoming major hubs of online activity: Six of the top ten Web sites are social.

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Who Are Bloggers?

As you, devoted reader, know, my mantra for some time has been "You may not be interested in social media, but social media is interested in you."

I often hear heads of organizations and/or decision makers dismiss bloggers with a wave of the hand as merely a bunch of inconsequential losers in  basements whining online. The other common attitude is, why should I think about bloggers? I don't read blogs. Nobody I know read blogs.

That's the wrong question. The question should be do my customers read blogs? In all likelihood, the answer is yes and in all likelihood, those customers are being influenced by what those blogs are saying.

Bloggers are opinionated people and as we all know, opinionated people like voice their opinions but more importantly, they are often sought out for their opinions. They are influencers and that's why they're important.

But who are they?

Research Brief has a post (via PRblog) detailing the demographics of bloggers according to recently released data from the BIGresearch simultaneous media survey that reveal some interesting stats. Particularly interesting is that there are a higher percentage of Hispanic and African American bloggers than among the general population.

Conversational Marketing Presentation

For The Minnesota Council Of Nonprofits Technology Conference - 3/27/08

This is the presentation my Tunheim Partners colleague Pat Lilja and I gave to the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits annual technology conference this year:

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Marketing To Millennials Presentation

This is a presentation for a seminar Pat Lilja, my colleague at Tunheim Partners, and I conducted on Wednesday for some public health people who are interested in how to reach the Millennial generation. We will have video of the session soon.

Does Barack Obama's Youth Vote Signal A Generational & Political Shift?

I'm more inclined than most people to be optimistic about young voters actually turning out to cast their ballot; specifically, this generation of young voters, the Millennials. I say that because I've been paying close attention to generations since reading William Strauss and Neil Howe's book Generations, which completely changed the way I think about generations in general and historical cycles in particular.

In short, the book examines American history in terms of generational change and argues that the reactions of one generation to another create a dynamic that produces four distinct generational archetypes that recur throughout our history.

Those generational archetypes and their most recent adult accompanying generations are Hero (the GI generation), Artist (the Silent generation), Idealist (the Baby Boom generation), and Nomad (Generation X). The newest generation, the Millennials, therefore would be a Hero generation and aligned with the WWII-era GI generation.

The GI generation's accomplishments include saving the world from tyranny by fighting and winning World War II, building institutional pillars such as Social Security and the United Nations, fueled the post-war economic expansion, conquered space, and led the nation through the Cold War and the demise of Communism. The GIs were a civic-minded organization of builders.

Millennials' Political Muscle

Like the GI generation, the Millennials are coming of age during a time of crisis (Hero generations, both) and of a civic-minded bent. On page 231 of Strauss and Howe's 2000 book Millennials Rising, they observe:

The fist Millennials have yet to cast their votes, so they're still flying low under the adult radar, presumed to be alienated cynics who don't care about voting, much less organizing. Yet adults who watch them perform civic tasks may sense something different brewing. Today's school kids take the Pledge of Allegiance, and flag saluting, more seriously than Boomers or Gen Xers did. Growing Up Digital author Don Tapscott describes their "very strong sense of the common good and of collective social and civic responsibility." Check out Kids Voting USA, Children's Express, or the web world, and you'll see kids discussing issues, participating in polls, and organizing mock elections, at times quite energetically.

But the very fiber of the political junkie in me believes in the conventional wisdom of politics that young people do not vote. During my entire adult lifetime, election after election, young voters have failed to participate in the political process to any significant degree. Thus, even though my research indicated that the Millennials could be the exception, I was highly skeptical of the Obama campaign's reliance on turning out not just young voters, but new young voters to an Iowa caucus system that is highly intimidating to newcomers.

The following video features William Strauss discussing Millennials Rising on 11/14/00, prior to the Supreme Court deciding the 2000 election in favor of George W. Bush:

Barack Obama's Youth Vote

  Barack Obama 
  Originally uploaded by Allison Harger

Bucking conventional wisdom and history, Barack Obama did just that. As Time magazine points out, Obama's campaign turned out voters 25 years of age and younger in record numbers: "while overall Democratic turnout jumped 90% [from 2004], the number of young Democrats participating soared 135%...According to surveys of voters entering the caucuses, young voters preferred Obama over the next-closest competitor by more than 4 to 1." That gave Obama a net gain of 17,000 votes and he won with roughly 20,000 votes ahead of John Edwards and Hillary Clinton.

But even Obama's victory on the backs of young voters didn't fully dispel my skepticism of depending heavily upon the youth vote. That turnout could easily be explained by the fact that the Gen X candidate is a youthful, charismatic man who naturally appeals to young people. I would have easily accepted that explanation until I read a story on Saturday about a local election here in Minnesota.

