View from the Social Inbox 2010

Actionable Information for Marketers

From the Annual Consumer Email & Digital Media
Attitudes and Usage Study

Me rkle Thought Leadersh ip S er ies

View from the Social Inbox 2010

Introduction
The rapid adoption of social networking, one of the leading applications of social media, is changing online
personal communication. Sites such as Facebook have grown exponentially in popularity across demographics.
But the recent growth did not seem to have a dramatic impact on the time consumers spent with personal
email as compared to last year, according to Merkle’s annual View from the Inbox study of email and related
digital media. The findings from this study, an online survey of 3,281 U.S. adults age 18+ conducted during the
fall of 2009, have implications for marketers who are interested in social marketing strategy.

Highlights of the study include:

• Time spent with personal, or social, email to friends and family is unchanged from last year,
with 71% of respondents spending 20 minutes or more weekly. These numbers suggest social
email use remains strong, contradicting earlier speculation that social networking would quickly
replace traditional email use.
• Active social networkers are more likely to be avid email users, as measured by time spent
with social email as well as number of times checked daily. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of social
networkers use the same email account for their social networking messages and the majority
of their permission, or opt-in, email.
• Demographics such as age, gender, ethnicity and education influence which social sites
consumers use. Marketers can use this knowledge to help determine the marketing channels
most relevant to their key customers and prospects, and create marketing programs accordingly.
• Social networkers are twice as likely to use mobile email (28% vs. 14%) and be “hyper email
checkers” compared to their non-networked online counterparts – 50% of mobile email users
check their personal email four or more times daily versus 32% of non-mobile users.
• Twenty percent of Facebook, MySpace and/or Twitter users have posted or shared something
from permission email to their social account(s) via a “share” option, indicating the importance
of an integrated email strategy.

Over the past five years, email use has shifted, with users allocating a growing share of total email time to
permission email and a shrinking share to personal, or social, use with friends and family. But time spent on
social email still represents the largest piece, at 41% of total email time, versus 26% for permission email.

Self-reported time spent communicating with friends and family via email is unchanged from last year, with
71% of respondents spending 20 minutes or more weekly. The ten-point drop in this metric from two years
ago has stabilized. This finding is reinforced by the constant number of daily emails received from friends and
family, currently at 8.6 versus 8.4 last year. And when respondents gauge the time spent with this category,
about a third (35%) think they spend more time communicating with friends and family compared to a year
ago, up six points from last year. Just 10% say they are spending less time with this category compared to a
year ago, an amount unchanged from last year’s study.

While time spent with social email appears to have changed little from last year, there is another aspect of
social networking that bodes well for email’s continued use in the social space. Many social networking

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View from the Social Inbox 2010

applications have default notification settings that send triggered emails relating to network activity to an
associated email account. This provides both mobile and desktop users with a quick, centralized view of
messages and comments relating to their account. For those users in a business environment, this medium also
provides a more discrete way to stay updated without overtly visiting social websites during working hours.

A larger implication for marketers and their online social strategies is the demographic differences among consumers’
social media use and related email activity. Age, gender, ethnicity and level of education each play a role in the social
sites consumers regularly use, which has large implications for targeting existing customers or prospects.

Two-Thirds of Those Online are Active on Top Social Sites

Social sites comprise an extensive variety of community websites (news, travel, nonprofit), media (videos,
photo sharing, music), blogs, commercial websites (classified as social with reviews and wish lists), online career
networks and social networks. With so many sites encompassing social media use, the View from the Inbox
study focused on the current top consumer sites, and was concerned with regular use versus membership.

Regular use of social sites is of greater importance to marketers than penetration, which can include past usage
and inactive users. The current leader in the space is Facebook, used at least weekly by 53% of those online (Fig.
1). Demonstrating the fickle nature of social site users, one-time leader MySpace is used by just 18% weekly.

Social Usage Skews Younger

According to Nielsen1, Facebook’s largest growth in audience numbers has come from people age 35-49. Active
usage however, still skews substantially younger; in fact, there is a significant negative correlation between age
and regular Facebook use as seen in Fig. 2. The break point for using Facebook either above- or below-average
falls at approximately age 40.

Figure 1 • Base: all respondents Figure 2 • Base: all respondents

Social Sites Used at Least Weekly Facebook Usage by Age

Facebook 53%
71%
65%
YouTube 33%
49%
38%
MySpace 18% 29%

Twitter 10%

None of 34%
these 18-29 30-39 40-49 50-64 65+

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3
 2-3 times 32%
per day 32%

16%
Once a day 23%
View from the Social Inbox 2010
2-6 times 8%
per week 14%

Once a week 2%
This or less
age-related skew is not
4%limited to Facebook alone; it can be seen across the main sites profiled as
Yes No
shown in Fig. 3.

