2009 could, in some ways, be considered the Year of the Social Networks. Media platforms like Twitter grew at tremendous rates. Just three years ago, Myspace was the leading social network in the US – with a 54% market share at the time of social network memberships.
In 2009, Twitter grew at amazing rates. As of September 2009, the number of user accounts for Twitter was just over 50 million. Even considering that, though, in 2009, Facebook maintained the largest market share of social networks with 46%:
And how does this relate to you as an author? Quite a bit, in fact, if you consider who your target audience is and what their habits on social networks are. According to the SheSpeaks Second Annual Media Study (pdf), 86% of women have a profile on a social network. In 2008, that number measured at 58%. With only 14% of women NOT logged in to a network somewhere, you can’t afford not to be a part of social networks. In addition, 50% of those women have purchased something based on information on social networking sites and 40% report they’ve used coupons found on these networks.
In 2010, I imagine that is only going to increase at social networks not only become bigger, but easier to access. With so many companies blocking access at work, people are turning to their phones to access their favorite social network. Which means that at any time of the day, anywhere, your target audience could be tuning into their networks.
But how do you decide where to spend your time? And how exactly DO you best spend your time on these sites? Each person is different, but I primarily use Facebook and Twitter. Facebook is where I connect mostly with my friends, old friends from the past. I use Facebook mostly for fun. Twitter is where I tend to be more focused on the industry at hand. Apparently, my habits aren’t that unusual. According to Aliza Freud, founder and CEO of SheSpeaks, “Facebook serves women’s need to interact with friends and share photos, while Twitter has become a tool that is primarily used for professional networking and learning about up-to-the-minute news, promotions and deals.”
So how big a part of your world is social networking? How much time do you spend there? Do you foresee yourself making it a larger part of your marketing efforts in 2010?
6 comments
Hi, Jeannie! I’m finally crawling out from under my rock. 😉 I tend to use twitter much more than Facebook. I’ve found it a great way to network and keep up with industry people I follow and/or are friends with in RL. Facebook, though I’m sure many will disagree, seems much more spammy. I’m not interested in the games, most of the causes, or the virtual gifts. I have a MySpace page but I haven’t updated it in forever nor kept up with people there. I also sporadically maintain a LiveJournal account, in addition to my author’s blog on my website. There’s only so much time in the day available for social networking so I tend to gravitate toward the ones I find most appealing.
Come March, April, and June, I may have to rethink things as embark on promotion for FAERIE FATE. I’m curious about other’s opinions on this. Great topic! (As always!!!)
Hey Silver! Happy 2010!
One GREAT thing I’ve learned about Facebook that helps on time suck tremendouly — on the wall section, there is a “hide” option. You can choose to hide someone’s updates, and that includes applications. So if someone constantly posts “Mafia Wars” (or any other application or game) updates on your page, you can choose to hide all updates from that application. I use that option quite a bit, and it’s made my Facebook experience much faster AND enjoyable.
Until recently I’ve only used email lists. Primarily yahoo. A few months ago I subscribed to MySpace and fiddled around with designing the page. I didn’t see much benefit and no sales I could attribute to it. About a month ago I subscribed to Facebook and Twitter.
I hope you get a lot of comments on this topic as I’d like to hear what others have experienced
HI Jeannie!
I have both a twitter and a facebook account. I use facebook to find authors to interview and follow (in the non-stalkerish manner though! lol) Twitter is the one I seem to neglect as a tool for promoting. I can’t seem to remember to go there. So, I taped a post-it to remind me!
I have the perfect model for Ms. Freuds stats- my mom. That sweet lady is on facebook 24/7!! It’s really too funny. 🙂
Hi Lavada,
Email lists are still a big contributor, too. I think in the coming months, I’m going to do some blog posts on comparing the various forms on interactive communication with readers, from social networks to email lists to email newsletters… anything I’ve forgotten that you’d like more info and input on?
Sarah, I get a kick out of seeing the parents of my friends on Facebook. (Given that I’m in my late thirties. LOL)
I think with any social networking tool, you have to respect the community feel. Twitter is very IM-like, social conversations. You have to really get involved in conversations to make it an effective way to get your name out there. I think of Twitter as more of a brand/name recognition builder — getting involved so more people know who you are and find your comments interesting. I’m not a big fan of promoting things like blog posts and such on twitter. I tend to ignore them when I see them – I’m more interested in people’s thoughts and witty 140 word statements. LOL