Is your company capitalizing on the Facebook craze? If not, these statistics may cause you to start thinking social media.
According to a recent Citigroup study, Facebook now accounts for 16% of all time spent online by U.S. web surfers. Google came in second at 11%, and Yahoo was third at 9%.
What’s more? Most analysts predict Facebook’s popularity will only grow over the next 1-3 years, meaning Facebook is now the official hub of choice for any company looking to connect with customers via the internet.
In fact, a lot of companies have already shifted their online strategy, using the corporate website as a central hub where users can find info and purchase products, while social media, email and blogs are used to attract a captive audience and generate web leads, which are then driven to the company’s website via special offers, social media discounts and email marketing.
Facebook’s recent Marketplace application also offers a place for consumers and companies to buy, trade, sell or rent products right on the site. It’s like a combination of craigslist and eBay, with the advantage of giving users instant access to Facebook’s considerable bank of prospects.
It’s just one of several ways Facebook is slowly — or perhaps very quickly — transforming itself from a social network to the most dominant multi-media resource on the web.
Source: “Facebook Sucks Up a Ridiculously Huge and Growing Share of Our Time Wasted Online,” by Mark Gongloff, Wall Street Journal Online, 9/26/11.
