Marketing on Facebook Vs. MySpace

After viewing the Week 2 video slide discussing the difference in demographics between the two major social network sites, I thought it would be useful to compile some tips for advertising on Facebook and MySpace, and why the differences persist.

Demographics

Facebook – Facebook does not ask for demographic information from users, but they use surnames supplied by users to match the US Census Bureau and have determined that the ethnicity on Facebook nearly mirrors that of the United States with a slightly higher Caucasian instance.   63% of current users are under the age of 35, and 81% are under the age of 45.

MySpace - MySpace’s ethnic breakout is also similar to the averages of the US and Facebook, however has a higher percentage of Mexican and African American users.  MySpace has a much younger consumer base than Facebook with almost 45% of their users under the age of 24 (compared to 27% for Facebook).

Approach – Advertisers who target older consumers should use Facebook over MySpace as they will be able reach their segment more easily.  One opportunity for marketers is to use ads in Spanish on MySpace to appeal to consumers who are bi-lingual or of Hispanic descent.

http://www.insidefacebook.com/2010/01/04/december-data-on-facebook’s-us-growth-by-age-and-gender-beyond-100-million/

http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/facebook-twitter-grow-more-than-100-11943/comscore-demographic-composition-facebook-myspace-feb-2010jpg/

International Audience

Facebook - Around 350 million international users (70% of total users) comprising 70 languages.   

MySpace – Around 60 million international users comprising 15 languages.  London, Berlin, and Sydney are the three countries that have the most promise for MySpace comprising large economic centers with high concentrations of MySpace users.

Approach – If you are marketing to an international audience Facebook is by far the social media site to use.  It comprises more users than MySpace and has a wider international reach.  Ads should be set-up in the language of the targeted consumer in order to appear authentic and real.

Degree of Segmentation

Approach – For segmenting your audience both sites should work best with the same approach, increase the number of ads and decrease the width of the group you are targeting.  Do not try to reach all users with a single ad; social media users can easily read through it and it will not be as profitable as multiple ads focused on smaller subsets.  Both MySpace and Facebook allow marketers to segment based on data collected such as age, birthday, relationship status, and interests/hobbies.  Advertisements must not come across as mass mail, but have a more subversive (not meant in a bad way) approach.  The following article http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=127907 discusses Toyota’s use of MySpace to help promote their brand image through tie-ins with unsigned artists.  Kim Kyaw, senior media strategist for Toyota, says Toyota's branding in the program is deliberately low-key. "MySpace is a complex social network, and in order to be authentic there you have to relate back to what it is people are doing there.”