Online Real Estate Technology

US adults 50 and older have increased their social networking use from 22% to 42% in the past year, according to data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Half of Adults 50-64 Use SocNets
Half (47%) of internet users ages 50-64 and one in four (26%) users age 65 and older now use social networking sites.

Young adult internet users ages 18-29 continue to be the heaviest users of social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, with 86% saying they use the sites.

Adults 65 and Up Double SocNet Adoption
During the past year, the growth of social networking adoption among internet users ages 18-29 paled in comparison with the gains made by older users. Between April 2009 and May 2010, internet users ages 50-64 who said they use a social networking site like MySpace, Facebook or LinkedIn grew 88%, and those ages 65 and older grew 100% in their adoption of the sites; compared with a growth rate of 13% for those ages 18-29.

Older Adults Increasingly Share Daily Updates
The use of Twitter and other services to share status updates has also grown among older users, most notably among those ages 50-64. While just 5% of users ages 50-64 had used Twitter or another status update service in 2009, 11% now say they use these tools. On a typical day, 6% of online adults ages 50-64 make Twitter a part of their routine, up from the 1% who did so in 2009.

One in five (20%) adults ages 50-64 say they use social networking sites on a typical day, up from 10% one year ago. Likewise, 13% of online adults ages 65 and older log on to social networking sites, compared with just 4% who did so in 2009.

Older Adults Maintain Interest in Email, Online News
Overall, 92% of those ages 50-64 and 89% of those ages 65 and older send or read email and more than half of each group exchanges email messages on a typical day. Online news gathering also ranks highly in the daily media habits of older adults; 76% of internet users ages 50-64 get news online, and 42% do so on a typical day. Among internet users ages 65 and older, 62% look for news online and 34% do so on a typical day.

Americans Get News on Multiple Platforms
The overwhelming majority of Americans (92%) use multiple platforms to get news on a typical day, according to other recent findings from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Americans get their news from a combination of on- and offline sources, including national TV, local TV, the internet, local newspapers, radio, and national newspapers. Six in ten Americans (59%) get news from a combination of online and offline sources on a typical day, and the internet is now the third most popular news platform, behind local television news and national television news.

About the Data: The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project surveyed 2,252 US adults 18 and older between April 29-May 30, 2010.

A growing audience of experienced, less-easily shocked, outspoken consumers appreciate brands that are a little bit more daring and outspoken, according to consumer insights firm trendwatching.com.

The Rise of ‘Maturialism’
trendwatching.com has dubbed this growing consumer trend “Maturialism.” According to trendwatching.com, consumers of today no longer tolerate being treated like yesteryear’s easily shocked, inexperienced, middle-of-the-road consumers. Able to handle much more honest conversations, unusual flavors and risqué experiences, these consumers increasingly appreciate brands that are pushing the boundaries a bit.

Maturialism Part of ‘Brand Fabric’
trendwatching.com deems maturialism as part of a larger social trend it calls “Brand Fabric,” which is defined as brands truly needing to focus on how to move with the culture. In addition to pushing boundaries, Brand Fabric also entails serving customers in an innovative manner, recognizing the increasing sophistication and intelligence of the modern consumer, transparency and authenticity.

‘Casual Collapse’ Fuels Maturialism
Casual collapse, or the ongoing demise of many beliefs, rituals, formal requirements and laws that modern societies once held, without predicted social annihilation, is a key driver of maturialism. Modern consumers are bored, if not distrustful, of the conventional consumer-producer relationship, and now look for brands and products that are more authentic, more human, and quite simply more mature.

In emerging consumer societies, there’s an obvious link between the broad spread of more liberal attitudes and increasing urbanization. As new arrivals are ‘liberated’ from traditional social and familial structures, and are exposed to a wider range of alternative goods, services, lifestyles and experiences, their tolerance to (if not their interest in) these alternatives grow. trendwatching.com advises that casual collapse happens at a very slow pace.

Online Culture Supports Maturialism
More than 2 billion people worldwide are online. The resulting ‘online culture’ is intense and uninhibited. Mature consumers are uninterested in sanitized corporate websites and seek a more real online experience. Live, unscripted online events and webcasts that go beyond the limits imposed on TV broadcasts are two methods brands can use to take advantage of the mature online culture.

Status Shifts toward Maturialism
Sources of status in mature consumer societies are moving beyond conspicuous consumption (see below). Increasingly sophisticated, increasingly wealthy, increasingly urban consumers are more try-out-prone, more demanding and more daring as they search for the next big thing to impress or discuss with people.

