The social media landscape is changing at a rapid rate.  The reason?  More people are joining the “social media game” everyday….some who you wouldn’t even expect!

Recently I was looking at some very interesting statistics reported by Yougov.com which illustrated some very interesting trends.  I thought I would share them with you as they may just change the way you think about sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

Here are the top 10 social media statistics that just might surprise you:

3 out of 5 Facebook users access the site more than once per day AND the younger the user, the more they log on.

Men are more likely to use Twitter or YouTube.

Woman are more likely to go on Facebook multiple times per day.

Some of the most staggering growth has been in in the 55 plus market.  Over 40% of 55+ social networkers have been registered on the sites for less than two years!

Even more interesting? 28% of Facebook users are over 55.

Men and youngsters are more likely to be influenced by what they read on social media and are more likely to engage by commenting and interacting.

Of the market of 18-24 year olds, 62% interact through comments and such.

Of the market of 55+ users, only 32% interact through comments and such.

On social media sites, men tend to be draw to topics such as sports, newspapers, radio, financial services and music.

When it comes to the interest of women on social media, they flock to fashion, beauty, food and drink.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of the differences in how men and women engage on social media:

Music: Women 12.3% – Men: 17.6%
Sports: Women 5.4% – Men 15.5%
TV: Women 10.5% – Men 12.6%
Newspapers: Woman 4.3% – Men 8.8%
Food/Drink: Woman 7.0 – Men 8.3%
Travel: Women 6.9% – Men 8.3%
Fashion: Woman 2.9% – Men 7.8%

These statics show that as our social media community grows, we can see definite trends in usage that illustrate there are many opportunities to promote your business online.  The days of Facebook being only used by college students is well and truly behind us and we are now in the days when grandma is using Facebook and grandpa is on Twitter.

I just wanted to share this short video by my colleague Thomas Kulbokas about Skype landline numbers  – the service which may save you some money and  the service which is still not really well known by many business. You can find the original video on Nearby Digital Youtube channel.

It’s almost Friday and I’ m already switching into “silly and unserious mode” so just wanted to share this crazy viral video with you before going to sleep A great effort by Samuel L. Jackson to promote his personal brand and have some fun. What do you think about this?

As an owner of a social media marketing firm, everyday I speak with people who are trying to make the most out of their Facebook and LinkedIn profile, or making their “tweets” count on Twitter.  The following are a few of the most common mistakes that I have seen companies make on social media and what we can do to combat them in the future.

This is a very important one.  With all of the hype around social media (and also due to the fact that creating accounts is free and easy), many of us are eager to just jump in head first.  Keep in mind that social media is a branding and visibilty platform and thus needs to carry the right messaging and voice.  Before you go full speed ahead, first see what you are getting yourself into.

I suggest creating a sparse profile and taking the time to look through each site.  Where is your target market?  What is your competition doing right (which can really help you come up with a strategy)?  What applications can be useful?  How are people communicating?  What tools to I have to communicate with my market?  While Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter can work to everyone’s advantage, if you only have time to manage one or two presences, it is best to be able to pinpoint the right ones and save yourself time and effort.

Top tip: a great way of seeing what sites suit your business is by asking your existing audience via polling.

Mistake #2: Lack of Focus

When you execute an advertising campaign, you know who you are targeting.  When you do a public relations campaign, you know what market you are trying to reach out to.  When you do an email marketing campaign….well, you get the point.  Social media is no different.

Social media allows us to target with laser focus, you just need to identify who you are trying to reach.  Once identified, the key is to connect with “meaningful people” not just random people to get “the numbers.”  Come on, why connect with 10,000 people who don’t care about you?  What good does that do?  Find connect and engage with people that matter.  Focus!