In Northfield, Minnesota, we held a special election to fill a state Senate seat that was vacated due to a judicial appointment. The race pitted Ray Cox, a moderate Republican who had held a state House seat in the district against the DFL (the name of our state Democratic party) candidate, Kevin Dahle, a political newcomer.

"Dahle was boosted by the student vote at Carleton and St. Olaf colleges, despite predictions that few undergrads would turn out for a special election held just as they returned to campus from winter break," the Star Tribune reported. "In the four Northfield precincts where most students vote, Dahle won nearly four times as many votes as Cox. His advantage there accounted for about two-thirds of his 1,600-vote victory margin."

Add this to the data on Millennials' civic-mindedness, and their votes for Obama, and I'm far more willing to believe that a fundamental shift has occurred in youth voting patterns. If young voters continue to consistently show up at the polls, then our nation's political landscape will be fundamentally altered.

Barack Obama's Micromarketing Campaign

Just as fascinating, however, is just how the Obama campaign got these Millennials to participate. As this Time magazine article makes clear, though it doesn't specifically identify it as such, the campaign used the peer-to-peer micro-targeting tactics described in the book Applebee's America to get out the vote.

The book details how the Bush campaign used sophisticated marketing tactics to identify and motivate new voters to cast their ballot for Bush. By layering typical demographic data with psychographic data, they could identify Bush voters with near certainty. Based on 30 some indicators such as magazine subscriptions, what television shows you watched, whether or not you owned a gun, or a boat, and a host of other lifestyle factors, the Bush campaign found new votes in areas that past campaigns ignored because they were considered Democratic turf.

After identifying your voters, you match up those voters with people like them from the campaign to convince them to support the candidate. Peer to peer. As the Time magazine article points out, the Obama campaign did precisely that: "Veterans call veterans, high school students call high school students and so forth."

Such a strategy makes plenty of sense on its face, but it is likely much more effective with Millennials. From pages 232-233 of Millennials Rising:

Millennial teens are very interested in voting--though less interested in actually pursuing politics or government as a career. They're deeply distrustful of the media. They get their political information less through the usual adult news sources than through comedy shows (candidate appearances on Jay Leno or David Letterman leave quite an impression), internet web sites and chat rooms, and--especially--conversations with one another. [Emphasis mine.]

The short of it is word-of-mouth marketing works best among Millennials because they trust one another more than they trust any other source.

Consider the recent Pew Internet & American Life Project Teens and Social Media survey. The study [PDF] about teens' use of social media reveals that the youths that are most active online, content creators, are also more likely to spend more face-time with their friends. By tapping into these teens new word-of-mouth networks, the Obama campaign is harnessing the youth who are most most savvy at, and the most likely to help, campaign online. They are naturals at using the ready-made online campaign infrastructure of social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. And they are using the very people who are most influential among their peers and the most likely to get their peers to the polls because they are organizers.

From a cultural standpoint, if Barack Obama's youth vote doesn't fail him--and we should find out if the trend continues tomorrow in New Hampshire--it will affect not only our political life but it will mark the beginning of the end of the Boomers' cultural dominance.

From a marketing point of view, the Obama campaign may provide a textbook case of micro-targeting, peer-to-peer lifestyle marketing in action.

New Word Of Mouth Networks - Teens Talk Online

I haven't fully digested the new Pew Internet & American Life Teens & Social Media report, but the summary makes clear that teens' online behavior is creating new networks that will require online word of mouth marketing to be an increasingly crucial tactic within overall Internet marketing strategies.

The Pew study shows that they are prolific online content creators:

• Of the 93% that are online, 64% of them have created content online.
• 39% of online teens share their creations online.
• 33% create or work on others' blogs or web sites, be it for friends, groups they belong to, or classroom assignments.
• 28% have created their own blog.
• 27% have a personal web site.
• 26% create mashups.
• 55% have created a social networking profile at sites like Facebook and MySpace.
• 47% have uploaded photos.
• 14% have posted video online.

Teens share their online content and that sharing builds the foundation of their word of mouth networks because that content is a virtual conversation starter. The Pew study found:

• 89% of teens who upload photos say that people post comments about those photos at least sometimes.
• 72% of video posters say those videos elicit comments at least sometimes.
• 76% of teens who use social networks say they leave comments on other people's blog posts.

It seems clear that teen marketing for the short term, and, as these kids grow up, overall Internet marketing for the long term, will depend upon tapping into these online word of mouth networks.

