Nielsen has just released its 2011 Q3 report on social media.  It delivers troves of recent social media stats, and since we can all infer things like social networks and blogs are the dominate destination online without reading a report, I’ve summarized the Nielsen report to the 4 statistics I found most interesting.


40% ARE MOBILE SOCIAL MEDIA USERS
This is interesting because there are many business owners that have done tons to bolster their social media presence but still do nothing to optimize their websites for mobile.  How many prospects do you lose when then cannot navigate easily or at all through your website?  They may have found you through a mobile product on social media but can not continue their research if you do not have mobile ready content.  Some may argue that it depends on your target market; if you still believe this, the next point is for you

AGE 55+ IS DRIVING THE GROWTH OF MOBILE SOCIAL
There has been an increase of 47% since last year!  The older generation I’ve seen pulled in by their kids and relatives, then realize the usefulness of it in keeping in touch with long lost friends and family.  This statistic is important because there are a lot of business owners that cater to older customers that may still believe that their marketing efforts should never be targeted to online, much less social media.

70% OF ACTIVE SOCIAL USERS SHOP ONLINE 12% MORE LIKELY
Retailers, read this one again and again.  If you know where your business will get the most attention, well by all means focus your efforts there.  Social media sites are full of ad opportunities both locally and national.  Even small local retailers can integrate this into their overall marketing strategy and gain an advantage.

TIME SPENT ON TOP 5 SOCIAL MEDIA SITES (000s), DESCENDING ORDER
Facebook- 53,457,258 minutes
Blogger- 723,793 minutes
Tumblr- 623,525 minutes
Twitter- 565,156 minutes
Linkedin- 325,679 minutes

Does you budget reflect this?

There they are, the most interesting stats of this report, however you can view the full report HERE and please feel free to share your thoughts on the 2011 social media stats here in the comments below.  Lastly, if you like statistics and you live in the El Paso area, check out this great blog post on El Paso Demographics.