Constantly exposed to, and increasingly tolerant of and enamored by modernity, today’s mature consumers positively embrace innovation, creativity and unconventionality when it comes to consuming products, services and experiences.

trendwatching.com further advises that pure shock without innovation or thought behind it is never a successful marketing device.

Status Moves Beyond Consumption
The definition of status is diversifying and moving beyond simple consumption, according to a previous trend briefing from trendwatching.com.

Although the need for status is at the heart of every consumer trend, in mature consumer societies (such as the US), consumers are moving beyond owning the most and/or priciest items, according to Status is now also tied to less tangible symbols such as acquired skills, eco-credentials, connectivity and generosity.

Despite this shift, trendwatching.com says the lust for luxury will continue, especially in emerging consumer markets such as Brazil and Russia. In addition, consumers want to be “in the know,” to have deep and trivial knowledge they can share with less knowledgeable colleagues to gain status. Mobile applications that provide locations and other information serve this growing status need.

It’s been four months since Twitter announced its long-awaited Promoted Tweets advertising platform, so it seems a good time to assess the service’s initial campaigns.

Early participants included Virgin America, NBC Universal’s Bravo and Red Bull. Virgin America used Promoted Tweets to announce an expansion into Toronto and a 50%-off promotion for the first 500 travelers who flew from two California airports into the Canadian city. Adweek reported that the promotion sold out in 3 hours.

Bravo used Promoted Tweets to highlight an Earth Day promotion whereby consumers were invited to find out their “green IQ” on NBC Universal’s website. In 2 hours, the promotion hit 300 retweets, the maximum allowed under the program. And by the end of the first day, Bravo had received an estimated 200,000 impressions, according to a company representative. Red Bull did not provide metrics but reported “engagement rates … higher than typical cost-per-click and CPM advertising.”

It all sounds positive, but to put these numbers in perspective, 500 tickets does not seem like a huge volume for an airline the size of Virgin America, especially considering that the routes involved the most populous state in the US and the largest city in Canada.

The same could be said of Bravo’s promotion. Its site received more than 1.1 million unique visitors in May 2010, according to Compete. That 300 of them retweeted the Earth Day promotion does not point to a huge success. And the company did not give details of what it meant by “impressions.” Similarly, Red Bull’s statement of high “engagement rates” was nonspecific. And none of the companies revealed how much they spent on the promotion.

All of this translates to a service that’s flapping its wings but has yet to take flight. When you consider that Facebook is on track to produce $1.3 billion in ad revenue this year, Twitter has lots of catching up to do to monetize its audience.

But there is hope. The three top motivators for US Twitter users to follow companies are to get updates on future products, to stay informed about the activities of a company and to receive discounts and promotions, according to an ExactTarget study. If brand marketers can use Promoted Tweets creatively to achieve these goals, they will find a receptive audience at the other end of the Twitter stream.

Twitter also launched its @earlybird Exclusive Offers program. This is a Twitter account that tweets limited-time deals and discounts from participating advertisers to users who follow the account. Twitter has teamed up with some of its potential competitors in the online deal space, including Groupon and Gilt Groupe.

Disney used @earlybird to promote its film release “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” The movie opened July 16 to mostly negative reviews and is already considered a flop, so it’s not a good barometer of the effectiveness of @earlybird to get the word out about a film premiere, or any other product launch for that matter.

A better gauge of @earlybird’s early momentum is the number of followers. In its first month as an active account, it has already racked up 164,000. As more companies experiment with the service, some of them are bound to hit pay dirt. This should create a virtuous cycle of more consumers jumping on board, thereby enlarging the addressable audience for future promotions.

The question is whether Twitter can use these platforms to transform itself from a social phenomenon to a revenue generator before its investors run out of patience. It will take some big success stories to turn these baby steps into giant strides.

Computer security firm Sophos on Monday warned that scammers are duping Facebook users with a bogus "Dislike" button that slips malicious software onto machines.

There is no "Dislike" version of the "Like" icon that members of the world’s top social networking website use to endorse online comments, stories, pictures or other content shared with friends.

Hackers are enticing Facebook users to install an application pitched as a "Dislike" button that jokingly notifies contacts at the social networking service "now I can dislike all of your dumb posts".

Once granted permission to access a Facebook user’s profile, the application pumps out spam from the account and spreads itself by inviting the person’s friends to get the button, according to Sophos.

