Social Tuesday - Bad News for Facebook, and it isn't Google +

This Center for Media Research article on Media Post highlights some really bad numbers for Facebook and maybe debunks how social we really are on Social. I am always surprised the industry media's never catch this stuff or connect. With all the press and valuations about Facebook. 142 million US consumers visited Facebook in the Month of May per Compete.

I was shocked when I saw a stat that for every Facebook Status Update there is 128 SMS Text Messages sent. And the Average US High School Student sends 3300 per month! They are not updating their Facebook status this often. They surely have access to Facebook. It is not a true real time Communication Platform like Text or Twitter.

The stat everyone will cherry pick because they like to lie is that 92% of the Social Network Users are on Facebook. Without asking how many are active on Facebook.

So here is the numbers for the Average US Consumer who is on Facebook. 

Only 51% log into Facebook every day. 

The rest are much more random. It is my view anyone who logs in every other day is going to be REALLY hard to reach for marketing unless you send private emails. When the user logs in if they have 200+ friends they will have 300+ status updates and I doubt even half will get read.

31% are highly active which says that  45 million in the US are on it everyday being active. 29 million log in for a visit. But this also says of the remaining 70+ million barely use the network.

In an average day on Facebook:

15% of Facebook users update their own status.  

Only once every 6.67 days. Obviously we aren't telling much about our day to our network.

22% comment on another's post or status.

Only once every 5ish days we will comment on a post on Facebook.

20% comment on another user's photos.

Once every 5 Days we will comment on a Photo

26% "Like" another user's content.

 We only Click Like ONCE EVERY FOUR DAYS! Is this not proof Facebook isn't viral? Or that we are not active. You have to tell me in a network filled with real friends as well as semi-real we only see one post or item to Like every 4 days? Not even sympathy LIKES?!!!!

10% send another user a private message.

We obviously aren't using Facebook for email since we send a message once every ten days!

Towards the end they show that most Facebook connections (vs say Twitter) are real life connections. So you would think since you know 90% of your network personally on average you would Like more content and be more active on the network. But obviously the reverse is true.

So you think you can reach people on Facebook for your business. Good freaking luck! Better chances of picking the Tri-Fecta at Belmont. I am not saying don't have a Brand Page or have one on Google + if they allow them. But be realistic about things. Your customer is not on Facebook. You have some customers there but not most. And you want to reach most, not just some right?

Still value the traditional and proven Media Channels. They work. Social hasn't changed anything when it comes to marketing yet. You still have to work to reach your target customers.

Social Tuesday - LBS Check Ins, Miami vs Orlando, Ignoring Social

Going to start this off really slowly since everyone was getting rowdy yesterday for the 4th of July except for my friend Gini Dietrich who said she was staying in to respond to all my comments about Google + on her blog yesterday.

LBS Check In Fails:

There was a time when I thought services like Gowalla and Foursquare would never catch on because they seemed really a means to tell people you aren't home so please rob me, or for stalkers, etc. I seriously was expecting the first serious news events with people being robbed, murdered, or possibly hounded for autographs. But this was before I got my Android Phone back in August 2010. 

But then I got my Droid2 and started the 'I will check in everywhere and post to Twitter' part of my life that everyone hates so much. Which then led to me getting my first reward last October at Chili's...Free Chips and Salsa. And then no others. I stopped sharing on Twitter except for very unique instances. And I stopped adding any friends on either network whom I did not already know. But I still check in. Not everywhere. But I do. But guess what. You are not. No one is.

Go to any establishment with high traffic. Your mall. Your favorite restaurant. And look at the check in volume on Foursquare, Gowalla, and Facebook Places. It is really zero. So the fad is over. And unless I start seeing value these businesses will go under. It's not that I do not see a use for them if they offer proper incentives. And I have seen some when I look at what is nearby. But they obviously aren't prevalent enough with critical volume of participants to really motivate anyone right now. And to me like the years 2000-2009 were a lost decade for America since in that time span the US worker was making less than when they started the decade (after inflation), it was a lost year for LBS where they could of showed us enough value to catch on like crazy.