Mistake #3: Lack of Consistency

If you are going to do social media, make sure to do it on a consistent basis – not whenever you can grab a free second.  By consistent I mean daily, weekly, bi-weekly…on some sort of schedule.  Since you are growing your audience, you need to be in front of them gaining that visibility and credibility consistently.  My tip?  Create a schedule of when you will be executing social media and what messages you will be highlighting.  It takes a few minutes, but can save hours of weekly work.

No time to even make a plan?  Outsource!  It’s not a dirty word anymore.

Mistake #4: Using a 100% Push Marketing Approach

Push marketing is used all of the time in traditional marketing.  While it is a perfect fit in many instances, it is not the foundation of an engaging social media strategy.  Push marketing literally “pushes” what you want from your audience directly on top of them, while “pull” marketing using social media is about starting a conversation, engaging, enchanting and much more.  My suggestion is to use a 90% pull and a 10% push marketing equation.  This is something that I have used and it works a treat.  This way you can grow your audience and create value before offering up a special discount.  If they believe you to be credible through your pull approach, when you incorporate the push elements you will have higher levels of success.

Mistake #5: Wrong Goals

Truly look at what you are trying to achieve, and “more sales” is not enough.  Social media has many outcomes, so it is smart to have a broader scope.  Think in terms of hits to your website, newsletter signups, ebook/book sales/downloads….this is the way to go!

Mistake #6: Lack of Planning

Again, I am going back to the importance of a  plan:  without a plan, you plan to fail.  Although we know this cliche all too well, there is definitely truth to it.  Why?  Because a strategic plan saves you time and money – two things that we all can use, right?

Sit down and figure out your marketing strategy and then layer your social media strategy on-top.  Social media can support and enhance everything you do, you just have to keep the two connected.  Without the connection, you are wasting the power of cross marketing and branding.  Flying blindly in a new marketing medium could not only be risky for your reputation, but also cause you more trouble than you can handle.

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I hope that these mistakes are ones that you have not made and if you have, you will no longer make.  It is important for us to all to take a close look at our plans and strategies in order to see how strong and effective they can be.  Without strategy or planning, a social media marketing campaign takes a lot more time and a lot more effort to execute.

Nearby Digital team is very happy to announce the first winner of “The Most Liked Business In – Shoredich” competition. It is Andrew White from FundApps, the company which aims to provide the new generation Financial Services software. We think Andrew should be not less excited as we decided to create a customized Facebook business page for his company (worth around £500).  He also will get the first The Most Liked Business badge which can be used in their promotions.

It’s been long and a bit tiring month, but it was also a brilliant month as we met so many great people on our way so we just want to say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who speared us a minute of their time! Also, it’s just the beginning of this long marathon of Most Liked Business In project. A good news is that you can still be a part of this process – we decided that we will allow previous participants to send their new pictures and participate in the competition again, and again and again:) Just get in touch with us: like@nearbydigital.com.

The future of The Most Liked In project

In the next few months we plan to expand the competition – we will try to reach more businesses ourselves and companies will be able to arrange the photoshoots themselves. Also the competition itself is planned to be launched in other trendy areas of London like Soho, Camden Town, London Bridge, Covent Garden and etc. Finally, at the end of this project we are planning to launch local recommendations engine which will be called – www.mostliked.in. So keep on following and sharing with us..

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About  The Most Liked Business In project

It is the first of its kind location focused social media project concentrated on rating the most liked businesses in certain location with the help of Facebook Likes. The project aims to create stronger relationships between people and companies working in the same area and bring some entertainment to everyday office routines. Another goal is to acknowledge not the brands but the people behind the businesses who are creating value for their communities in lively Shoreditch area.

The Most Liked Business in Shoredich competition has started in May and the monthly winners will be announced at the beginning of every consecutive month leading up to the Most Liked Business in Shoreditch Awards at the end of the year. The pictures are taken by Nearby Digital team and uploaded daily on dedicated Facebook Album. The winner is selected by people who have one month to ’Like’ the pictures of their favourite local businesses on Facebook. The companies can participate as many times as they want with the different picture every month.