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Category Archives: Blog With BEB
Facebook, Snapchat & Instagram Users Visit Daily
Seven-in-ten Facebook users say they visit site daily. Despite the ever-changing relationship with its consumers, Facebook users remain loyal and active to the platform. 70% of Facebook users say they visit the site daily, including 49% who say they visit several times a day. (These figures are statistically unchanged from those reported in the Center’s 2019 survey about social media use.)
Smaller shares – though still a majority – of Snapchat or Instagram users report visiting these respective platforms daily (59% for both). And being active on these sites is especially common for younger users. For instance, 71% of Snapchat users ages 18 to 29 say they use the app daily, including six-in-ten who say they do this multiple times a day. The pattern is similar for Instagram: 73% of 18- to 29-year-old Instagram users say they visit the site every day, with roughly half (53%) reporting they do so several times per day.
YouTube is used daily by 54% if its users, with 36% saying they visit the site several times a day. By comparison, Twitter is used less frequently, with fewer than half of its users (46%) saying they visit the site daily.
Below is a chart showing income demographics by platform to help plan your 4th quarter marketing campagins.
Social Media Marketing – Don’t Leave Out 50+
In a pattern consistent with past studies on social media use, there are some stark age differences. Some 84% of adults ages 18 to 29 say they use social media sites, which is similar to the share of those ages 30 to 49 who say this (81%). By comparison, a somewhat smaller share of those ages 50 to 64 (73%) say they use social sites, while fewer than half of those 65 and older (45%) report doing this.
These age differences generally extend to use of specific platforms, with younger users being more likely than their older counterparts to use these sites – though the gaps between younger and older Americans vary across platforms.
Majorities of 18- to 29-year-olds say they use Instagram or Snapchat and about half say they use TikTok, with those on the younger end of this cohort – ages 18 to 24 – being especially likely to report using Instagram (76%), Snapchat (75%) or TikTok (55%). These shares stand in stark contrast to those in older age groups. For instance, while 65% of adults ages 18 to 29 say they use Snapchat, just 2% of those 65 and older report using the app – a difference of 63 percentage points.
Additionally, a vast majority of adults under the age of 65 say they use YouTube. Fully 95% of those 18 to 29 say they use the platform, along with 91% of those 30 to 49 and 83% of adults 50 to 64. However, this share drops substantially – to 49% – among those 65 and older.
By comparison, age gaps between the youngest and oldest Americans are narrower for Facebook. Fully 70% of those ages 18 to 29 say they use the platform, and those shares are statistically the same for those ages 30 to 49 (77%) or ages 50 to 64 (73%). Half of those 65 and older say they use the site – making Facebook and YouTube the two most used platforms among this older population.
YouTube Use up 11% for 65+
The Pew Research Center surveyed 1,502 US adults between January 25 and February 28 and found that 81% use the social media platform, YouTube. YouTube and Reddit were the only 2 social sites that measured statistically significant growth since 2019, (Up 10% in just 2 years).
YouTube saw increases across the board on all age levels, but the 50+ crowd grew double digits.
50-64 year olds were up 13% and 65+ rose by 11%.
Digital Ads – Amazon, Facebook & Google What’s Happening?
Amazon has gone into the digital advertising business and now represents one of their fastest-growing and most profitable sectors.
Initially, the mighty merchant frowned on this type of advertising fearing it may clutter their site and alienate shoppers. However, they own 10.7% of the $191 billion US digital ad market today.
More and more people are bypassing Google and using Amazon as a search engine to find products. Today Google owns 28.8% of the market, down from 73.1% in 2019.
Amazon is taking ad business from Facebook too. In June, Apple introduced privacy changes on iPhones that have rendered Facebook & Instagram ads significantly less effective. The Apple feature known as App Tracking Transparency (ATT) forces developers to ask for consent before their apps can track users. Facebook launched an aggressive campaign against Apple claiming ATT will hurt the open internet and small businesses. Facebook is warning that customers who opt out of tracking will be excluded from specific targetable audiences, which will result in a decrease in audience sizes.
Many companies are reluctant to market on Amazon because they can lose the direct connection with their consumers. However, marketers are reporting significant declines in the performance of their Facebook ads which is sending big brands on the hunt for alternative options. As Amazon has an estimated 153 million Prime subscribers, it’s a platform that may be worth the risk.
Big brands are redirecting their digital ad budgets to other means of marketing that include incorporating social-media influencers and returning to more traditional channels like direct mail.
Direct mail has its own woes right now as postage and shipping rates are increasing at record levels, and paper shortages are causing the cost to implement direct mail campaigns to rise.