Miami v Orlando

Miami decided to open a storefront on Facebook. While someone like Aaron Strout, with all the rational reasoning says this is a good move, eyeballs are there and why not sell some stuff if you can. I question whether the Heat are moving product on their page.

http://apps.facebook.com/heatfanstore/

If you check out what is offered vs their own private store that gives zero money to facebook and can be tricked out in impressive ways who would prefer shopping on the Facebook Page?

Miami Heat Store

In fact if you look at their wall, they get about 1,000 to 5,000 clicks of Engagement per wall post. They have 3.3Mil fans. That is a whopping 0.03% to 0.15% Engagement. That is not moving product. Of those 5,000 who click LIKE how many never leave their own Facebook Page? Most. And since the company who created the store front Milyoni doesn't share sales data we have zero proof anything was sold. Am I against extra sales this way? No, not at all. But it will never be a big driver of revenue since the store is so limited and so few come to the Fan Page directly.

Now Orlando is smart! 

http://www.facebook.com/OrlandoMagic

If you click the little shop button it takes you to.....drum roll please

http://www.orlandomagicshop.com/

The Lie about Social Product Research:

Lastly let us get over the bullshit being slung by Facebook, Social Media Agencies, Mashable and the Social Media Talking Heads. We are not going to our social networks first for product research. I have tried crowd sourcing and it fails. Almost always. I rarely get feedback on Twitter or Facebook when I ask questions about products. It is because I am not asking my network. I am asking the small percent of my network that sees my inquiry. So of my 1300 Twitter followers if I am lucky on a good day 100 will see my tweet. Then of course of that 100 how many will actually have an answer for me? Nevermind respond.

And the latest study confirms we go to our Social Network last:  LINK

I bet when you look over that list you will agree it most likely mimics your own behavior.

In Fact Media Post published yesterday a study (totally mis-titled!) that only 25% of Consumers go to Facebook Brand Pages at least once in a month to keep up with sales and promotions. If you go to 1 Brand Page in 1 Month for this purpose that is equal to ZERO people. Good luck getting your promotion seen on Facebook. People just don't care when it comes to social networks about your Brand. Sorry. It is a flawed article. Considering we each have hundreds of brands that want us to fan them, if only 20% of consumers Like 5 or more pages this proves they are a failure. If 75% of consumers never go to the pages after all this time touting them, they are a failure. And if you think your brand is different I have proof it is not.

And I know someone will now show me the Exception like Tony Hawk on Twitter. Exceptions are great. But they are called an Exception for a reason!

The true title of the article: People don't care and don't visit Brand Pages on Facebook!

Just maybe we are too busy chatting with friends and family? Just maybe we rarely see posts from Fan Pages? Just maybe we just don't care about Brands the way Marketers say we do? Just maybe....

The Power of Social Media - Google goes Apple with + Project

Today Google released it's + Project

The Alien's at Sky Pulse Media are very excited because while we will advise people and brands on Facebook we view it as a massive marketing failure for Brands in general, big and small. Just peruse this blog! But we are very bullish on the Power of Social Media. And while we just debunked Viral and Influence yesterday, meaning how Individual Pieces of Content rarely go Viral. Topics go viral.

The number of Tweets and Blogs today about the Google + Project is overwhelming. This is classic APPLE. Apple doesn't do the Twitter/Facebook game. When Apple has an announcement and army of bloggers and tweeters and even big news sites all talk about APPLE. And today GOOGLE went APPLE!

By Friday everyone will know about this project and start looking at it to see if it can really compete against Facebook. And once the first stream of testers start telling us their experience this will either explode or die a quick death. Time will tell.

Some great discussions of Google + Project:

SpinSucks by Gini Dietrich

Barataria by Erik Hare

We Are Social by Robin Gant 

I am sure Mashable has a write up but who reads Mashable? Not serious Marketers or Thought Leaders.

Just check Twitter check the Blogosphere the world is on Fire over this. And that is the power of social media. It is PEOPLE POWER. Not BRAND POWER. When Google launched Wave it had an hour long presentation explaining it. No one cared. When Apple launched Ping. No one cared. But if you give the people reason to get excited. They will do the heavy lifting for you. If they yawn. Good luck. You can always convince us with 30 sec spots on TV!

Chief Alien Note: We changed the background for the posts to make them more readable even if they take away from the Space Theme.