Figure 3 • Base: all respondents

Social Networking Sites Used at Least Weekly by Age

71%
65%
Facebook 49%
38%
29%
48%
37%
YouTube 26%
26%
19%
30%
24%
MySpace 14%
9%
3%
15%
15%
Twitter 10%
4% 18-29 30-39 40-49 50-64 65+
3%

Social Networkers are Tied to the Inbox

Early speculation regarding the explosion of social networking predicted email’s use to drop substantially.
However, industry experts have analyzed usage data and the results not only contradict this theory,
but show the opposite – that socially networked consumers are more tied to their email accounts
compared to those not socially networked. This point was corroborated by a recent Nielsen analysis2
of online behaviors that showed heavier social networking use is associated with substantially more
time using email.

The View from the Inbox study has also found this effect, with those using the top social networking sites
having an eight-point increase in spending 45-plus minutes weekly with social email (48% vs. 40%). In
addition, those who are socially networked check their email much more frequently on a daily basis
compared to those who are not social online. Forty-two percent of social networkers check their email
account four or more times a day, compared to just 27% of those who do not use the current top social
networking sites (Fig. 4).

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View from the Social Inbox 2010

Figure 4 • Base: social users differentiated by use of one or more of the “big three” social networking sites
(Facebook, MySpace, Twitter)

Frequency of Checking Personal Email Account by

Social Media Use (Yes/No)
4+ times 42%
per day 27%

2-3 times 32%

per day 32%

16%
Once a day 23%

2-6 times 8%
per week 14%

Once a week 2%
or less 4%
Yes No

Social network use alone, however, may not be driving this behavior, as there are several correlations at
work. Part of this increased use is due to the age skew of social networkers; as shown above, active social
networkers tend to be younger, and younger demographics tend to check their personal email accounts
Social Networking Sites Used at Least Weekly by Age
more frequently (Fig. 5). Smart phone penetration also contributes to this behavior; social networkers are
twice as likely to use mobile email compared to their non-networked online counterparts (28% vs. 14%).
71%
Additionally, mobile email users skew younger (Fig. 5) and are also “hyper
65% email checkers” – those who
Facebook
check their personal email account four or more38% 49%
times daily (50% of mobile email users are hyper email
checkers vs. 32% of non-mobile email users).
29%
48%
It YouTube
is interesting to note that while younger 37%
26% email users check their personal email accounts more
26%
frequently, their time spent with social email skews lower compared to older age groups. In fact, there
19%
is a near-perfect linear relationship in which time spent on social email increases with age, with 60% of
30%
those 18-29 spending over 20 minutes 24%weekly compared to 87% of those 65+. Slight differences
MySpace
exist year over year, but not14%
for the 18-29 age bracket (Fig. 6). It is possible that these early adopters
9%
have “settled into”
3% post-social email behaviors, while the later adopters ages 30+ are still adapting
their newer online social habits.
15%
15%
Twitter 10%
4% 18-29 30-39 40-49 50-64 65+
3%

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View from the Social Inbox 2010

Primary Personal Email Account

Behaviors by Age Check on Mobile Check 4+ times per day
Figure 5 • Mobile base: respondents with an Internet-enabled mobile phone. Checking base: all respondents.
57%
60% 51%
50%Primary Personal Email Account
39%
40% Behaviors
42%
by Age 30%
Check on Mobile
29%
Check 4+ times per day
30% 39% 57% 36%
60% 51%
20% 30%
28%
50%
10% 39%
40%
0% 30% 29%
42%
30% 39%
18-29 30-39 36%
40-49 50-64 65+
20% 30%
28%
10%
0%
18-29 30-39 40-49 50-64 65+

Figure 6 • Base: all respondents

Percent Spending 20+ Minutes with

Social Email Weekly by Age 2009 2008
100%
87%
76%
Percent Spending 20+ Minutes with
80% 68% 73%

60%
Social
60%
Email Weekly by Age 2009 2008
100%
40% 87%
76%
80% 68% 73%
20%
60%
60%
0%
18-29 30-39 40-49 50-64 65+
40%

20%
Social Networking Email Account = Permission Email Account
0%
The majority of those socially networked
18-29 30-39
– young and old – use the same
40-49
email account65+
50-64
for their social networking
alerts and messages as for the majority of their permission email (Fig. 7). The implication for marketers is that
online social networkers are still accessing the accounts used for their permission email and will see commercial
messages among their personal email messages.

