There are over 1 billion Facebook users around the world, and while the number of users continues to increase, there are concerns about the future of Facebook among the marketing community.
New accounts are being created, but many of these accounts are second accounts for existing users who want to keep some of their content out of their personally-identifiable Facebook Profiles. Furthermore, growth is slowing as Facebook becomes a mature product with deep existing penetration in its market. Finally, many people, particularly within the teen demographic, claim they are using Facebook less frequently or leaving Facebook completely.
With these concerns in mind, Socialbakers conducted a study to determine the reach of brand content on Facebook by age group. For each age group, the company took a sample of 960 million Facebook Page Fans for 1,847 brand Facebook Pages from January to December of 2013. Using the data collected, Socialbakers found that brand reach on Facebook in 2013 was up in all age groups except the 13-17-year old demographic. Here are the findings:
- Age 13-17: Brand reach on Facebook fluctuated significantly during 2013 but ended up in December almost equal to where it was in January.
- Age 18-24: Brand reach on Facebook increased by 39%.
- Age 25-34: Brand reach on Facebook increased by 56%.
- Age 35-44: Brand reach on Facebook increased by 64%.
- Age 45-54: Brand reach on Facebook increased by 69%.
- Age 55-64: Brand reach on Facebook increased by 71%.
- Age 65 and up: Brand reach on Facebook increased by 74%.
Taking a look at the statistics above, brand reach actually increased more for older Facebook users than younger users in 2013. Research would need to be done to determine precisely why that happened, but it’s safe to assume that overall usage of Facebook by older people increased in 2013 thereby increasing brand reach to these audiences.
The data tells us that teens have not abandoned Facebook. Even if they claim to abhor Facebook, they’re still using it. Today, teens and every other demographic are using multiple social tools on multiple devices and usage will undoubtedly start to shift to other platforms in time, but don’t expect a huge exodus from Facebook in the near future. For now, it’s perfectly safe for companies to invest in marketing their brands on Facebook to reach any age group—even the fickle and often elusive teen demographic.
Image: Sam Michel
Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.
