The image-based social media site is an online bulletin board that lets you collect and share images by “pinning” them to virtual boards. It has been one of the fastest-growing consumer Web properties — according to comScore, it ranked 28th among U.S. Internet users in January, with about 30 million unique visitors.
Some very useful social media demographics are outlined in a recent report by the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project. The study reaffirmed that young adults aged 18-29 are more likely than others to use major social networks (83%). It also substantiates that women are more likely than men to be on these sites (71% vs. 62%), and that people who live in urban areas are significantly more likely than rural Internet users to use social networking (70% vs. 61%).
The analysis also takes a deeper dive into statistics such as the race/ethnicity, education, and household income of people who use social media sites. This information can help you refine your social media marketing initiatives to find leads, increase sales, and improve branding.
A new survey from Technorati has found that many consumers are turning to blogs when they’re looking to buy something. They rank blogs as the third most influential digital resource (31%) when it comes to making purchase decisions, following retail sites (56%) and brand sites (34%). But it turns out that where brands are spending is not fully aligned with how and where consumers are seeing value and being influenced.
![social media profile sizing cheat sheet facebook twitter google plus youtube linkedin pinterest infographic Social Media Image Sizing Cheat Sheet [Infographic]](http://cdn.pamorama.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/social-media-profile-sizing-cheat-sheet-facebook-twitter-google-plus-youtube-linkedin-pinterest-infographic.jpg "Social Media Image Sizing Cheat Sheet [Infographic]")
Visual marketing is a breakout trend on social media sites. Companies need to “show” instead of “tell”, and social networks are tapping into our desire for beautiful imagery and design. While content is a huge driver of awareness, dazzling visual depictions create awareness and differentiation on a more visceral level.
Whether you’re just getting started with social media marketing or you’re a veteran, setting up profiles on all of the various social media sites can be a daunting process. It requires good planning and execution to ensure that your brand has a consistent visual voice on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.
Social media is now mandatory for businesses. I’m always trying to keep pace with the evolving social media marketing landscape, and reading many of the fantastic blogs out there helps me stay on top of best practices.
Here are some that I read on a regular basis — I think you should, too! The authors all have unique voices and offer timely information about tools, strategies, and trends that you can use to jumpstart your marketing efforts.
A consistent social media identity across the Web is crucial for brands. Whether you’re trying to develop your company’s personality or your own, having many different names creates confusion and dilutes the impact of all of your social media marketing activities.
There are hundreds of sites that can host your profile, but being the first to claim your name on every one can be difficult. Most of them prevent automated sign-up processes, so you need to manually create a profile for each.
I'm Pam Dyer, author of Pamorama. My blog is all about how organizations can optimize their online presence and branding with social media marketing.Follow @pamdyer
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