As I was adding copious amounts of cream and sweetener 
to my Starbucks coffee this morning, I looked up and saw a flyer for a foursquare promotion Starbucks was running to benefit the Global Fund to help fight AIDS.
This reminded me of some research I found yesterday about “11 Shocking New Social Media Statistics in America,” and in particular the following statistic: Only 3% of Americans have checked in to a location via mobile device.
For the sake of the fundraising, I hope folks will, but wouldn’t it be easier to have one day (or in the flyer’s case, a whole 9 days) that Starbucks could collect money for this cause, in-store?
From a marketing perspective, I get it. By having user check in, it helps with virality on foursquare, and can even trickle over to Facebook if the user has the two accounts linked. Bottom line: Starbucks is looking for impressions. Here’s the full
Here are some highlights from the full article of “11 shocking” facts:
The “Check-in” is the phenomenon that never happened.
74% of Americans are unfamiliar with the concept of checking in to a location via mobile device, and only 3% have ever checked in. Even more damning, is that 4% had checked in when surveyed in 2011.
Facebook is the most addicting of the social networks
23% of Facebook’s users check their account five or more times EVERY DAY.The mean number of daily look-ins by Facebook users is 4. Are we really so interesting that we have to keep up with our friends’ inanities every 90 minutes?
Facebook via mobile continues to be a major factor
54% of Facebook members have used the social network via a phone, and 33% use a phone as their primary way to access Facebook. This despite the fact that the Facebook mobile experience and mobile apps are mediocre, at best. Here’s hoping the Instagram guys can jump start it. If so, watch for these numbers to soar.
55% of Americans 45-54 have a profile on a social networking site
It’s not just for kids any more. The biggest growth of any age cohort from 2011 to 2012 was 45-54 year olds, who now exhibit participation matching the U.S. average. The only group that is below average are 55+ Americans, and even 3 out of 10 of them are in the social networking game.
Huge uptick in Facebook’s influence on purchase
Last year, 68% of Americans using social networks said that none of those networks had an influence on their buying decisions. This year, just 36% said that there was no influence. Now, 47% say Facebook has the greatest impact on purchase behavior(compared to just 24% in 2011). Incidentally, Twitter ranks below “other” at 5%. If you want to drive purchase behaviors within social networks, Facebook is the one and only game to play, statistically speaking.