The ruse was described as the latest in an ongoing stream of tricks that includes baiting booby-trapped links with messages including "the biggest and scariest snake" and "world’s worst McDonald’s customer".

6.7% of all US online ad spending to go toward social networks this year

Social network advertising is getting renewed attention in 2010. The US’s gradual economic recovery, combined with marketers’ incessant focus on reaching consumers in social media, has led companies to make big increases in social network ad spending in the first half of 2010.

eMarketer estimates US advertisers will spend $1.68 billion on social networking sites this year, a more than 20% increase over 2009. Spending will rise even further by 2011 to more than $2 billion.

In December 2009, eMarketer forecast $1.3 billion in social network ad spending for 2010. Strong performance from online ad spending in general, and Facebook in particular, has resulted in the increased forecast.

Facebook will receive half of all social network ad spending in the US while MySpace continues to diminish in importance. Twitter, which finally launched its ad business earlier this year, is incorporated into eMarketer’s forecast for the first time. While spending on the microblogging service will be low in 2010, the potential for 2011 and beyond could be dramatic if it proves that its “resonance” model of measuring advertising effectiveness works.

Spending on social network advertising will grow even more quickly elsewhere in the world. In 2010, eMarketer estimates just over half of social network ad spending worldwide will come from the US, but 2011 will bring a reversal in that proportion.

Another important development in the social network space is the role of online social games and applications. Advertising is not a primary revenue stream for game companies such as Zynga or Playdom, but their large audiences are drawing the interest of marketers. eMarketer expects such companies will attract $293 million in spending worldwide in 2011, up from $220 million in 2010.

Venues and relationships affect how social media users perceive advice

One thing that makes social media marketing powerful is consumers’ trust in “people like them”—their friends, family and other online peers. Marketers want to tap into that trust through the power of earned media or by engaging in a conversation with consumers, but where social conversations take place has an effect on their perceived trustworthiness as well as who is taking part in them.

A study of frequent social media users by market research firm Invoke Solutions found that the most trusted information was posted by people respondents knew. But blog posts were more likely to be trusted “completely” than posts on Facebook, and trust dropped off sharply when it came to Twitter, even among friends.

Postings by brands or companies were trusted less, but levels were similar whether companies posted to Facebook or blogs. Online community sites did not hold the same trustworthiness as Facebook or blogs, whether postings were made by companies or fellow members, and respondents had an even more skeptical eye for independent bloggers. And across all categories of content creator, Twitter streams were trusted less than other media.

Asked to rate what was most important to making social sites trustworthy, users’ top concerns were that the dialogue be open to both positive and negative comments, the quality of content and the responsiveness of the content creator. These all point to best practices for companies participating in social media, which must show they are willing to deal with consumer complaints in a constructive way and be authentically involved in the conversation with social site visitors.

Some other seeming signs of authenticity mattered less to users, however, including length of participation and number of participants.

Usage of Twitter has more than doubled in the past year, according to new data from comScore.

In June 2010, nearly 93 million internet users worldwide visited Twitter.com. This marked an increase of 109% from the previous year, as the social networking site achieved strong gains across all global regions.

Latin American Twitter Use Increases Sixfold
An analysis of the five major global regions revealed that Latin America experienced the strongest audience growth between June 2009 and June 2010, surging 305% to 15.4 million users. Asia Pacific ranked as the second-fastest growing region, climbing 243% to 25.1 million visitors. The Middle East and Africa jumped 142% to 5 million visitors, while Europe soared 106% to 22.5 million visitors.

North America, where Twitter has reached a higher maturity level than other regions, saw a growth of 22% to nearly 25 million visitors in June 2010.

Indonesia, Brazil, Venezuela Boast Highest Twitter Penetration
Across the 41 individual countries currently reported by comScore, Indonesia had the highest proportion of its home and work Internet audience visiting Twitter.com (20.8%). Brazil ranked second with 20.5%, followed by Venezuela at 19%. With Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez joining Twitter in late April 2010, Twitter.com penetration in the country spiked 4.8 percentage points in a few months.

The Netherlands (17.7%) and Japan (16.8%) rounded out the top five, while countries in Latin America and Asia Pacific represented many of the remaining top markets, including the Philippines (14.8%), Mexico (13.4%) and Singapore (13.3%).

Canada ranked seventh with 13.5% Twitter.com penetration, while the US ranked 11th with 11.9%.

Smartphones Drive Mobile Twitter Adoption in US and Europe
An analysis of Twitter usage via mobile for the six mobile markets currently reported by comScore (U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Spain and Italy) revealed that Twitter is gaining adoption among smartphone users.