Social Bookmarking Demographics

In an article about social bookmarking in the Winter 07/08 issue of Search Marketing Standard, Joe Whyte cites Quantcast demographic data for some of the top bookmarking sites. This data is hard to come by, so it is valuable in helping to understand the respective services' audiences. Using eBizMBA's list of the top 30 social bookmarking sites, the following is a list of those sites with links to their demographic profiles at Quantacast:

1. Digg.com
2. Technorati.com
3. del.icio.us
4. Propeller.com
5. StumbleUpon
6. reddit.com
7. Fark.com
8. MyBlogLog.com
9. slashdot.org
10. kaboodle.com
11. Bloglines.com
12. newsvine.com
13. blinklist.com
14. netvouz.com
15. clipmarks.com
16. Furl.net
17. Mister-Wong
18. dzone.com
19. ma.gnolia.com
20. Tailrank.com
21. ShoutWire.com
22. simpy.com
23. BlogMarks.net
24. BlueDot.us
25. Spurl.net
26. Spotplex.com
27. linkswarm.com
28. Spotback.com
29. PlugIm.com
30. MyBookmarks.com

Facebook Demographics Slideshow

Forrester Research's Charlene Li has provided a Slideshare presentation on Facebook's demographics (found via Beth Kanter via Steve Rubel):

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Hispanics/Latinos Online

I've written before about the importance of identifying your audience and conducting market research to determine their attitudes and behavior before implementing any Internet marketing effort. Here's an example of what you can pull together with data that's freely available online:

Hispanic/Latino Americans Online Profile Summary

Hispanic Americans are increasingly going online; one third of them are 35 years of age or younger.  More than three-fourths of English speaking American Hispanics are online while only a third of Spanish-dominated Hispanic adults use the Internet. Only 43% of Hispanics born outside the US go online. Most US Hispanic Internet users are using a broadband connection. When they go online, they spend more time there than the general population.

While Hispanic Americans prefer Web sites in Spanish, it is essential for only a quarter of them. While most American Hispanic youth would like to see more Hispanics represented in the media, they are more likely to prefer English language media messages that are targeted at them than messages in Spanish.

Most US Hispanic Internet users believe the Internet is a great source for researching commercial products and services. A majority of US Hispanic video game enthusiasts (presumably preponderantly male) use the Internet for e-mail, instant messaging, and blogging. Yet US Hispanics in are less likely than the general population to use email.

American Hispanics' favorite Spanish-language portals are, in order, Yahoo Telemundo, MSN Latino, and AOL Latino. American Hispanics are more likely than the general population to visit music-related sites and more likely to watch online video. Most Hispanic Americans use Instant Messaging, share photos online, and read or post to blogs; more than a third use social networking sites and use a phone that is connected to the Internet.

Online Hispanic Americans are far more likely to own a mobile phone, a digital camera, or a video game console than the population in general. Online US Hispanics love to use their phones as communication devices beyond simple telephone calls. A majority of English-speaking American Hispanics use text-messaging and take photos on their phone. American Hispanics in general are far more likely than the general population to use text messaging and to take photos with their phone. They are three times more likely than non-Hispanic white to own a phone with a two-way "walkie talkie" feature.

Hispanic/Latino Americans Online - Size & Demographics

There were 16.7 million Hispanic Internet users in the United States in 2006, according to Department of Commerce 2003 projections. The number of users is expected to reach 20.9 million in 2010, approaching the number of African Americans online. An estimated 43 percent of the Hispanic population three years and older have access to the Internet in 2007. These data include both English and Spanish speakers. About one-third of American Hispanic Internet users are younger than 35 years old. People 24 and under represent 35% of all Hispanic online users, according to eMarketer's Hispanic Youth Online report.

According to a January 2006 comScore Media Metrix study, in 2005, there were 2.5 million Hispanic American Internet users between the ages of three and 17; there were three million Hispanic American Internet users between 18 and 24; and there were 3.6 million Hispanic American Internet users between 25 and 34 years of age.

According to a 2006 study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, among English-dominant Hispanics, 78% use the Internet. Among bilingual Hispanics, 76% use the Internet. Fewer than a third (32%) of Spanish-dominant Hispanic adults are Internet users. Among adult US Hispanic Internet users:

• 67% are 18-29 years old
• 61% are 30-41 years old
• 59% are 42-51 years old
• 42% are 52-60 years old
• 27% are 61-70 years old
• 17% are 71 years old or older

The Pew study shows that US Hispanics who are born outside the 50 states are less likely to go online. 76% of US Hispanics use the Internet compared with 43% of those who were born outside the US. Foreign-born Hispanics tend to be Spanish-dominant, bolstering the idea that language is a factor in Internet use.

Less than a third of anyone who did not graduate from high school use the Internet, regardless of ethnicity. Among Hispanics, 41% have not completed high school, according to the study. Hispanics from South America are most likely to be online (70%), while only 52% of Hispanics of Mexican descent use the Internet.

