Social Media Demographics Infographic
Overview
This is a fantastic infographic from Flowtown discovered while updating our research on social media optimization. Two things that caught my eye was the age of Facebook users. 1/3 of Facebook users are 35-54 yrs old?? So I decided to check some facts.
The Data
The data was taken from DoubleClick’s Ad Planner (now owned by google). Digging a little deeper I found the following statement about the demographic data:
“Ad Planner demographics are generated through demographic inference algorithms that combine third-party demographic data with Google sample data. The third-party demographic data is licensed from an industry-accepted consumer research panel operated according to industry best practices by a full-service research firm.”source
Seems thorough enough for me.
Facebook Stats From Double Click Ad Planner
Then I visited Facebook’s ad tool. Check out the “estimated reach” (of an ad) to 15-34 yr olds and 35-54 yr olds. They show nearly double the younger users.
Ages 15-34
Ages 35-54
Bottom Line
It’s always important to understand the context. This data set useful for knowing where to advertise to users, which can inform social media marketing, but doesn’t necessarily tell you where to connect with users on a social level. And, in my opinion, advertising and connecting are two different things that are growing farther and farther apart.
Other Resources
There a great blog by Brett Borow titled 10 Musts for Marketing to Women on Facebook.
For more scholarly information about social media/networks, check out Danah Boyd, a social media researcher at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society.
