The number of affluent consumers on Facebook is increasing rapidly. Here’s how to take advantage.
According to the latest official statistics published by Facebook, the social networking website has over 750 million active users around the world. Fifty percent of its active user base is logged into Facebook on any given day. If your company has tried to use Facebook as a marketing channel to reach average consumers, odds are the results haven’t been as expected.
Using Facebook as a marketing channel isn’t yet a proven way to generate sales—I’ve written about this before. New research, however, indicates that there are new incentives for businesses to keep trying.
A recent study by Spectrem Group, a consulting and marketing firm specializing in affluent consumers, indicates that the number of millionaires on Facebook is increasing rapidly.
According to the study, the number of millionaires, defined as people that have at least 1 million dollars in net worth not including the equity of their principal residence, has nearly doubled in the past nine months. (Approximately 46 percent of millionaires are now using Facebook.) Even more compelling is the increased usage of Facebook among ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWs)—UHNWs are generally characterized as having a net worth of $5 million to $25 million not including the equity value of their main homes.
Millionaires making a comeback
Despite the general state of the economy, millionaires continue to do well. During 2010, the number of millionaire households in the United States grew by 600,000 to a total of 8.4 million. This is a significant improvement considering that during the housing and financial crises in recent years millionaire households plunged by nearly one-third. If current trends continue, we should see a return to the peak number of millionaires—9.2 million households—within the next two years.
Selling to the rich
This rebound in the net worth of the most affluent segment of our society is important to small business owners. Selling to rich people is a good thing! They have large amounts of disposable income, can provide valuable referrals and connections and they aren’t as price sensitive as other segments of the population. Who wouldn’t want to sell to this type of customer?
Given the latest trends in Facebook usage, this can provide an effective channel to reach potential millionaire customers.
