Mike Stiles
Radio managers love numbers these days. Oh who are we kidding? If numbers had legs, radio managers would take them out dancing, buy them the most expensive wine, put them in the front row of a Tony Bennett show and propose by the end of the night. I?m talking pure love and co-dependence here.
So it?s probably time for an update on Facebook?s numbers, just to take the current temperature of how it?s doing as a medium and how the public is or isn?t embracing it as part of their everyday lives. Here?s what we know from a Mashable infographic that aggregates statistics from a wide variety of sources, as well as thoughts on how they might apply to radio.
Facebook has over 800 million active users. Part of the magic of Facebook is it?s a global product, immanently scalable, but to the user, it?s an intimately ?local? experience. Radio should be pursuing listener customization and relevance wherever possible.
Over 50% of active users log on every day. It is addictive. Users feel that if they don?t check in, they?re going to miss something. Do your listeners feel like they?ll miss something if they don?t listen for a few days?
Over 2 billion posts are liked or commented on per day, with 250 million photos uploaded per day. It encourages users to talk back, to participate, and they?re more than willing to share their lives. Do your listeners feel like your station wants a 2-way relationship with them?
The average US user spends 7 hours, 46 minutes a month on Facebook. Talk about TSL. Clearly, they?re being given multiple reasons to stay, so they do. Facebook links about sex are shared 90% more than average. You can program what you think listeners should want to hear all you want. But they?re going to like what they like, no matter what you or your research thinks they should.
Over the course of its existence, Facebook has raised $2.34 billion in funding. I want you to put yourself in the position of walking into a venture capital firm in 2011 and selling them on broadcast radio?s business proposition. I?m not saying that to be an ass. If you can envision what your pitch would be, it?s a valuable thing to convey to potential advertisers.
There are very few, if any, radio owners/managers left still denying Facebook is a big deal, or who are trying to maintain that it?s a fad that will pass. But as brands who use Facebook as a marketing tool, the smart play is to at least stay aware of the reach and impact that marketing tool affords us.
Mike Stiles is a writer/producer with the social marketing tech platform, Vitrue, and head of Sketchworks comedy theatre. Check out his monologue blog, The Stiles Files.
Find him on Facebook www.facebook.com/mike.stiles
or on Twitter @mikestiles
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