Wednesday, March 5, 2008

The Online BOOM

Interesting data from eMarketer that found not only that more people are spending time online, but also that people are spending more time online.

From the article: "According to the USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future, on average US Internet users spent 15.3 hours a week online last year, and that is up from 8.9 hours in 2006."

Wow, that's a lot of time! Proof that PR professionals should consider using online tactics to connect with target audiences.

The USC study also breaks down time spent online into specific demographic categories. For example, "children ages 8 to 14 are online nearly two hours a day, and 45% of young adults ages 18 to 24 spend three or more hours a day online... By contrast, African Americans represent nearly 13% of the general population, but make up just 11.2% of the online population, and Hispanics (who can be of any race) are about 15% of the general population compared to just 10.4% of the online one."

When deciding whether or not to incorporate social media and online PR tactics into your PR plan, it is important to first take a step back and consider your target audience. It might be tempting to add these fancy online tactics to show clients we "get" Web 2.0 and are ahead of the curve, or because "PR is trending that way," but it is equally important to know when not to use these tactics. For example, with USC's study in mind, it might not be the best idea to use online tactics as means to engage with the African American audience, whereas if you are targeting the young adult audience it would be a fantastic addition.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Only 15.3 hours per week? Man I would feel out of the loop if I only spent 15.3 hours per week online. A good PR professional should be plugged in constantly.