A recent study by iStrategyLabs reported that the number of teens (13 to 17) leaving Facebook has risen by 25.3% since 2011. The same is true for users between the ages of 18 and 24. The latter has seen a 7.5% drop since 2011. It seems like Facebook is not as appealing as it once was for teens and college kids. Despite the massive decline in teens and young adults using the social network, the number of users 34 and older has increased significantly, especially the 55+ crowd. These users have increased an astounding 80.4% since 2011. Facebook users are getting older on average, but that can actually be a good thing.
image via DJ Saul
Looking at current enrollment stats, high school users have seen a 58.9% decline and college users a 58.1% decline. The number of college alums on the other hand, increased 64.6%. The study also revealed that much of its user base growth came from metropolitan areas such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Now let’s get back to the part where that’s actually a good thing. If you are a company using Facebook to drive revenue from social media programs, that’s actually a wonderful thing. Here’s why:
Users between the ages of 13 and 24, normally have very little, if any, disposable income and are usually not the final decision makers on the conversion path. Users 34 years and older, especially the ones above 55, usually have a much higher disposable income and more often than not, have the final word on the decision making process. This means a much larger and more qualified audience with a lot of disposable income (remember that most of the growth came from Metropolitan areas which usually means higher household income) looking at your ads. If properly structured, this should bring your campaigns much higher conversion rates.
Image via e-Junkie.info