Graduate thesis on Facebook Marketing.

1. THE IN CROWD PROJECT Nicole Wyche Graduate Thesis Elon University May 2011 www.nicolewyche.com/theincrowd

2. OBJECTIVES To investigate marketing in social media platforms, namely FACEBOOK. Explore demographics of FACEBOOK users Explore current state of online advertising as it relates to FACEBOOK. Best practices for communicating on FACEBOOK Explore the meaning behind FACEBOOK PAGE “likes” Relationship-building on FACEBOOK.

3. METHODOLOGY Analysis of Existing Research + Investigative Survey. Existing Research: IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report, PwC & Interactive Advertising Bureau (2011) The Social Habit, Edison/Arbitron Internet and Multimedia Study (2010) The Science of Timing, Dan Zarrella of HubSpot (2011) Social Media Matters, BlogHer (2011) Investigative Survey Sample of 132 participants including professionals and students of various racial and gender identifiers. Conducted in May 2011 via online survey interface.

4. CORE TAKEAWAYS White women ages18-34 make up the majority of Social Network users. FACEBOOK is the most popular Social Network. Banner advertising, as seen on FACEBOOK, is the second largest avenue of all online ad revenue with 24% and $6.2 billion in 2010. Posting every-other day, on weekends, and early in the morning (Eastern Time) is the best way to ensure your message is heard on FACEBOOK. FACEBOOK page “likes” correspond to users aiming to “support the brand”, “share with friends” and “receive updates”. More FACEBOOK page “likes” contributes to a more favorable view of the company.

5. SOCIAL NETWORK DEMOGRAPHICS 57% WOMEN 43% MEN 66% WHITE 14% BLACK 18% AGES 12-17 25% AGES 18-24 23% AGES 25-34 16% AGES 35-44 FROM THE EDISON/ARBITRON INTERNET AND MULTIMEDIA STUDY 2010

6. WOMEN ON FACEBOOK 84% OF WOMEN SAMPLED USE FACEBOOK, UP 1% FROM 2009. 69 MILLION WOMEN USE FACEBOOK ON A WEEKLY BASIS. 80 MILLION WOMEN USE FACEBOOK ON A MONTHY BASIS. 30% OF WOMEN SURVEYED SAID THEY WOULD MISS FACEBOOK MOST OF ALL “BLOG FIXES” IF UNABLE TO LOG ON EVERY DAY. FROM THE BLOGHER SOCIAL MEDIA MATTERS STUDY 2011

7. FACEBOOK, THE MOST POPULAR SOCIAL NETWORK SAMPLE OF SOCIAL NETWORK USERS WHO FREQUENT SITES “SEVERAL TIMES A DAY” 87% OF USERS HAS A FACEBOOK PAGE 54% OF USERS HAS A MYSPACE PAGE 19% USE TWITER FROM THE EDISON/ARBITRON INTERNET AND MULTIMEDIA STUDY 2011

8. BANNER ADS ARE UP SEARCH ADS BRING IN THE MOST REVENUE AT 46% ($12.0 BILLION) IN 2010. SECOND ARE DISPLAY AND BANNER ADS INCLUDING STATIC OR HYPERLINKED CONTENT IN BANNERS OR LOGOS. 24% ($6.2 BILLION) OF ALL ONLINE AD REVENUE IN 2010 CAME FROM BANNER ADS. DISPLAY AND BANNER ADS ARE UP FROM 22% ($5.0 BILLION) IN 2009. FROM IAB INTERNET ADVERTISING REVENUE REPORT 2010

9. TIMING IS EVERYTHING CONTRACOMPETITIVE TIMING IS PART OF A LEGITIMATE STRATEGY TO ENGAGE WITH YOUR AUDIENCE. BASED UPON THE EASTERN TIME ZONE, WHERE ½ OF THE AMERICAN POPULATION LIVES. POST EVERY-OTHER DAY AND ON WEEKENDS FOR HIGHER INTERACTION WITH CONTENT. 1AM, 2AM AND 3 AM ARE THE BEST TIMES TO POST. FROM THE SCIENCE OF TIMING , DAN ZARRELLA OF HUBSPOT 2011

10. THE IN CROWD SURVEY | DEMOGRAPHICS “DEMOGRAPHIC DATA | PLEASE SELECT ALL THAT APPLY.” 73.5% WOMEN 48.5 % WHITE 39.4% BLACK 34.8 % UNDERGRADUATE FROM THE IN CROWD PROJECT , MAY 2011

11. THE IN CROWD SURVEY | FREQUENCY “HOW OFTEN DO YOU VISIT FACEBOOK?” “DURING WHICH DAYS ARE YOU MOST ACTIVE?” 78% VISIT FACEBOOK DAILY MOST POPULAR DAYS MONDAY 65.9% TUESDAY 55.3% WEDNSDAY 61.4% THE HIGH UNDERGRADUATE POPULATION MAY ACCOUNT FOR DIFFERENCE IN WEEKLY BREAKDOWN. FROM THE IN CROWD PROJECT , MAY 2011

12. THE IN CROWD SURVEY | PAGE LIKES “DO YOU USE THE ‘LIKE’ FUNCTION FOR FACEBOOK FAN PAGES?” “WHY DO YOU CHOOSE TO ‘LIKE’ A PAGE?” 75% LIKE FACEBOOK FAN PAGES MOST POPULAR REASONS SUPPORT THE BRAND 71.2% SHARE WITH FRIENDS/CONTACTS 37.9 RECEIVE UPDATES 32.6% FROM THE IN CROWD PROJECT , MAY 2011

13. THE IN CROWD SURVEY | TRUST + VIEW “HOW MUC WOULD YOU TRUST A COMPANY WITH A FACEBOOK FAN PAGE?” “INDICATE YOUR VIEW OF A COMPANY WITH A LOT OF PAGE ‘LIKES’.” 87.2% ARE ‘MODERATELY’ TO ‘VERY LIKELY’ TO TRUST A COMPANY WITH A FACEBOOK 94% HAVE ‘MODERATE’ TO ‘EXTREMELY FAVORABLE’ VIEWS OF COMPANIES WITH A HIGH NUMBER OF PAGE ‘LIKES’. FROM THE IN CROWD PROJECT , MAY 2011

14. THE IN CROWD SURVEY | IDEAL RELATIONSHIP “WHAT TYPE OF INTERACTION DO YOU EXPECT?” “HOW WOULD YOU PREFER TO RECEIVE UPDATES?” “HOW FREQUENTLY DO YOU PREFER TO RECEIVE UPDATES?” 65.9% EXPECT NOTICE OF PROMOTIONS 80.3% PREFER TO BE NOTIFIED VIA NEWS FEED UPDATES 40.9% PREFER WEEKLY UPDATES AND 37.9 PREFER MONTHLY UPDATES. FROM THE IN CROWD PROJECT , MAY 2011

15. THE IN CROWD PROJECT www.nicolewyche.com/theincrowd