The Truth behind Online Power

By: Jeffrey Sherman

The true power of the internet lies in its ability to reach out to numerous numbers of people at any time in any location without any thought to borders. The fact is that the internet even though growing at a rapid rate is still not being harnessed for the power that it possesses. However for that to ever happen you have to take a look at why people are going online. If you are able to target the reason as to why people are taking the time to go online you will better be able to market to them. In a recent survey done by Ruder Finn in the second quarter they interview and questioned a number of internet users asking them why they went online. They released the information in a press release and it was later published in an article by eMarketer.com. However, we want to take a look at this information with a different lens. We are going to look at the hidden meaning behind these numbers. We are going to be looking at groups and patterns within the numbers, finally we are going to draw some conclusions that we can lay out to show how individuals and organizations can use these numbers to more effectively target the audience they are looking for. We hope that you will enjoy this trek and find something new and interesting. As always we look forward to your comments.

First of all we want to look at the chart and figure out what the numbers are saying. The first thing we see is that there is a loud and clear way to reach anyone on the internet and that is giving someone a way to pass time. 100% of those surveyed stated that they went on the internet to pass time. This means that whether or not they feel that it is important or not they consider it “passing time”. This is a passive phrase, one that does not ring of a need or desire. If you ask someone how they “pass time” you are probably not going to get the important things that they do. They won’t consider work, hobbies or events they have planned as “passing time”, however they will consider reading, watching a film or television perhaps a meal out or a nap “passing time”. This means that people still on a broad scale don’t necessarily see the internet on the same level as work or their upper level hobbies. Now this might draw ire from people however I am going to look deeper at the numbers to draw this out and 3 of the next 5 that have over an 80% response rate show this conclusion has merit because they are “connect with others”, “share” and “be entertained”. So even though the internet provides a vibrant market place and over 1.5 billion users, they are not at the top echelon looking as hard as you think for the serious shopping that people try to point out. They are looking for a way to “pass time” and for the most part get away. This is further fleshed out as the sites on the internet that show the fastest growth, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and HuLu all center around entertainment and socialization.

Now there is one statistical anomaly that presents itself or so it would seem near the top of the list and that would be to “educate self” coming in at 96%. However it doesn’t look that out of place as you look further down the list and see that “research”, “keep informed” and “discuss” help round out most of the top ten and all come in at over 70%. If we look at real life examples we see this as well. The increase in the number of colleges that offer online classes and the advent of complete online programs are just the beginning. You have high schools putting homework assignments on the web so students can access them, at home test that are taken online and I haven’t heard of a research paper yet that hasn’t used the internet at some point for the research. You also see this in the rise of blogs that are based on facts, the dissemination of information from non-profit organizations, political organizations and awareness organizations. You have companies that are set up solely to provide commentary and research for people to get information and there are very few organizations that don’t have an online presence when that organization depends on the sharing of information or feedback. This desire to educate one’s self also is not odd statistically when you realize that a reason for staying educated on a continuous basis is so that you stay up to date on what is going on. This allows you to continue to socialize at a higher level with your peers, and can lead to you “passing time” with different things than you had before.

So what is at the bottom? What are people not really going on line to do? Where is the growth area, and where are the places that maybe we put more emphasis than we should? Well, let’s look at what came in dead last, at 26% and that is to “join a cause”. That means that only one in four people is going online specifically to become a part of a cause or to join up to some club. This means that if you are looking to gain ground in your social networking the idea of just having a great cause to get people to latch onto might not be the best way to go. Only 28% of people go online to “comparison shop”. Many times have you heard from people state they “always go online to shop and compare prices” in fact it seems more than just a little better than 1 in 4 but the numbers don’t bear that out. Comparison shopping still not getting a majority of people online and that can once again be drawn out in real life examples as very few of the “only online” stores have truly made it through the crunch. There is EBay and the EBay stores and Amazon but not many of the others do you still see on a regular basis. Also before all of you get up in arms only 42% are there to “make an online purchase” so still less than half and that means it sits at fourth from the bottom. So the question then lies what is in the middle? We have last, next to last and the fourth from the last. What falls third from the bottom? It is managing the finances at 30% or less than 1 in 3. This could mean that people still aren’t comfortable putting their information out there. With the increase in identity theft and the number of stolen credit card numbers, this could be causing this area of the internet to grow at a much slower rate than people might think.

So where does this help you? Well if you are creating a personal brand and you are looking to make sure that you are reaching the largest market possible you probably want to go after those top reasons for being online. It is always easier to walk into a room with a larger group of people to find someone that fits what you are looking for then to cut your chances before you start. Give those people something they can do to pass the time, say like “Coke Rewards” or an online application or game. Pictures to look at of events or even a couple of online videos that have a chance of going viral could also be a way of providing a good time passer. Maybe you have an area of expertise that you can provide feedback from that will allow people to want to visit your site for the purpose of discussing things (like a blog) or just free material to read or take advantage of (like an EBook). However, you want to reach those 7 out of 10 and plus users that are in that top group and then convert them into your clientele. Give yourself that broad base to jump off from and finally you will have a chance to harness the true power of the internet.