Research indicates that social media is beginning to rival traditional media in reach.
In a survey of 1700 internet users in the US, Nielsen Online found that 73% engage in social media at least once a week. That makes the total social media audience consist of 127 million people. Brian Morrissey reported the findings in a recent article in AdWeek.
In addition to the total number of Americans engaged in social media, the survey rendered the following results:
- 47% visit Facebook daily
- 32.7 million play social games daily
- Twitter has 105 million registered users but only 11.4 million or 6% use it daily
- 11% read blogs daily
The number of users of social media is extremely significant. The numbers rival and even outpace some forms of traditional media. The 47% of internet users who visit Facebook daily compares to:
- 55% who watch television daily
- 37% who listen to radio daily
- 22% who read newspaper daily
- 11% who read magazines daily
The use of social media is continuing to increase. As seen in this study by Nielsen, the percentages that are actively engaged in social media are comparable or greater than most traditional media consumers.
This creates new challenges for healthcare marketers. How do we effectively reach this growing audience? The answers are not easy. And implementation is sometimes even more difficult. But it is important to develop strategies to engage this burgeoning audience.
Traditional media is not dead. It can still be very effective. But social media has become pervasive and we must be creative and increasingly proactive in taking advantage of its growing popularity.