Among offline US Hispanics, the leading reasons for not using the Internet were:

• 53% did not have access
• 18% were not interested in Internet access
• 10% found going online too difficult or frustrating
• 6% said it was too expensive
• 5% said they were too busy or didn't have the time to go online

The "The AOL Latino 2006 Hispanic Cyberstudy" conducted by Synovate in September 2006 found that there are more than 16 million Hispanic Americans online, 55% of the total US Hispanic population. Of those online, 77% have broadband access.

According to Millie Carrasquillo of Telemundo, 80% of online Hispanics use broadband.

According to the "Chronicle" report by Mercanti Group, US Hispanic consumers have some of the largest disposable incomes of any minority group. Hispanic American buying power will grow to a projected $1.3 trillion in 2011, up from $838 billion in 2006.

Hispanic/Latino Americans' Consumer Attitudes & Media Consumption

According to a 2005 New American Dimensions survey on the attitudes of Hispanic American youths (14-29) toward the use of Spanish vs. English in media and marketing:

• 77% said that commercials needn't be in Spanish to address them as Hispanics
• 75% would like to see more Hispanic actors on English TV and in movies
• 69% would like to see more English-language television that is geared toward Hispanics
• 67% appreciate marketing that speaks to them as a bicultural Hispanic
• 63% would like more English-language commercials targeted at Hispanics
• 48% want more Spanish-language programming
• 40% want more Spanish-language commercials

According to the September 2006 "The AOL Latino 2006 Hispanic Cyberstudy" conducted by Synovate:

• 68% of Hispanic Internet users believe the Internet is the best source to make final purchase decisions on brands and products.
• 77% of Hispanic Internet users use the Internet to learn about brands and products.
• 72% use the Internet to compare product prices.

According to a July 2006 Roper Public Affairs study commissioned by AOL, US Hispanic Internet users believe the Internet is the best source of information for the following shopping activities:

• 74% think the Internet is the best source for finding out where the product they want to buy is available
• 69% think the Internet is the best source for learning about a product/service's available features and benefits
• 70% think the Internet is the best source for comparing prices
• 64% think the Internet is the best source for learning about available brands
• 63% think the Internet is the best source for advice on brands to buy

Hispanic Americans are more likely than Americans in general to say radio is the “most essential” media--24% vs. 17%''--according to recent research from Edison Media Research and Arbitron. They are also more likely than the general population to consider newspapers the least essential among major media, 40% vs. 30%. Hispanic Americans are more likely to consider the Internet the “most cool and exciting” medium--41% for Hispanics compared to 34% for the general population.

Hispanics are slightly more likely to tune in to radio for breaking news (14% vs. 10%) than the general population and they are more likely to listen to the radio while working: 52% vs. 44%.

Hispanic/Latino Americans' Lifestyle

According to BIGresearch's biannual survey, SIMM VII (Simultaneous Media Survey), of December 2005, among Hispanic Americans who chose video games as a leisure time activity they said they spend their free time in the following ways:

• 72.2% - Go to movies
• 72.9% - Listen to music
• 55.5% - Go shopping
• 52.4% - E-mail/instant messaging/blogging
• 42.1% - Play video games
• 41.5% - Go to amusement parks
• 25.7% - Camp/Fish/Hike/Hunt
• 35.1% - Exercise/jogging, etc.
• 32.3% - Go to bar/nightclub

Hispanic/Latino Americans' Technology Use

According to a November/December, 2006 study by Yahoo! Telemundo and Experian Simmons, online Hispanic Americans are far more likely to own a mobile phone, a digital camera, or a video game console than the population in general:

• 90% own a mobile phone compared to 79% among the general population
• 79% own a digital camera compared to 53% of the general population
• 66% own a video game console compared to 52% of the general population

According to a Telephia survey conducted in the first quarter of 2006, Hispanics made up only 10% of total wireless subscribers but 23% of mobile TV subscribers.

According to a Pew Internet & American Life Project April 2006 survey:

• 54% of English-speaking Hispanics send and receive text messages
• 56% of English-speaking Hispanics take pictures with their phone
• 40% of English-speaking Hispanics play games on their phone
• 29% of English-speaking Hispanics use the Internet on their phone
• 16% of English-speaking Hispanics play music on their phone

Hispanic Americans are are significantly more likely to own an iPod--24% vs. 18%--than Americans in general, according to research from Edison Media Research and Arbitron.

Hispanic/Latino Americans' Online Behavior

Half of Hispanic adults said that they are online at least monthly, up from 45% 2006, according to Forrester Research's "When to Build a Spanish-Language Web Site" report. A comScore Media Metrix study showed that Hispanics spent an average of 88.1 minutes online per day, while the general online population spent 81.7 minutes per day during December 2006.

