Some people believe in scatter marketing. This is where you throw your marketing message anywhere and everywhere and hope it sticks. In my view, this is the way of marketing for those who lack knowledge or training. You need a proven marketing plan!

To run a successful online marketing campaign, you must know the numbers. Knowing the numbers can help you in many areas, such as: where to spend the most of your money and energies, what is working and what is not, finding out where the right people are and so forth.

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Success Tip: A word of warning, DO NOT SPAM social networking communities. If you do, you will be ostracized quickly by its members. Marketing effectively is part science and part art. It is a mixture of creative genius, research and testing. Very few people can pull off successful campaigns. In fact, all successful companies/websites have a team behind them. If you are really serious about being successful with your online endeavors, you must hire a competent & proven internet marketing group or be a bona fide expert yourself.  For more information or for recommendations, contact me directly at 407-459-7774. We can discuss how to help you achieve your marketing goals. Great companies such as Coca-Cola, New York Times, Nickelodeon, Kanye West Foundation, Strang Communications and many more, have used our services.

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Let’s look at some interesting numbers for Twitter. As we look at them, take time to creatively think about how you can use this information to leverage the Twitter community for your own online marketing campaigns.

The Fastest Growing Member Community Destinations

At the #1 spot:  Twitter with a whopping 1,382% yearly growth rate.

As of Feb. 2009, Twitter had 7 million users and still growing. Do you think Twitter might be a great place to get your message out? Let’s keep going and find out.

Twitter’s Global Reach

1.97% of all Internet users worldwide visit Twitter, which is up 254.6% over the last 3 months.

Average Time Spent on Site

Why is knowing time spent on a site important? Simple, it means people like what they see. It means that you are bringing value to the viewer. The more time a person spends on your site usually means they will tell others about your site. And, if you have a product to sell, then higher your chances are that they will purchase from you.

Remember this Important Tip:  People don’t buy from websites, they buy from people.

Alexa.com ranks Twitter in the 42nd position, with an average time on site as 9.1 minutes. The Global Index Chart from Nielsen puts the average duration on a web page viewed at 0:00:51.

As you are planning out your marketing strategy, ask yourself this, “How can I get Twitter users to spend more time on my site?” Your answer will come from a combination of creative genius, the right ingredients and testing.

Let’s look at another important element: Age Demographics

1^st place – ages 35-49 (41.7%)
2^nd place – ages 25-34 (19.6%)
3^rd place – ages 55+ (16.6%)

Why are these numbers important?

1-       You need to gear your message to the appropriate age group. What age group does your product or service cater to? If you have a product designed for ages 2 to 17, you may not want to use Twitter as one of your main sources for marketing.

2-      These numbers can help you determine your branding and messaging style.  If you are going for the sweet spot (ages 35-49) then you might not want to use a marketing message geared to the 18-24 age group.

There are many more numbers we could look at, but these are the main ones to consider when determining your marketing outlets.

To be successful in marketing, it is crucial to discover the – who, what, where and when of every social medium you are considering. Understanding these elements will help you make clear and precise marketing decisions.

Coming up soon, I will show you research on Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace.

Until then – Happy Marketing!
Bo Cable