News Taffy

Is Facebook Right for Your Business? 

A recent report by Social Media Today reports that 128.9 million Americans are now on Facebook.  With a total US population of 309.9 million that means 41.6% of the country has a Facebook account and many of them access their account daily.  Facebook worldwide has over 500 million users now.

While younger Americans (age 24 and below) are still the largest demographic group  making up 44.6 million users, older Americans are joining as well.

Age Group 25-34 account for 31.7 million accounts- Age Group 35-44 make up 22.4 million - consumers age 45-54 make up 16.1 million while those 55 to 64 account for a further 9.3 million.  Surprisingly individuals 65 or older have grown making up 7.2% of the total US Facebook user population.

With such a large and diverse group of Americans using Facebook many small businesses have learned that it is a great cost-effective way to locate and develop relationships with potential customers to help their businesses grow. Businesses and non-profits who are ignoring Facebook and other social media sites are missing out on a tremendous opportunity to bring new customers in their doors.

Obviously knowing your target market demographics especially in terms of age is critical to developing the right marketing strategy and those businesses who target consumers above age 45 should certainly continue to use traditional marketing channels while incorporating social media like Facebook into their channels.  But if your target market is under 45 and your business is not using social media you may be missing and opportunity your competitors are using.

At the ASU Small Business and Technology Development Center we offer a number of small business training seminars on a variety of topics including Social Media Marketing topics.  If you would like more information about the ASU SBTDC services contact us at (870) 972-3517 or e-mail us at asusbtdc@astate.edu, visit our Facebook page or read further articles at the ASU Small Business Blog.