According to a November/December, 2006 study by Yahoo! Telemundo and Experian Simmons, online Hispanic Americans are far more likely to take photos with their mobile phone and use text messaging than the population in general:

• 61% take photos with their mobile phone compared to 28% of the general population
• 66% use text messaging compared to 38% of the general population

A March 2006 comScore Media Metrix study found that the top growing category during the past year among Hispanics was Classifieds, which experienced a 51-percent jump in traffic to 3.1 million visitors. U.S. Hispanics also increased their visitation to categories related to the immigration issue. Traffic to online radio sites--many of which feature related news reports--saw a 40 percent increase to 3.5 million visitors in March. The Politics category also saw a traffic surge, reaching 460,000 visitors (up 33 percent). U.S. Hispanics showed greater interest in travel-related web content--perhaps as they planned to travel to immigration protests and rallies. Traffic to Hotels/Resorts sites jumped 32 percent to 2.5 million visitors, while Map sites increased by the same percentage to 5.6 million visitors.

Top Growing Categories Among U.S. Hispanics - March 2006 vs. March 2005:

• Classifieds - 54% growth
• Multimedia - 44% growth
• Radio - 40% growth
• Religion - 39% growth
• Online Trading - 36% growth
• Politics - 33% growth
• Hotels/Resorts - 32% growth
• Maps - 32% growth
• Pharmacy - 31% growth
• Sports - 31% growth

According to a May/June 2005 study by Solutions Research Group, 28% of Hispanic Americans have downloaded a ringtone to their phone; 52% of Hispanic Americans have sent or received a text message in the past month.

According to a July 2005 Yankelovich Monitor study, 16% of Hispanic Americans 16 or older own a cell phone with Internet access while 15% said they planned to buy one in the next 12 months. Sprint is the most popular service provider among Hispanic mobile phone subscribers, possibly due to the popularity of Nextel's "walkie-talkie" two-way radios among Hispanics. According to Yankelovich data from September 2005, Hispanic phone buyers are three-times as likely as non-Hispanic whites to own a two-way, and more than three times more likely to intend to purchase one. Sprint acquired Nextel in early 2005.

According to a Compete Inc. study, Hispanic shoppers are more likely to look online for music-enabled phones than other shoppers and Hispanic mobile phone users are more likely to purchase downloadable content for their phones, like ring- and ring-back and graphics.

BIGresearch's December 2005 Simultaneous Media Survey (SIMM VII) reported that Yahoo (telemundo.yahoo.com) has greatest percentage of Hispanic users with 13.8 percent, followed by MSN (latino.msn.com) with 8.8 percent and AOL (latino.aol.com) with 7.8 percent.

A December 2005 Forrester Research study found that Hispanic Americans are twice as likely (41%) as the rest of the population (18%) to visit online music sites. Hispanic American adults are also more likely to watch video online (23%) than the general population (17%).

But the Forrester study also found that Hispanic Americans are less likely to use e-mail, with just 61% sending and receiving messages, compared with 97% of other Americans.

A slim majority of online Hispanic-Americans prefer to be offered Spanish-language Web sites, according to Forrester Research's "When to Build a Spanish-Language Web Site" report. A quarter of online Hispanic-Americans said that Web sites they visit must be in Spanish.

A September 2005 Yankelovich Monitor study found:

• 39% of Hispanic Americans research products online before buying, compared to 39% of African Americans who do and 48% of non-Hispanic whites who do.
• 29% of Hispanic Americans purchase products or services online, compared to 32% of African Americans who do and 40% of non-Hispanic whites who do.
• 26% of Hispanic Americans purchase airline tickets online, compared to 27% of African Americans who do and 33% of non-Hispanic whites who do.
• 20% of Hispanic Americans bid on items at auction sites like eBay, compared to 18% of African Americans who do and 24% of non-Hispanic whites who do.
• 9% of Hispanic Americans sell items at auction sites like eBay, compared to 12% of African Americans who do and 10% of non-Hispanic whites who do.

According to a September 2005 Feedback Research study, 54% of US Spanish-speaking Internet users had purchased something online, while 45% said that their use of the Internet for shopping and/or purchasing products or services would increase over the next year. American Spanish-speaking online shoppers more likely to use portals (53% compared to 35%) and 69% favored Spanish language sites when shopping online; 49% said they were more likely to buy a product from a Spanish language site.

