What If Your Online Marketing Campaign Targets Nobody

By Inspiringly

There is a good chance your online marketing campaign is reaching nobody, as 11 percent of U.S. adults do not use the Internet. It has nothing to do with access to Internet. Many of those people may well have access to online connection; they simply do not use Internet or cannot afford it.

A new Pew Research Center research shows that the number of Americans not using Internet is gradually decreasing, though. In 2000, almost every second American did not use online services, or 48 percent. Their percentage drops to 11 percent in 2018 but it still makes about 27 million people after we deduct the number of those aged under 18 and thus introduce a correction for active consumers.

A third of non-internet users, or 34 percent, are simply not interested in using online services or reading news online. Interestingly, another third, 32 percent of non-users, say the Internet is too difficult to use, while 8 percent of this group claim they are “too old to learn.”

Source: Pew Research Center

Cost is also a barrier for some adults, however. Almost every fifth American who does not use Internet, or 19 percent, says computers and internet services are too expensive.

Geeky startup founders tend to take it for granted that everyone has access to Internet, all the time, and spends a good few hours online a day either browsing sites or playing with social media.

This is simply not true and if you get statistics from other regions of the world, the more offline people you'll find.

Although seniors still make the largest group that never go online, you have 13 percent of offline American users that are between 50 and 64 years old. They should be categorized as economically active consumers by any means.

Source: Pew Research Center

Furthermore, with all the buzz about social entrepreneurship online you'll be wondering how social online enterprises will reach out to those one-in-three adults with less than a high school education (35%) who do not use the Internet.

In addition, 19 percent of adults from households with annual income of less than $30,000 a year do not use the internet. Only 2 percent of people with higher annual income are offline.

The report finds that rural Americans are more than twice as likely as those who live in urban or suburban areas to never use the Internet.

That said, digital marketers and company executives should definitely take into account the offline phenomenon. The widespread use of online tools across the business in developed economies mislead business strategists and marketers to consider everybody is online. Not everybody is online.

Like this article? We can help you create valuable content to enhance your online presence.