Everyone working in marketing or public relations has felt the effects of consumers transitioning to online. Americans are currently spending more time on the Internet than watching television or reading the printed newspaper.
Consumers range from age 12 to 76 and over are using the net for communications such as email, podcasting, videos, sharing pictures and, yes, Twitter. Online Americans has become a demographic category that promotional and communications professionals have to consider in all parts of their planning.
New Twitter Data
Pew Internet & American Life Project released new statistics in February 2009 showing that as of December 2008, 11 percent of Americans are using Twitter or a service like Twitter to keep friends, family and associates up-to-date with their activities.
More staggering than that is one in five adults 18 to 24 years old use Twitter or a similar online communications tool.
Pew Research Center is according to their mission posted on their web site, “The Pew Internet & American Life Project is one of seven projects that make up the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan, nonprofit "fact tank" that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. The Project produces reports exploring the impact of the internet on families, communities, work and home, daily life, education, health care, and civic and political life.”
Email and Online American Statistics
While Twitter and social networking sites such as Facebook continue to attract online Americans, email is still the most popular online activity. Statistics reported by the Pew Research Center say that 74 percent of adults 64 years old and over use email and that 73 percent of teens say they use email.
Other important research compiled by Pew shows that in 2008, over 90 percent of ages 12 to 17 were online, over 80 percent of 18 to 44 year olds were online, over 70 percent of Americans 45 to 59 are online and almost 30 percent of Americans 76 and older were online.
Online activities include banking, shopping, research, sharing pictures, planning vacations, reading or watching daily news and getting their education.
How to Plan for the Online American
Online Americans is the new demographic that marketers and communications professionals have to give careful consideration when looking for ways to reach a large percent of their consumers.
Just as marketing departments look at gender, age, income, and education when planning marketing and promotion activities, they now have to also look at the online Americans statistics.
Who are they? What are they doing online? What is the best way to reach online Americans? And, what is the online tool needed to reach online Americans? These are all vitally important questions to answer when working out the promotional equation.
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