For Luxury Products Marketers, You Might Be Surprised To Learn Who’s Using The Internet And For What

Posted on | January 28, 2010 | 2 Comments

Who is using the Internet and for what?
Too often executives make assumptions or have an out-of-date perspective of today’s Internet usage.  The Internet is a very active marketplace, even for people in their 50’s and 60’s.

Article by Gordon O’Neill
President and Chief Executive Officer
O’Neill Communications
http://oneillcommunications.com/2010/01/who-is-using-the-internet-and-for-what/

Almost half (46%) of the 308 million people (62 million are under 16 years old – so 57% of those over 16) in the US access the Internet 9.6 hrs/wk.  – about 52% of the time is for email and 48% for other Web usage. Men report 28% heavier Web (non-email) usage than women for sports and other male interests.

Age Matters: Over half the people aged 45 – 54 have access and use the Internet 9.4 hours per week.  One-third of those 55 – 64 has access and use the Internet 8.9 hrs/wk.  Look at the second chart below, 79% of the people between 45-54 use the Internet and 70% of those between 55-63 do as well.

Combine statistics with the two charts below, and you can conclude that these age groups use the Internet but, at age 55, hours of usage begins to decline.

Internet Usage by Age	Percent Users	Hrs./Wk. Users
55-64	33%	8.9
45-54	51%	9.4
35-44	56%	9.4
25-34	58%	10.2
18-24	55%	9.9

What Do People Do On the Internet?
Email is the most popular Internet activity – across the board. The older you are, the more likely you rely on email to communicate – younger people use texting, instant messaging, and social media as alternative communications channels.

Use/Age Group	18-32	33-44	45-54	55-63
% Internet Users	87%	82%	79%	70%
Email	94	93	90	90
Use Search Engine	93	90	89	85
Research Product	84	84	82	79
Buy Product	71	80	68	72
Visit Gov’t. Website	64	62	63	60
Online Banking	57	65	53	49
Social Networking	67	36	20	9

Research shows high usage of the Internet to research products, buy products, and use search engines – all ranking high among the various age groups – in the chart above. This evidence suggests consumers and very probably businesses rely heavily on the Internet to make buying decisions.

Men, women, and minorities use the Internet in different ways, for different functions. Again, email use ranks #1 across the board, but different market segments Internet activities are different:

Men are more likely to use it for:	Women more likely to use it for:	Younger People 18-29 more likely tose it for:
NewsTravel services/reservationsSport informationPolitical NewsOnline auctionCreate internet content/blogsDownload musicBuy / sell stocks, bond, etc.* Online banking not considered in this study.	HealthSpiritual/religiousSupport group information* African-Americans & Hispanics are more likely to research schools, job training, new job opportunities, and listen/download music	Research school or job trainingNew job informationInstant messagingListen/download musicSports scores & informationFind place to liveUse wireless deviceDating sites
* Data from a 2004 study by Pew which pre-date on-line video, social media, and other current uses.

Young vs. Older Users
Today, younger Internet users, fewer than 30, tend to use the internet more for entertainment purposes such as music, on-line videos and playing games. Older groups look for information, news, and handle finances.

Education and Income
Internet usage and hours per week rise steadily with both education and income.  Today, 75% of college graduates use the Internet an average of 9.8 hrs/wk. while 78% with Masters Degrees use it 11.5 hrs/wk.  Usage drops off to 53%, 32%, and 12% for those with some college, high school diploma, or some high school.  Income has somewhat the same correlation on number of users and usage.

Internet Usage by Education	Percent Users	Hrs./Wk. Users
Grad School	78%	11.5
College Grad	75%	9.9
Some College	53%	9.4
HS Grad	32%	7.9
Some HS	12%	10.4

 

Internet Usage by Income	Percent Users	Hrs./Wk. Users
$80+K	70%	10.3
$60-79K	75%	10.0
40-59K	58%	9.0
$30-39K	45%	10.1
$20-29K	39%	9.6
$1-19K	27%	8.0

Suburban/Urban/Rural Access
The Internet is most widely used in the suburbs of big cities – representing 81% of the population – where 50% have access and enjoy 10.7 hrs/wk of Internet usage. Large and mid-sized cities have 45 and 40% access respectively while non-urban areas have just 37% access. Regional Usage – the western US leads the country with 53% access, the south lags behind reporting 41% access. The northeast and mid-west parts of the country rank somewhere in the middle.

Conclusions
57% the people over 16 years old access the Internet 9.6 hours per week – 52% of the time for email and 48% for other Web usage.

Internet access/usage rise steadily with education and income levels.

Seventy percent or more of those in their 50’s and 60’s use the Internet but do not spend as much time online as younger groups.

Email is the #1 use of the Internet across the board but different people use it for different things – men report 28% heavier Web usage than women.

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About Integrated eMarketing:
There are many ways to generate sales leads, but none as effective as internet marketing. This is due to the fact that using online tracking and analytics makes marketing activity accountable and ensures that any investment yields you positive return on your marketing investment.

Changes can be made instantly to reflect any changes in the business. Relevancy is the key to social network marketing, not massive numbers.  Google analytics are crucial for success so you can track on a daily basis the number of searches your site receives. 

There are integrated eMarketing tools that must be used to generate leads from Google as well as direct and referral, these are:

1. Social Network Marketing Twitter and Facebook posts increase your rank on Google and, if used correctly, create a stream of referral leads
2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Increased keyword tags and content influences rankings on Google
3. Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) Google Ad words programs help your Google rankings and increase qualified sales traffic
4. Business Influence Marketing LinkedIn group’s postings are seen on Google and refer business customers to your site
5. Blog Sharing Prolog, Digg, Delicious, Stumbleupon, Technorati, Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube are all effective referral sites and help rankings on Google as well as refer traffic to your site.

For those who want to increase their online sales, SOS eMarketing recommends social network marketing. For more information on integrated eMarketing programs for small business contact SOS eMarketing.

David Schwartz
SOS eMarketing
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