Social Networks: Stats, Challenges and Success Stories Dannielle Kawamoto, Business Development Manager, eMarketer Marketers are increasingly convinced of the benefits of engaging with their customers on social media platforms. And users of all ages and races are rising to the occasion, interacting with brands in record numbers. But while measuring followers and Facebook “likes” provides marketers with hard numbers, no one yet knows how those numbers translate into a quantifiable return for brands. This keynote will answer the following questions: 1. How are the demographics of social network users evolving? 2. What are projected social network ad revenues through 2014? 3. How do privacy concerns impact the way Facebook interacts with its members? 4. How are marketers measuring the return on social media advertising? 5. What are some best practices that marketers should keep in mind when implementing a social media campaign?

1. MAY 15, 2012
Social Networks:
Stats, Challenges
and Success Stories
Dannielle Kawamoto
dkawamoto@emarketer.com
@DanniKawamoto

2. Overview
 Usage Trends
 Facebook Dominates
 Ad Revenues
 The Measurement Challenge
 Case Studies
 Key Takeaways

3. Social Media Usage

4. Half of the US population will use social
networks in 2012

5. Two-thirds
of US
internet
users will
use social
networks
in 2013

6. The US is a mature market
with slowing user growth

7. Usage
skews
female and
18-59.

8. Asians, blacks and Hispanics
are heavy users

9. Even in the older age ranges, at least 4 out of
5 US internet users use social media once a
month

10. A majority
of moms
use the
internet and
social
networks,
particularly
Facebook

11. Facebook Dominates

12. Facebook is on top, but visually-focused
sites like Tumblr and Pinterest are
attracting attention from marketers

14. 90% of
social
network
users
are on
Facebook

15. Mobile usability still needs to catch up

16. Social Network
Ad Revenues

17. Worldwide social network ad revenues
will approach $8 billion in 2012

18. The US will
account
for almost
50% of
worldwide
social
network ad
revenues

19. Facebook
accounts
for a
majority of
that money

20. Facebook
is the
dominant
force in
social
network
advertising

21. Facebook trends to watch in 2012:
 Privacy. The FTC agreement doesn’t mean
Facebook’s privacy challenges are over. There will be
more attention than ever on how Facebook uses its
members’ information.
 Ad revenue. To keep ad revenues growing, the
company will spend more time evangelizing the
benefits of buying ads to support a Facebook marketing
presence.
 Mobile. Facebook needs to make its mobile platform
even better to attract international audiences. And
mobile ads are long overdue.

22. But growth among other networks and
venues should not be underestimated
 Twitter. Will see US ad revenues nearly double from 2012
to 2014, rising from $234 million to a projected $448 million.
 LinkedIn. US ad revenues will grow 68% over the next
three years, increasing from $145 million to $243 million.
 Other social networks. Ad spending on other networks,
which include the fast-growing Google+, will double from
$354 million in 2012 to $700 million in 2014.
 Social games. Will see 36% growth in ad revenues,
increasing from $248 million in 2012 to $336 million in 2014,
with FarmVille creator Zynga the leader in this space.
 Social apps. Revenues from paid ads appearing in social
apps and widgets will increase 69% from 2012 to 2014, rising
from $68 million to $115 million.

23. Social Media
Measurement

24. The state of social media measurement
 Companies say measurement is not very
effective. Even though there are many ways to
measure, concrete success metrics remain elusive.
 Fan count is still a top metric. 60% of marketers
use friends, followers or “likes” as a success measure
(Chief Marketer, 2011).
 The ROI question is unanswered. Return on
investment is a top challenge, making budgeting difficult.
 Marketers are drowning in metrics. This has led
to paralysis by data overload.

25. Marketers are more apt to count fans
and ‘likes’ than sales

26. Marketers do not have consistent ways
of measuring social media success
Few tools are fully integrated and many use none

27. Getting to the metrics that matter
 Social media measurement has evolved, but still
doesn’t satisfy most marketers. The effectiveness
question remains top of mind.
 Measurement and budget go hand in hand. Marketers
need adequate metrics to be able to determine budget
allocations.
 Marketers are still too reliant on counting what is
easy to measure. Counting fans and followers is fine as a
basic benchmark metric, but marketers must strive to
understand what those hand-raisers do for them.

28. How to get to the metrics that matter
Look at more
than branding
results
Don’t wait for
the silver bullet
success metric
Know your
business goals
Measure
(something!)
Be a leader in
the next phase
of social media
measurement.

29. Three goals for increasing measurement
sophistication in 2012
 It’s not the fans, it’s what you do with them.
Understand who your brand followers are and how
influential they can be on your behalf.
 Go beyond brand metrics. The more marketers
can work toward understanding how social media
impacts actual business, the better.
 Integrate social analytics and marketing
analytics. Understand how social media can make
other media spending more efficient, and how online
buzz relates to overall marketing performance.

30. Case Studies

31. Case study: Adobe Photoshop engages
its loyal fans to share the love
 July 2009: 240,000 fans of Facebook page, without any
active involvement.
 Product management team took over the page and
asked fans what they wanted.
 The team posts questions, tips and tutorials, and video
demonstrations five times a week.
“I think about it as if I’m designing the product. I think
about the user. Is this piece of content we’re about to
share useful to them?”
—Maria Yap, Adobe’s director of product management

32. What Photoshop achieved:
 February 2010: 500,000 “likes”
 October 2010: 1 million “likes”
 December 2010: 1.5 million “likes”
 July 2011: 2.6 million “likes”
“You’re not making the community—you’re part of it.”
—Maria Yap

33. Case study: Clarisonic builds support for
a cause via Facebook
Clarisonic, a skincare company,
partnered with nonprofit Look
Good…Feel Better in May 2010.
“Like” campaign: Promotion:
Donated $1 for every social networks, email
new “like” during blasts, Facebook ads,
Breast Cancer and company website
Awareness Month, and blog.
October 2010.

34. The campaign led to increases in
several key Facebook metrics

35. What Clarisonic achieved:
 Facebook campaign
netted $30K in donations
 Clarisonic’s Facebook
Page now has more than
119,000 fans
 Will leverage
relationships with
celebs like “Black
Swan” star Mila Kunis for
Look Good…Feel Better

36. Case Study: Discovery manages
a network of pages
 Nearly 75 Facebook pages for its networks
and TV shows.
 Managed by a social media team of eight.
 The social media team works directly with the
network and show teams and meets regularly to
discuss best practices.
 Posts include video clips, chats with show talent, news
articles and cross-page promotions.

37. What Discovery achieved:
 As of July 2011, Discovery had 39.7 million “likes”
across all its pages, adding 500,000 a week.
 “MythBusters” is Discovery’s largest page, with
4.4 million “likes,” up from 808,000 in July 2010.
 Facebook chat with Buddy Valastro from “Cake Boss”
had over 5,000 comments in 60 minutes.
“Each network retains its own voice, priorities and
personality, but you get all the benefits of a central team.”
—Gayle Weiswasser, Discovery’s VP of social media communications

38. Key Takeaways

39. Best practices for marketers
 Let fans create the community. Rather than
force interactions among fans, let the community grow
and bond organically.
 Know what topics and issues are important
to your customers. Learn from fans’ interactions and
mesh offline behaviors with online promotions.
 Short-term promos need long-range planning.
Discounts can help buy “likes,” but that is only the start
of the brand relationship.
 Link and integrate Facebook pages to
maximize interactions. A network of branded
pages can be stronger than the sum of its parts.

40. Thank you!
Dannielle Kawamoto
eMarketer
dkawamoto@emarketer.com
@DanniKawamoto