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View from the Social Inbox 2010

Additional Targeting Considerations

Gender
Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace have a female skew; women are more likely to use these
sites on at least a weekly basis compared to their male counterparts. Males are more likely to use YouTube
regularly. No gender differences exist for Twitter usage (Fig. 8).

Figure 7 • Base: users of one or more of the “big three” Figure 8 • Base: all respondents
social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace,
Twitter)

Social Networking Email Account =

Permission Email Account Site Use by Gender
57%
Yes 63% 49%
39%
27%
20%
15%
No 27% 10% 10%

Facebook MySpace Twitter YouTube

Varies 10%
Male Female

Ethnicity
The Asian online segment indexes well above average for Facebook use, with a regular usage gain of
19 points compared to the non-ethnic average. This segment also leads in regular YouTube and Twitter
use (Fig. 9).

While one-time social network leader MySpace is used weekly by just 18% of those online, it gains an
edge when targeting certain ethnic audiences such as Hispanics and African Americans. Both of these
groups index higher on weekly MySpace use, with increases of 112% and 69% respectively over the
non-ethnic average.

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View from the Social Inbox 2010

Figure 9 • Base: all respondents

Social Sites Used at Least Weekly by Ethnicity

53%
Facebook 52%
71%
52%

40%
YouTube 45%
51%
30%

26%
MySpace 32%
14%
15%

14%
Twitter 15%
19%
9% African American Hispanic Asian Other

Education
While Facebook has branched out from its university roots, those with undergraduate degrees are still more
likely to be regular users. MySpace, however, has a negative correlation with education, as regular use is
lighter among those with more education (Fig. 10). Interestingly, there is little variance in the use of Twitter
and YouTube by education.

Figure 10 • Base: all respondents

Social Networking Site Usage by Education

Facebook MySpace 61%
54%
50%
45%

26%
22%
13%
9%

High School or Less Assoc. Degree/ Undergraduate Graduate School +

Some College Degree

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Social Networking Site Usage by Education
Facebook MySpace 61%
54%
50%
45% Inbox 2010
View from the Social
26%
22%
13%
9%
Nonprofit Sector
Nonprofit email subscribers, or those who have signed up for permission email from one or more nonprofit
High School or Less Assoc. Degree/ Undergraduate Graduate School +
organizations, have a higher instance of regular Facebook and Twitter
Some College
use (Fig. 11). Campaigns targeting
Degree
donors and potential donors should have socially integrated elements with these applications.

Figure 11 • Base: all respondents

Social Networking Sites Used at Least Weekly by Nonprofit Subscription

All Others NP Subs
59%
Facebook
47%

18%
MySpace
17%

12%
Twitter
8%

Other Social Media Highlights

• Over ninety percent (92%) read online reviews at least occasionally for products and services
they are interested in, with little variation by age, gender or ethnicity.
The majority of activity in this space is consumption versus creation; just under half of
those online (49%) have ever posted an online review, with just 10% posting more
than two.
• Twenty percent of Facebook, MySpace and/or Twitter users have posted or shared
something from permission email to their social account(s) via a “share” option.
Socially networked users younger than age 50, as well as ethnic segments including
African American, Hispanic and Asian, are significantly more likely to share to their
social sites.
• Just over one-quarter (27%) actively read blogs, up five points year over year. Demographic
differences do exist in readership, with readership highest under age 40 (32% compared to
22% over 40), and for those with an undergraduate degree or higher (29% vs. 22% for those
with less than an undergraduate degree).

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View from the Social Inbox 2010

Marketing Implications
As marketers continue to experiment in the social media space, understanding dynamics of this growing
medium is fundamental to a targeted strategy. In the commercial space, gains from targeting have been well
documented over the past decade, and most marketers would not consider a direct mail strategy without
a targeted approach. The social space – an extension of a company’s digital presence – should not be any
different. Online behaviors, including social networking and related email use, vary across demographics, with
age, gender, ethnicity and education impacting site and media use. These differences underscore the need to
profile and understand subscriber/fan/follower composition as part of a social media strategy.

Email provides a centralized hub for permission-based communication, but the marketable online pool of
customers and prospects extends beyond an email subscriber list. How can marketers use other direct, digital
channels – such as social media and mobile – to expand their marketing efforts beyond email so that their focus
is on developing one-on-one targeted messages versus just operating in the channel? Customers interact across
multiple channels; marketers need to align their marketing strategy accordingly using an integrated approach.

Endnotes:
1
Source: The Nielsen Company, “Global Faces & Networked Places: A Nielsen report on Social Networking’s
New Global Footprint,” March 2009.
2
Source: The Nielsen Company, “Is Social Media Impacting How Much We Email?,” September 2009.

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