Are these new stats a social media crystal ball?

   Such diverse magazines as Social Media Impact and Forbes have been gathering together data about social media and its overall impact on both businesses and consumers. Many of these stats are so startling that they may border on the unbelievable. However, these new stats and findings just may end up forcing many brands to finally wake up and truly realize the impact that social media has on our world; the way people, especially those under forty, interact, and the way  many of us have evolved with regard to doing business and being a consumer.

• Forbes actually reported that as much as 97% of all potential consumers look for what they are looking for online. So long telephone book. Can you even get one anymore? How many Millennials or Gen Yers have ever even seen one? If your business is not actively pursuing people online you might as well just resign yourself to going back to 9-5 cubicle world.
• Speaking of the Gen Y crowd, the stats have it that over 60% of them don’t make a social engagement move without checking out social media so as to evaluate what to do and where to hang out.
• Your social media strategy must engage the mobile users. Apparently there are over a billion people with smart phones. A billion! And, almost half of them are doing their searches from their mobile devices. In addition, nearly 75% of all smartphone owners actually use Google maps and about 750 million Facebook members check in with the social media giant via their cell phones.
• Once again, engaging content and the use of videos is of critical importance. More and more brands are inundating their social media presence with video. If your business relies on the B2B trade, then Twitter is the major platform for you followed ever so closely by LinkedIn. Also, the B2B crowd has ranked YouTube third and then Facebook as its most important social media sites and visits.
• One final note with regard to the social media up and comers. Google+ is swiftly gaining ground and it is expected to be a major player in 2014 and beyond.
• Mobile banner ads may not be the best use of your budget as research has discovered that about half of them get clicked on unintentionally.

 And, finally, from the land of ridiculousness: research has uncovered the fact that more than 80% of all businesses don’t have links on their pages or blogs that link to their social media sites.

 Crystal ball enough for you?