The ageism of social

Sean Mazur

Senior Paid Media Strategist

iCrossing Display Day

15/07/2014

#ixdisplay

Why are we here?

CHOCOLATE!!!! #ixdisplay

Why are we here?

Me: “Thanks for buying. Please share the word with friends on Facebook!”

Girl: “Um..no. My mom uses Facebook.”

Me: “Ok Twitter then!”

Me: “Um..no. My older brother uses Twitter. I only use Instagram.”

Me: Sobbing uncontrollably and uncomfortably in the corner….

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Different groups of people use different social networks (and it continues to evolve)

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Facebook audience makeup

-15%

-10%

-5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Under 17 18 - 24 25 - 34 35 - 54 55+

Percentage of Audience (2014)

Percentage Change Since 2012

Ages 35+ represent 45% of the Facebook audience

Users are “graduating socially” on Facebook (55+ only age of growth)

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LinkedIn audience makeup

-60%

-40%

-20%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Under 17 18 - 24 25 - 34 35 - 54 55+

Percentage of Audience (2014)

Percentage Change Since 2012

43% of LinkedIn users are between 35 – 54

Only 35+ audiences are growing in use

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Twitter audience makeup

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Under 17 18 - 24 25 - 34 35 - 54 55+

Percentage of Audience (2014)

Percentage Change Since 2012

39% of Twitter users are between 35 – 54

All demographics are growing

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YouTube audience makeup

-60%

-50%

-40%

-30%

-20%

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Under 17 18 - 24 25 - 34 35 - 54 55+Percentage of Audience (2014)

Percentage Change Since 2012

42% of YouTube users are between 18 – 34

Only the 18 – 34 year old demographics are growing

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Instagram audience makeup

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Under 17 18 - 24 25 - 34 35 - 54 55+

Percentage of Audience (2014)

Percentage Change Since 2012

38% of Instagram users are under 24

Growth across all ages due to comparative infancy of platform

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Why is this important?

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Why is this important to you (marketers)?

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How to target these groups appropriately to increase

return from paid social

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Facebook strategies

• Separate Facebook campaigns into core demographic segments

• Run bespoke creative with different taglines or imagery (test and adjust)

• Apply “custom audiences” targeting (subscriber email addresses or past site visitors) to further

segment audience ages into new vs. existing customers

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LinkedIn strategies

• Separate LinkedIn campaigns into core demographic segments with bespoke creative (test and adjust)

• Can also run Job Function/Seniority to correlate to demographic data

• Apply advanced targeting options (company name, job title, university, skills or LinkedIn group) to

further segment demographic signals

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Twitter strategies

• Cannot target ages directly in Twitter

• Apply “tailored audiences” targeting (subscriber email addresses or past site visitors) to further segment audience ages into new vs. existing customers

• Use “Television” targeting to engage with target demographic during TV shows

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YouTube strategies

• Separate YouTube campaigns into core demographic segments with different bids (test and adjust)

• Create themed video content revolving around target demographics

Football – 18 – 35 years Cooking – 24 – 54 years

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Instagram strategies

• Demographic and user data is taken from user behaviour (brands following) or supplied information

(age) from Facebook

• Creative strategy should align and reinforce Paid Social strategy on Facebook

• Must be collaborative and engage current audience base more than any other Social Network to create sharable content (let your fans do the work!)

Coming to the UK later this year (exact date TBC)

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Summary

Demographic data (1)

Past site interactions (2) Social content (3) Relevant interests (4)

Optimal Paid Social media buy

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Summary

• Every brand has a main demographic…but your Brands’ followers may not be as responsive as you would like or expect depending on the social channel

• Start with demographic inputs to narrow targeting + specific audience interests + past site interactions + promoted content tone = targeted Paid Social

• Revise demographic approach to fit platform and age target, do not use the same creative for all age groups

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Questions?

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Appendix

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Under 17 18 - 24 25 - 34 35 - 54 55+

Facebook 18% 16% 22% 29% 16%

Instagram 10% 27% 26% 31% 6%

LinkedIn --- 14% 22% 43% 22%

Twitter --- 25% 28% 39% 7%

YouTube 8% 22% 21% 34% 16%

Summary of Demographic Profiles

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Under 17 18 - 24 25 - 34 35 - 54 55+

Facebook -1% -8% +1% -1% +9%

Instagram +36% +11% +31% +29% +30%

LinkedIn ----- -50% -41% +9% +55%

Twitter ---- +12% +18% +45% +12%

YouTube -50% +40% 18% -9% -31%

Changes in Demographic Profiles

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