And this new study from the Pew Research Center has some surprising new stats on Facebook.
The new numbers certainly bode well for businesses & marketers:
- 57% of adults in America are on Facebook
- 73% of Americans between the ages of 12 & 17 are on Facebook
- 64% of Facebook users visit the website daily
And droves of teens are NOT abandoning the social network -- as some claim.
In this blog post, I'll summarize the findings of the study -- including info on:
- how men & women use Facebook differently
- how many friends most Facebook users have
- how frequently users Like & comment on posts
- and more!
I packed the marketing stuff up top, but stick around because I saved the strangest new Facebook fact for the end.
6 Surprising New Facebook FACTS (and lots of Juicy Statistics)
1. Men & women use Facebook differently
Nearly half of all Facebook users (47%) said having access to photos & videos from family & friends was one of the top reasons they use the social network.
>> Click to Tweet <<
The other main reasons adults use Facebook include:
- ability to share with lots of people at one time
- reading status updates from others
- viewing humorous content
But men & women use Facebook differently.
Women are more likely to say that viewing photos is the major reasons they use Facebook. They're also more likely than men to say they use Facebook to find funny content.
>> Click to Tweet <<
Keep these statistics in mind when trying to get your fans to interact with your page.
This chart shows other ways the Facebook habits of men & women differ:
2. Half of all adults on Facebook have more than 200 friends
As a page owner running a Facebook page for your business, you should also know that about half of all adults on Facebook have more than 200 friends.
>> Click to Tweet <<
That's a lot of potential customers you could reach if your fans share your posts with their networks.
It's not surprising that younger Facebook users have more friends than older adults. Of users between the ages of 18 & 29, 27% have more than 500 friends in their network.
Compare that to users who are 65 & older -- 72% of whom have fewer than 100 friends.
3. Most Facebook users don't change their status very often
Page owners take note:
Most Facebook users said Liking & commenting on other people's status updates & photos are the activities they engage in most.
>> Click to Tweet <<
But check out these other stats:
- 44% of Facebook users said they Like content posted by their friends at least once per day -- 29% said they Like posts several times a day >> Click to Tweet
- 31% said they comment on other people's photos daily -- 15% said they comment on several photos every day >> Click to Tweet
- 19% said they send private messages to Facebook friends every day >> Click to Tweet
- 10% said they change their status every day -- 4% change their status several times a day >> Click to Tweet
- 25% of Facebook users said they never change or update their status >> Click to Tweet
Fan engagement is critical to getting your posts seen by more people, so you should post great content that stands out from other photos & status updates in the news feed.
These status ideas can get lots of Likes & comments from fans:
- Questions requiring a one- or two-word response
- Fill-in-the-Blanks
- "Caption this photo" contests
- Funny images & memes
- Inspiring quotes
- Images with quotes
- Tips
4. Most Internet users who don't use Facebook are close to someone who does
According to the Pew Research Center, of the internet users who don't use Facebook, 52% live with someone who does.
Senior Pew researcher Aaron Smith wrote that:
In many instances, these may be parents who do not use Facebook but live with a child who does. Fully 66 percent of parents with a child living at home who do not use Facebook themselves say that someone in their household has a Facebook account.
Of those not using Facebook who live with somebody who does, 24% view posts on someone else's account.
5. 'Stop sharing so much information'
This was the #1 complaint about Facebook in 2013!
Tied for the top spot was other people posting updates about you or photos of you without your permission.
But the survey uncovered a litany of other concerns:
- Other people seeing posts or comments someone didn't want them to see
- Pressure to share too much personal information
- Pressure to post updates that will get lots of Likes & comments
- Pressure to comment on or Like posts from others
- Viewing posts about social engagements they weren't invited to attend
Here's how the numbers shook out:
6. Users asked to 'unfriend' someone in their network
This last Facebook fact is perhaps the most unusual -- or maybe that's because I've never been asked to "unfriend" somebody.
But lots of people have!
Among Facebook users ages 18 to 29, 19% have been asked to unfriend someone in their network.
>> Click to Tweet <<
The stats break down like this:
- 10% of 30 to 39-year-olds have been asked to unfriend someone
- 7% of 50 to 64-year-olds have been asked to unfriend someone
- 5% of those 65 & older have been asked to unfriend someone
- 35% of the requests to unfriend came from other friends
- 23% of the requests came from current spouses or partners
- 12% of the requests came from former spouses or partners
No word from Pew on how many people granted the requests.
Did you learn anything?
Some of these statistics might help strengthen your Facebook content strategy.
But you'll need to talk to your Facebook fans to know how.
Interacting with your fans helps you build relationships with your community & better understand what content provides them the most value.
Still, there is no substitute for testing different posts.
If your fans are mostly women -- who seem to love photos of your products & customers -- by all means post more of those.
This report showed that both sexes seek out memes & other funny content online. So maybe a humorous post would be a hit with your followers.
Remember -- you don't have to reach a billion users to successfully market your business on Facebook. You only need to reach a few of those who are interested in your company & want to hear more from you -- and then convince them to tell their friends!
Keeping a content calendar & using a tool like Post Planner to find & schedule your posts will help you organize your efforts to test different material with different audiences at different times.
What surprised you?
Which "new Facebook facts" most surprised you?
Was there a takeaway you discovered that might help improve your Facebook marketing strategy?
Clue me in by leaving a comment below.
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