According to the September 2006 "The AOL Latino 2006 Hispanic Cyberstudy" conducted by Synovate 48% of online Hispanic Americans visit news sites (music, weather, health and travel Web sites are also popular). Additionally:

• 68% of online Hispanic Americans use instant messaging
• 63% of online Hispanic Americans share photos online
• 52% of online Hispanic Americans read or post to blogs
• 43% of online Hispanic Americans visit social networking sites
• 40% of online Hispanic Americans talk on a phone using the Internet

Study: Small Bloggers

Figures. As I was buried deep in writing my Online Political Advertising post yesterday, which discussed the important role of bloggers in diseminating political ideas, The Pew Internet & American Life Project released the results of a survey of bloggers that reinforces some of the points yesterday's post. It also is the first study to take a look at long-tail bloggers whose audience is only a handful of family and friends.

The New York Times quoted the director of the project, Lee Rainie, in today's paper:

“This is a decent portrait of the long tail of the blogosphere. These are the average, everyday folks who blog. They are different from the A-list bloggers who get so much media attention. This is the first attempt or one of the first attempts at a representative sample of bloggers.”

Also from that story:

Among the report’s findings was that while many well-known blogs are political in nature, 37 percent of bloggers use them as personal journals. Among other popular topics were politics and government (11 percent), entertainment (7 percent), sports (6 percent) and general news and current events (5 percent). Only 34 percent of bloggers considered blogging a form of journalism, and most were heavy Internet users.

Finally, the survey also interestingly found that bloggers are less white than the general Internet population. Sixty percent of bloggers are are white compared to 74 percent of the Internet; 11 percent are African-American, 19 percent are Hispanics who speak English, and 10 percent are members of another race.

Microsoft AdCenter Labs Demographic Search Tool

Microsoft adCenter Labs has released a proof of concept demographics prediction tool that allows you to get demographic data for a given search phrase or URL. From the site:

You can use adCenter technology to predict a customer’s age, gender, and other demographic information according to his or her online behavior—that is, from search queries and webpage views.

Every search I tried only returned gender and age statistics. Though the site is silent on the subject, I assume the demographic data is culled from MSN and Microsoft's registered users. Right now, it's a more interesting than useful tool but I could see it becoming a very valuable tool if they add different types of demographic data and couple that with search behavior profiles for those demographic groups.

Online Video Usage

The growing popularity of online video has been pretty obvious to me for a while, but now we have confirmation from comScore's new Online Video Metrix service. That fact alone--that they felt compelled to offer an online video measuring service--should speak volumes.

But they offer the statistics and demographics of online video use, as well:

• The number of people who watch video online grew 18% between October 2005 and March 2006.
• In March, Americans streamed video 3.7 billion times.
• On average, they watched 100 minutes of video each month; that compares with 85 minutes in October.
• Men accounted for 52% of those streams and women 48%.
• Men averaged  two hours of video viewing a month while women averaged an hour and twenty mintues.
• Men between 18 and 24 years of age were the most voracious video viewers, averaging 140 minutes of online video viewing.
• 16% of video consumption occurs during prime time and 22% occurs on the weekend.
• 42% watch video from an entertainment site and about 33% watch it from a portal.
• People spend about an hour a month watching video at work.

“Video consumption on the Web is rapidly approaching the tipping point for advertisers,” said Peter Daboll, president and CEO of comScore Media Metrix. “With two-thirds of consumers accessing the Internet from home using a broadband connection, and publishers continuing to innovate by using the latest technologies to deliver content in a way that engages users, video consumption is poised to become a standard part of the online experience for a majority of consumers. Advertisers will increasingly seek opportunities to reach broad and frequently elusive markets, and do so with a level of engagement and richness that has not previously been available online.”

Technorati tags: online video use | internet video usage | online video demographics | online video statistics | internet video marketing | online video marketing

Map Of Religious Denominations In The US

We hear a lot about values and faith-based communities but usually it is in a polarized political context, so it's easy to tune it out. But there's no denying that one's religious outlook informs much of how a person views any other issue. It is important, therefore, for marketers to understand the religious context within which they are marketing.

For a course called American Ethinic Geography at Valparaiso University  Professor Jon T. Kilpinen provides a map gallery that illustrated the "cultural mosaic" of the United States by overlaying population density data for different groups by geographic region. There are maps for ethnic groups, cultural regions, religion, language, politics, and socio-economics.

The maps are a fantastic tool for anyone who wants to understand the geographic region within which they are marketing.

Or the political landscape. For example, the map showing the distribution of members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America helps to explain North Dakota's legislature's recent bill outlawing abortion.

These maps are fascinating for anyone interested in the demographics of the United States but they are also an invaluable marketing tool.

Technorati tags: demographics | demographic maps

Google AdWords Adds Demographic Targeting

Google has added a demographic targeting feature to their AdWords search engine advertising program. The AdWords site tool allows you to pick your preferences in up to three different demographics and it will then analyze your preferences and give you a list of sites within the Google Network whose audience matches your demographic preferences.

