Member Community ShareIn addition, time spent on social networks and blogging sites is growing at over three times the rate of overall Internet growth. In total online users spent globally 18% more time in December 2008 compared to December 2007. Nonetheless, the amount of time spent on 'Member Community' sites rose by 63% in the same period of time. And on Facebook we have seen a massive growth of 566% - from 3.1 billion minutes to 20.5 billion! Facebook's average using time per person (three hours 10 minutes) is the highest amongst the 75 most popular brands online worldwide. Because time spent on social networks is growing at such a dramatically faster rate than the Internet average, it is obvious that social networks are gaining a larger share of all Internet time. In most countries monitored, the share of time for usage in 'Member Communities' has more than doubled. What can advertisers and their agencies do? The social networking phenomenon is dramatically changing the way people behave and, consequently, offers new challenges and opportunities to the global media and advertising industry alike, despite the risks this new consumer medium creates. Success in social media advertising means overcoming obstacles such as complexity, creativity and relevance. One of the problems though is the acceptance of advertising. If you check blogs and conversations about social media "false" is the term most closely associated with advertising. And the challenge could be getting more difficult, as a Nielsen Online survey in Australia showed, because consumers are actually growing less tolerant to advertising on social media. In December 2008, 38% of Australians online considered advertising on social networking sites to be an intrusion compared to 29% the year before! The media and advertising industry has to watch very carefully how consumers can be targeted and which strategies can be used to successfully in attract advertising revenue in 2009. The whole process will involve a substantial trial and error process (as with many other online media types) and is only achievable if social networks, advertisers and agencies work closely together. You can get the study and more background information on Nielsen's Online Blog.
©2009 digi:Marketing, Oliver T. Hellriegel