Social Persuasion Book Fact Sheet

Key points from the book, Social Persuasion: Making Sense of Social Media for Small Business

• "Two-thirds of the world Internet population participates in social networking or blogging sites. This utilization represents almost 10% of all Internet time around the world." (Nielson, 2008)
  
• People are spending more of their personal time online with their social networks than checking or writing email. (PC World, 3/2009)
  
• "Despite the fact that 77 percent of business technology decision-makers engage with social media on the job, most B2B marketers are not effectivley using social technologies to influence the purchasing decisions of their customers." (Forrester Research, 2/23/09)
  
• Social sites have become more than a destination for socializing. They've evolved "into a portal or starting point for many online sessions." (Hitwise, Experian 3/2008)
  
• While the majority still begin their searches at search engines and portals, roughly 18% start with a social site. (NielsonWire, 10/5/2009)
  
• "...consumers rely on various types of social media websites as much as company websites for brand and product information." (DEI Worldwide 2008)
  
• "Even though one quarter of the people on a social network has recommended a business or product, only 18% have acted upon a recommendation." (Workplace Media, 5/2009)
  
• Social media has not proven as effective for company branding as for personal branding, because social media participants often ignore ads. A majority of respondents to a recent study said their opinion of a brand doesn't change if it has no presence on a social ntetowrking site. Only 12% said it would. (Workplace Media, 5/2009)
  
• In another study, "56% say they feel a stronger connection with and better served by companies when they can interact with them in a social media environment." (Opinion Research Corporation, 2008) Giving customers the ability to communicate directly with a company helps build loyalty. ...The positive experiences can also turn customers into company advocates.
  
• Entertainment industry websites "are among the top beneficiaries of upstream traffic from [niche social networking sites] outside of search, email and other social networking websites. Education and sports follow... ." (Hitwise, Experian 3/2008)
  
• Although not the majority, the fastest growing user group is aged 55 and over. What this means for businesses is that social media may become as necessary for reaching most audiences as having a website.
  
• More and more people are accessing social networks via mobile. It's second only in popularity to news and information as the reason for accessing the Internet via handsets. (ComScore, 3/2009)
  

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