Marketing and all things related

Statistics show that social media marketing is playing a big role in driving purchase decisions (you can read more about that here and here).  Learning about the blogosphere is an important part of developing a social media marketing plan, so I found the results to a poll posted by Darren Rowse at Problogger to be very interesting in that respect.

Problogger.net is known as one of the most popular blogs about blogging.  Darren Rowse has become famous within the blogosphere for creating a lucrative career from blogging.  I was very interested when Darren posted a poll on Problogger last week asking readers how old they are.  The results to date are as follows:

• 15 or under = 5%
• 16-20 = 12%
• 21-25 = 20%
• 26-30 = 18%
• 31-40 = 21%
• 41-50 = 11%
• 51-60 = 7%
• 61-70 = 2%
• 70 and above = 2%

As one of the most visited blogs about blogging online today, it can be assumed that the respondents to the Problogger poll represent the blogosphere fairly well.  So with that said, what do the results of Darren's survey tell us, and what conclusions can we draw based on those results?

38% of bloggers who responded to Darren's survey are between the ages of 21-30.  The second largest demographic group in terms of age is the 31-40 range at 21%.  A myriad of products come to mind as ones that could benefit immensely by tapping into the influential power of bloggers in those age ranges. 

I think of the amount of advertising dollars companies invest in television ads to capture the coveted 18-30 year old market.  Then I imagine that money re-invested in social media marketing where that target market is spending time and listening to online influencers, and I can't help but think companies are still missing the boat in terms of marketing investments.

Consider this.  Technorati states on their website that they are, "currently tracking 108.4 million blogs and over 250 million pieces of tagged social media."  That's a lot of blogs, a lot of bloggers (mostly between the ages of 21-30, followed by 31-40), and a lot of opportunity for marketing.

What do you think of the results of Darren's survey?