Profile Of The Digital Consumer
Drawing from research done by Advertising.com and Avenue A/Razorfish, here is an interesting profile of today's digital consumer, as reported by Behavioral Insider.
Some expected findings, like the explosive growth in viewing and personal creation of online video.
Not so expected …
- The claim that 56% subscribe to RSS, which the author ascribes to consumer use of Yahoo and Google personalized home pages. A year ago, it seemed that only 15% or so even knew what RSS was. About 60% of internet users have created customized home pages consisting of feeds and widgets.
- 70% read blogs regularly … 46% read 4-5 blogs.
- 91% of connected consumers say they rely on the Web for current news and information more than television.
- When researching purchases online, 55% say they consult user reviews vs. 21% who rely on expert reviews.
- Despite all the attention given mobile communication, 64% never use their phone to check news, sports or stock headlines.
Comments the reporter:
Behavior and technology change one another. In this case the trajectory clearly aims toward personalization, both of media production and consumption. Digital behavior is showing what futurists have been telling us for several years. Mass media is history. Turn the page to the next chapter.
Think about how this accelerating fragmantation and personalization will affect:
- How you deliver “news” to your donors/supporters, as well as your external audience(s).
- How your print publications will survive, if they should.
- How your web presence and online messaging is accessed and used (or not) by your various audiences.
- How you might “break in” to the private personal media worlds your donors and other supporters are building for themselves.
Communicating on your terms will be getting harder and harder! And blasting any message to a big, broad audience will become just about impossible for most nonprofits.
Tom