In the US, 8.3% of smartphone users (4.2 million people) accessed Twitter.com in a month via the browser on their mobile devices, outpacing each of the European markets. In Europe, 2.8% of smartphone users overall accessed Twitter.com (1.7 million users), with the UK experiencing the strongest penetration in the region at 5.8%, followed by Germany with 3.1% and France with 2.1%.

Twitter Has Higher Global Reach for Women
Twitter has a marginally higher reach among women than men globally, according to another recent study from comScore. “How Women Are Shaping the Internet” indicates that despite Twitter’s status as a new technology, which is typically tried earlier by men, on a global level, more women are using Twitter. Among all women age 15 and older, Twitter had a reach of about 7% in April 2010, compared to a reach of roughly 6.5% among men age 15 and older.

I just wanted to say what a buzz we all had at the Trueventus Social Media MBA that took place last week in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. The team on both days were really involved and participated in each session making them very enjoyable from my point of view as the presenter of the sessions.

As you can see from the attached photo we all really enjoyed each of the 4 sessions on the day and I look forward to more of the same in the not to distant future.

The next round of sessions take place in Fiji on the 23rd and 24th August with our 3 day MBA for Marketing professionals course in Dubai kicking off on 19th to 22nd of September.

Fiji is full but there is a small number of places left for the Dubai sessions, to book or to get a brochure outlining the 3 day event, please visit the following link http://www.trueventus.com/event.php?intid=12 

I hope to see you there.

Daily users comment and upload content at least twice as much as average

eMarketer estimates there are 26 million monthly users of Twitter in 2010. That makes users of the microblogging service a relatively small minority of internet users, at 14.6%, and daily users are naturally even fewer in number. But their voice is disproportionately loud.

According to ExactTarget, daily Twitter users are highly active across the social web. They are about three times as likely as internet users on average to upload photos, four times as likely to blog, three times as likely to post ratings and reviews, and nearly six times as likely to upload articles.

They create, share and comment on content at high rates, making them valuable to marketers for much more than their potential influence on Twitter alone.

“Consumers active on Twitter are clearly the most influential online,” said Morgan Stewart, principal at ExactTarget’s research and education group, in a statement. “What happens on Twitter doesn’t stay on Twitter. While the number of active Twitter users is less than Facebook or email, the concentration of highly engaged and influential content creators is unrivaled—it’s become the gathering place for content creators whose influence spills over into every other corner of the internet.”

ExactTarget also explored Twitter users’ motivations for following companies and brands on the service. In a deeper drilldown into consumer sentiment than previous research has conducted, the April 2010 study supported the general findings that microbloggers have many reasons to follow brands they like. While discounts and sales are toward the top of the list, finding out news and information about the company and its products come out ahead.

According to 360i, 75% of marketers’ tweets are informational, suggesting brands are responding to what consumers want—though they largely neglect to participate in conversations. Such deeper engagement might help them harness the power of frequent Twitter users across their other social activities as well.

Word-of-mouth may not translate to loyalty

Social media is a hot topic in marketing circles, but many consumers are also discussing the trend, which accounts for nearly 23% of time spent online in the US, according to Nielsen.

An April 2010 survey conducted by Harris Interactive for the Online Publishers Association (OPA) found that social media sites were the most talked-about on the web, ahead of portals and top media sites that are members of the OPA in discussions on a wide variety of channels.

All those conversations, whether in person, via email, on the phone or elsewhere on the web, however, don’t make social site visitors loyal—internet users expressed the least loyalty for such properties, compared with portals or OPA member sites. They were also most likely to say social sites were not a very good fit for their information and entertainment needs.

The OPA’s findings are in line with the annual customer satisfaction report from ForeSee Results that found Facebook among the most disliked sites on the web after its many disagreements with its own user community and several privacy debacles.

According to the OPA, negative feelings about social sites may also apply to the brands that advertise there. Only 8% of internet users felt social media site advertisers were reputable, compared with a 21% average for content sites. They also felt advertising on social sites was less relevant and the companies that did so were less respected.

The answer for brands is to continue a greater focus on non-advertising marketing activities, engaging on the social media user’s terms. And marketers should remember that while loyalty to individual social properties may be low and site users dissatisfied, the activities that have come to define social media— connecting with friends and family and sharing information and content with a trusted group—will remain important in the lives of millions of internet users and continue to provide avenues for brand engagement.