· About 132 million users on Facebook are aged 21 and above. This represents about 66% of all users

· There are more females (55.7%) than males (42.2%) – 2.2% are of unknown gender.

· Largest demographic concentration is the college crowd of 18-24 year olds (40.8%)

· About 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States

· Ads Average CTR is 0.04%

· > 850 million photos uploaded to the site each month

· > 10 million videos uploaded each month

· > 1 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) shared each week

· 1% of apps account for 77% of volume, 2% account for 86% of volume, 10% account for 98% of volume

As Facebook users ourselves, we probably already have a slight idea of what works and what doesn’t. Just think: what inclines you to join that Group or visit that company’s page? Well, one thing’s for sure – Facebook marketing requires communicating to your audience, and not just passive advertising.

Rule No. 1 to marketing? Understand the demographics of your audience.

Here are some facts on Facebook’s U.S users:

In the U.S alone, Facebook has 60 million users. ComScore reports that the average number of unique visitors to Facebook in a month circles around 150 million, of which half of these users return to the site daily. Faccebook projects that 75% of worldwide users will be outside of college.

Based on findings from Nielsen and NetRatings, it has been observed from Facebook’s U.S users that just over half are female, almost 60% have some college education, 14% are non-white, 34% are working professionals holding executive, sales, education or technical posts, 12% are full time students and 12% have children under 16. Not surprisingly, Facebook internal data shows that users have aged over the past year, with a high percentage of older users now.

While social network sites used to primarily attract only youngsters, findings from Nielsen and NetRatings show that Facebook is increasingly attracting an older segment of users as well. 30+ working executives are rocking Facebook too! Facebook’s internal data revealed that 6% of its users are in the 35+ age group.

However, over the next year or so, the demographics of Facebook users could very well be in flux. Anticipate changes and leave space for flexibility in your plans. React quickly to adjust your marketing plans according to updated data. As you know, the youngsters can be fickle with their habits and preferences. Friendster; MySpace; Facebook; Twitter – who knows what will come next? Also, the 35+ group is still relatively new to social networking. We still don’t know for sure well these emerging group will take to marketing on Facebook.

The amount of personal information users reveal online allows you to form sophisticated data portraits of them. Use this info and target consumers beyond their basic demographic details. Find out their likes and dislikes; look at their psychographics to understand them better.

Next, by understanding what works on Facebook, you can better tailor your campaign to suit your target audience.

The click through rate (CTR) for sponsored News Feed stories is 4 to 26%. Alternatively, Flyers give you a degree of self-service control to decide what you want. For sponsored groups, group pages allows a customized navigation, look and feel and usually includes a significant media buy to drive traffic to the sponsored group page. This costs usually figures around six digits for a three month engagement. However, do note that any company can set up a group for free. Browse through the group pages already on Facebook and see what works. How is it that this group page is creating a buzz of activity while some others are relegated to hiding in some corner of Facebook?

Instead of taking the conventional advertising route, maximise the change to build a unique community around your brand and product. Create hype around your campaign and watch it work its magic; users will flock to your page! An effective example is the Victoria’s Secret page. Although its page looks like an ad, the community is, in contrast, highly engaged.

In order to maximise the results from a sponsored Group, consider these practices. You should first understand how similar groups are meeting, or fail to meet, the needs of users. From there, create a unique experience for users that will encourage activity on the discussion board, comments on the wall, and photos. Don’t be shady about the role and purpose of your Group though. Users will be able to tell anyway. Instead, be upfront about it and attract users by virtue of how good your organisation is.

Another way to market your business on Facebook is through applications. Create useful applications that model what users are already doing – that is, sharing information, experiences and using humour. Plan your application such that it has a viral and rippling effect, and get feedback from users once it has been launched.

Remember to communicate with your users, rather than just flash advertisements at them. Users on Facebook want to be engaged with, not just spoken to. Facebook creates the platform for interactivity and participation, so maximise it! Have fun building your Group page or application. If you do, chances are users will have fun using it too. This could be your very first attempt with Facebook marketing, or perhaps you’ve tried a couple of times. Keep your eyes and ears open to the activity going on in that space, and follow where the people are going. If your effort doesn’t attract quite as much or the attention you had hoped it would, learn from mistakes and try again!

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