What the Pew Social Media Usage Report Reveals to Communicators
Last week, the Pew Internet & American Life Project released its report on social media users for 2012. The report’s findings detail the social media behaviors of different demographic groups, and provide some important guidance for communicators.
Here are some of the key take-aways for PR and marketing pros:
- Align content (and calls to action) with your target demographics. The Pew report reveals some strong differences in social media platform preferences between gender and ethnic groups. If your brand has a narrow focus, such as a product specifically for African-American women, you’ll want to be sure that your brand has included a well-developed Instagram channel and Twitter presence. Why? According to Pew, Instagram users skew toward young adults, African-Americans and urban residents. Twitter users show similar demographic characteristics. However, if you want to reach women more broadly, you’ll need to throw Pinterest into the mix, to pick up its white female user population, and Facebook, which is used by women of all races.
- Visuals, visuals, visuals. Pinterest and Twitter are neck and neck in terms of user numbers, and Twitter has been around a lot longer. The near-vertical arc of Pinterest’s growth tells me two things. First, brands need to be on Pinterest. Second, visuals need to be the cornerstone of communications, not an accessory. While the popularity image-centric networks like Pinterest and Instagram is undeniable, it’s also important to note that Twitter and Facebook (Instagram’s parent) have made significant improvements on the display of multimedia content within their primary user experiences.
Read the full post by PR Newswire VP of social media Sarah Skerik on Beyond PR.
Leave a Comment
PR Newswire reserves the right to delete flames, trolls, and other inappropriate content.
PR Newswire "Blogs We Love" Badge
This is our "Blogs We Love" badge. To read more about it, go here.
Blog Profiles
Would you like to see your blog profiled? Drop us a line about your blog, and we'll see about getting it profiled here.
Blogger Services
Customized Newsfeeds
Don't let the name PR Newswire for Journalists dissuade you. This is a great service for bloggers. Any content creator -- whether you're a journalist, freelancer or blogger -- can set up a customized profile to receive releases based on preferences. You also have access to hi-res photos, media-only content such as media advisories and embargoed releases, and experts via ProfNet.
ProfNet
Need expert sources? Check out ProfNet, a service that helps journalists, bloggers, authors, and other content creators connect with experts -- at no charge. Sending a query is easy: Just fill out a form detailing the kind of expertise you need, how you want to be contacted, and your deadline. ProfNet will do the rest. You also can sign up for a weekly "tip sheet" of experts and story ideas. Visit ProfNet for more info or go directly to the query form.
ProfNet Connect
ProfNet Connect is a free, interactive online community where PR professionals, experts, and media professionals can network and engage with one another. Via profiles, forums and blogs, subject-matter experts can position themselves as the go-to source for content creators and journalists. In turn, content creators can search the site by keyword to find the experts they need. The site also features enhanced profile capabilities, allowing users to easily add multimedia components -- photos, videos, white papers and more -- to their profiles.
News Widget
Our widget allows you to display PR Newswire content on your site with very little back-end programming required. You not only get the headline, but also the body of text of the news release, keeping the user on your site at all times. In order to do so, the difference between our Widget and other widgets is at the end of the sign-up process, you will be provided with two pieces of source code -- one for the page where the Widget itself will be displayed and one for the pages that will display the body of text of each news release. In addition, the sign-up process allows you to have 100 percent control over every aspect of the Widget's appearance, so that the Widget can blend in fully with the look and feel of your site. Still not convinced? Here's what one blogger had to say about the widget.