The demographic data Google relies upon comes from comScore Media Metrix.

Technorati tags: google | google adwords | demographic targeting | online advertising | internet advertising | comscore | comscore media metrix

Online Videos - Demographics

If you haven't yet noticed, online video has really taken off this year and it has everything to do with the success of Apple's video iPod. Once Apple introduced the product and announced that NBC would offer TV shows for download to the iPod at $1.99 a pop, the floodgates opened.

In January Apple CEO Steve Jobs revealed that more than the company had sold more than 8 million videos through iTunes between October 12 and December 31, 2005. Apple sold 14 million iPods in Q4 of 2005; that's more in one quarter than in all the years before 2005 combined. They ended the calendar year with 32 million iPods sold.

Suddenly, it seems, video is everywhere online. New video sites have popped up and we're looking anew at some online video veterans. The reason for this renassaince is two fold: We crossed the 50% threshold this year of American online broadband adoption and streaming video technology has gotten better. It just works. No more buffering or stuttering video; no more frozen frames; no more waiting; no more overly compressed pictures. By and large, online video  works as you'd expect video to work and it looks good!

At video search engines such as YouTube, Revver and Singingfish, at such longstanding online video sites like IFILM  and AtomFilms, and at Google, Yahoo, and MSN.com, visitors can watch streaming video and in some instances they can download video to their iPods or PSPs or grab code to paste the video into their blogs or web sites. At sites like YouTube and IFILM you can even upload your own video to share and Google and Revver even allows you to charge for downloads.

These sites are opening a distribution channel for a great deal of untapped creative potential and, in Google's case, giving it a marketplace. Though, as this New York Times piece points out, the quality is sometimes spotty. Their sharing features are driving a new form of viral marketing.

Count me as a converted skeptic of the viability of video on the tiny screen. I couldn't fathom that anyone would watch a feature-length film on such a tiny screen. Until I bought a Playstation Portable, that is, and watched one myself. The quality is nothing short of stunning.

If you have video assets in your organization, you should give serious thought to exploiting these new distribution channels.

Online Video Use & Demographics

In December 2005, ComScore released data from a survey of 1.5 million American consumers they conducted in August 2005 on behalf of StreamingMedia.com.

The survey found that the 35 to 54 year old age group accounted for more than 45% of all online videos watched in August 2005.  That age group is 12% more likely than the average Internet user to watch video online.

The survey also found:

• More than 100 million people use online digital media (either streams or downloads) in the United States in a month, representing nearly 60% of the American online population.
• Video use crosses all dayparts and demographics; the primtime and daytime dayparts are particularly strong.
• Nearly two-thirds of all American Internet users in August 2005 streamed audio or video through a portal and nearly 50% did so from an entertainment site.
• More than 17% of Amerrican Internet users streamed digital media from a music site.
• 15% streamed contnent from a retail site.

In October 2005, ComScore released results of their Media Metrix Online Video Ratings which they conducted in June 2005. In June, more than 94 million Americans (56% of the American online population). From April to June 2005, the average online American viewed 73 minutes of streaming video per month.

The June 2005 study also found:

• Male surfers account for 61% of all video streamers
• Men and women spend practically the same amount of time watching online video (72.4 minutes per month for men and 70.6 minutes for women).
• The 18-34 year old male American views 84 minutes of online video per month.
• For June 2005, the daytime daypart (10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) had the most streaming activity with 18 streams per viewer.
• The Late Night daypart (1 a.m. to 7 a.m.) was the second most active time of the day with 17 streams per viewer.
• The Late Fringe daypart (11 p.m. to 1 a.m. had 15 streams per viewer.

Online Video Sites

• Google Video - Video search engine
• Yahoo! Video - Video search engine
• MSN Video  - Video search engine
• AOL Video  - Video search engine
• Singingfish  - Video search engine
• Truveo - Video search engine
• blinkx.tv - Video search engine
• YouTube -  Video sharing  site
• Revver  -  Video sharing site
• Vimeo - Video sharing site
• Ourmedia - Video sharing site
• Stupidvideos.com - Video sharing site
• Video Bomb - Video sharing site
• IFILM - Indie film site
• AtomFilms - Indie film site

Technorati tags: ipod | video ipod | online video | internet video | streaming video | video search engines | internet video use | online video use | internet video demographics | online video demographics | viral marketing

Valentine's Day Consumer Attitudes

Gender Differences On Valentine's Day

Yeah, I know, Valentine's Day is over, get on with it, already! Indulge me one last time and file this away for next year's Valentine's Day sales season.

The comparison shopping engine Shopzilla released the results of a survey conducted on their behalf by Bizrate Research of 981 online buyers that shows, not surprisingly, that lonely women get more depressed than married women on Valentine's Day. Big surprise, huh?  The only thing here is that I don't believe anyone every tried to measure it before.

