Social media is a major force not only amongst marketers and their peers who find the topic fascinating but amongst our actual audiences too. Nielsen’s Q1 2010 Consumer Confidence Survey, Q1 2010 @Plan reports and Audience Measurement tools are citing some striking facts that paint an even more dramatic picture of our immersion into social media than we might have thought. I was particularly surprised by stats such as 21% of U.S. adults own or publish a blog or that 2/3 of global consumers refer to online product reviews when making a purchasing decision.

I have often written that your social media marketing has to focus on the needs of the audience first. However this recent article by Clay MacDaniel cites research by Razorfish and She’sConnected.com are indicating that a primary reason for consumers to fan your company or brand is to receive promotions and discounts. Let’s take a look at some ways that you can find a balance between social media marketing that attracts the attentions of your audience and social media marketing that pushes sales messages to them.

The number of U.S. Internet users aged 65 and older increased more than 55 percent between November 2004 and November 2009, according to data from Nielsen. The measurement firm estimates that 17.5 million seniors are now online, compared with 11.3 million five years ago.

I enjoy the research published by the Pew Internet and American Life Project because it is not motivated by any particular agenda. So it came as a surprise to me to learn that they are reporting that 19% of those recently surveyed use Twitter or “some other form of status update service (not quite sure what they mean by this). This is up from 11% only 1 year ago. I know that Twitter is fast-growing but since Pew generally reports more conservative numbers than other surveys this is impressive. Additionall, the same survey is showing that the median age for Facebook users is rising: Up to 33 from 26 only 1 year ago–big jump!

The EVoter Institute has recently released a report entitles “Persuading and Motivating Voters: What Will It Take in 2010?” that drives home the importance of the Internet and the changing dynamics in the ways we all consumer news and information. The study is well worth the read no matter what industry you are in primarily because it illustrates the increasing ways that social media content is being used by consumers.

This year’s Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey of 25,000 Internet consumers from 50 companies has brought to light that reviews and recommendations from friends are by far the most trusted forms of information that consumers receive. 90% of those surveyed said that they trusted reviews and recommendations from friends while a surprising 70% said that they trust reviews that they find online from people they do not know.

A recent study by Pear Analytics sought to determine the content of what is being posted to Twitter. They took 2,000 tweets in English from the public timeline over a time span of two weeks, with 200 tweets captured each half-hour from 11am – 5pm CST daily. They then categorized tweets into six different types: news, spam, self-promotion, pointless babble, conversation, and pass-along value. Pointless babble won with 40.55% of the sample.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project has released a survey that indicates that the share of online adults who watch videos on video-sharing sites has nearly doubled since 2006. In addition television and movie watching are now an online experience for a third of internet users.

A recent Nielsen Company study has confirmed that the percentage of Twitter users 25 and younger is significanty lower than the percentage of the same group on the web as a whole. This indicates that Twitter’s recent growth is fueled completely by adult users which runs counter to most people’s intuitive sense that young people are mavens with all things social media.

A study by the market research firm PhoCusWright indicates that travelers who select and purchase their travel options online spend over twice the amount of those who execute the entire process offline. This does not necessarily mean that online travelers spend twice as much per trip but they spend twice as much annually. So, in fairness, it could mean that the online traveler is a more frequent traveler than their offline counterpart. However stats like these place continued emphasis on the online channel for destination marketers.