The USPS Holiday Heist
U.S. Postal Service Announces Proposed Temporary Rate Adjustments for 2021 Peak Holiday Season
WASHINGTON – The United States Postal Service filed notice the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) regarding a temporary price adjustment for key package products for the 2021 peak holiday season. This temporary rate adjustment , which was approved by the Board of Governors Aug. 5, will affect prices on commercial and retail domestic competitive parcels – Priority Mail Express (PME), Priority Mail (PM), First-Class Package Service (FCPS), Parcel Select, USPS Retail Ground, and Parcel Return Service. International products would be unaffected. Pending final approval by the PRC, the temporary rates will go into effect on Oct. 3, 2021, and remain in place until Dec. 26, 2021.
The planned price changes include:
Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, Parcel Select Ground and USPS Retail Ground:
• $0.75 increase for PM and PME Flat Rate Boxes and Envelopes.
• $0.25 increase for Zones 1-4, 0-10 lbs.
• $0.75 increase for Zones 5-9, 0-10 lbs.
• $1.50 increase for Zones 1-4, 11-20 lbs.
• $3.00 increase for Zones 5-9, 11-20lbs.
• $2.50 increase for Zones 1-4, 21-70 lbs.
• $5.00 increase for Zones 5-9, 21-70 lbs.
A full list of commercial and retail pricing can be found on the Postal Service’s Postal Explorer website https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm
Paper Shortage – Paper Prices. What’s Going On With Paper?
The paper market is getting tight. Coated paper producers are already over-sold into September. Price increases from the mills have continued across the board on all grades of paper, and some mills are refusing additional paper orders for the balance of the year. Coated paper is particularly hard to come by and mills are becoming less and less flexible.
Pulp costs are up 40%. Corn starch is up 80%. (Corn starch is used when making paper to increase dry paper strength and improve surface conditions, as well as acting as a binder in paper coatings). Freight is up 45% and fuel is up 40%. Add those all together and you get a market with soaring prices.
There is also a transportation shortage. Today there are 8 loads to every one truck (based on National Load-to-Truck Ratio data from DAT Freight & Analytics). In the past, the common ratio is between 2 to 3 loads per available truck.
Record low inventories of sheet-fed and digital grade paper remains. The mills are not able to replenish due to increased new orders which means lead times have significantly increased. Orders need to be placed at least 12 weeks in advance. This is important to bear in mind as Autumn is only 5-weeks away which means holiday printing begins shortly after.
Paper prices already increased in April/May and July of this year. Unfortunately, when it comes to paper, we need to be prepared to pay more and wait longer this holiday season.
First-Class Postcards Just Got Bigger
On July 28, 2021, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) approved increasing the size limit for a Presorted First-Class Mail (FCM) Postcard. The new 9″ by 6″ maximum size card has a slightly different minimum thickness of .009″ compared to the previous maximum size dimensions of 6″ by 4.25″ with a minimum thickness of .007″. (The minimum .007″ thickness still applies to cards less than 6″X9″).
Previous dimension restrictions made it easy for First-Class Postcards to “get lost” in the mailbox as larger pieces pulled away attention, and marketers didn’t have the needed space to sell products or services. The Postal Service argued that the proposed change would make the First-Class Postcards more valuable by creating new opportunities for marketers and nonprofits to take advantage of technologies such as QR codes and variable personalization making them even more effective.
Being able to send larger cards using First-Class Postcards rates will also give mailers faster delivery service circumventing the recent reduction of delivery standards recently implemented.
See the size comparison below:
PRC Approves 2nd Postage Rate Hike of 2021
On July 19th the PRC (The Postal Rate Commission) ruled that the Postal Service’s unprecedented price adjustment request for Market Dominant products was consistent with applicable laws and approved the increase to take effect August 29, 2021.
Click on the items below to see rate comparison charts or download a handy BEB Postal Rate Guide:
BEB 2021-08 NP POSTAL RATE COMPARISON
BEB 2021-08 MARKETING MAIL COMPARISON CHART
BEB 2021-08 FIRST CLASS RATE COMPARISON CHART
Lifting the Mask. It is Time to Engage Again
As our personal and business lives slowly begin to ease up on the unprecedented restrictions we have been living with for over a year now, it is time to “lift the mask” and engage again. Your existing customers need to hear from you, and it is time to start the search for new clients too.
We are all in uncharted territory, trying to find footing on something that, at least resembles, solid ground. The best way to do that is to reach out and reconnect with your clients.
Marketing your business is essential, and it is not expensive. There are so many channels in which to converse with existing and potential clients today, make sure your business is using them and reaping the rewards.
We are BEB (Business Extension Bureau). Take a tour of website and see the many marketing services we offer. We hope that you will consider using us to “lift the mask and engage” through marketing in the coming year.