Thirty-five precent of widowed women get depressed on Valentine's Day; 25% of single women and 25% of divorced or separated women do; and only 13% of married women get depressed on Valentine's Day.

The survey explains that Valentine's Day depresses many women because they consider themselves more romantic than men (73% versus 64%), and that the holiday is more important to them (85%) than it is to men (73%). Nealry all women (90%) think that romance is at least moderately important on Valentine's Day and 71% say that their expectations have been let down on the holiday. Twenty-five percent of  women have been dissatisfied with their significant other's Valentine's Day gift.

Seventy-eight percent of women would feel comfortable buying themselves a Valentine's Day gift if there were single compared to only 57% of men who would do so; forty percent of women say they have bought themselves a Valentine's Day gift while only 12% of men have.

Purchasing Behavior & Gift Preferences

A Discovery Card Valentine's Day Shopping Survey finds that men will outspend (averaging $127) women (averaging $74) on Valentine's Day gifts. Women's lower spending is partly explained by the fact that 40% said that coupons/rebates would play a role in their Valentine's Day shopping decisions, compared to only 35% of men who would take bargains into consideration.

Most men (71%) planned on giving their significant other a night out on Valentine's Day while 66% planned to give flowers. Conversely, most women (53%) planned on buying entertainment products for their men.

Sixty-two percent of both men and women hoped to receive a night out on the town from their significant other. That's where they part ways in preferred gifts. Men want entertainment products (45%) and candy (26%) while women want flowers (55%) and jewelry (44%).

The Discovery Card survey also found:

• Most people (65%) will make their purchase a week in advance of Valentine's Day but one in ten men will wait until February 14.
• More than a third of women (39%) planned on spending nothing on their significant others for the holiday.
• 22% of men and 15% of women planned to buy their Valentine's Day gift online.
• 53% of both men and women said they'd use a debit or credit card to buy their Valentine's Day gifts.

Technorati tags: valentine's day | valentine | gifts | ecommerce | consumer behavior | consumer insights | surveys

College Students Shopping Online

Late last month, Experience, Inc., a career services provider, released the results of a survey of college-educated 18 to 34 year-olds' online shopping behavior. Experience claims that 18 to 34 year-olds are responsible for $175 billion in annual consumer spending.

The survey found that 98% of college students have bought a product or service online.

They conduct online research before buying:

• Less than one hour of research: 27%
• 1-2 hours of research: 53%
• 3-5 hours of research: 17%
• Six or more hours of research: 3%

The report states that "Because college students spend a significant amount of time online researching products and services before purchasing, when they do purchase, they do it online."

Perhaps. It would be interesting to know what they were buying online. I'd be wiling to bet that college students are primarily small ticket buyers online: Books, music, web site subscriptions, etc., and that might explain why most spend little time doing online research. It doesn't take a lot of research to determine if you want to buy a book or some music.

I'd also be willing to bet that there's a strong correlation between the amount of time spent researching a product online and the price of the product. That is, people will conduct much more thorough and extensive research for a big-ticket item such as a car or an HDTV and that the larger the price, the less likely they will be to buy the item online.

The report also states that 18 to 34 year-olds respond to online advertising. More than 50% said they have bought a product or service based on an online ad and 34% said Internet ads were the most influential way to motivate them to learn more about a product or service.

What types of online ads will most appeal to this group?

1. Sponsored link related to the content they are reading, 41%
2. A contest or promotion offering value, 34%
3. Personalization based on their pofile or online behavior, 17%

Technorati tags: college students | online advertising | internet advertising | online shopping | ecommerce | online sales | online research | online behavior

Valentine's Day Sales

Constant Contact's survey of business owners, "2006 Small Business Valentine's Day Outlook," shows that most respondents feeling rosy about the Valentine's Day sales season:  55%  expected strong sales  leading up to February 14th, while 71% were expecting healthy online sales. Fifty-one percent said that Valentine's Day was an important holiday for their business.

Seventy percent planned on promoting Valentine's Day offers through the following methods:

1. Email markeing, 76%
2. Online marketing, 49%
3. Direct mail, 25%
4. Flyers, 25%
5. Advertising (TV/Radio/Newspaper), 16%

Thirty-two percent of small business owners expected customers to spend less than $25 on Valentine's Day gifts; 35% expected them to spend between $25 and $50; 14% expected customers to spend between $50 and $75; 9% expected them to spend between $75 and $100; and 10% expected customers to spend more than $100.

Small business owners believed that flowers would be by far the most popular gift bought by their customers:

1. Flowers, 59%
2. Jewelry, 21%
3. Chocolates, 16%
4. Clothing, 4%