One of the assumptions often made by people who are skeptical of social media is that it’s used primarily by high schoolers and university students. It’s not an unreasonable belief. Many studies have indicated that younger people are more likely to be early adopters of new technologies. Membership of Facebook, the world’s most popular social media website, was initially limited to university students. But the truth is that a business owner in her early 40s is more likely to be logged in to Twitter and other social media sites than is her teenage daughter.

A report released this week by Nielsen Online showed that Twitter has grown from 475,000 unique website visitors in February 2008 to 7 million visitors in February 2009. This year-over-year traffic increase of 1,382% gives Twitter the current title of fastest-growing social media website. Of those 7 million February visitors, the largest demographic group was composed of users between the ages of 35 and 49, accounting for 42% of all Twitter traffic. This follows a February report by Inside Facebook which found that the fastest-growing demographic group on Facebook was women 55 and older. Teens account for just 12% of Facebook users.

So what are the implications of these statistics for businesses that are interested in social media marketing? A new report by marketer Michael Stelzner suggests several appealing benefits:

• Over 60% of regular users of social media (16+ hrs/wk) experience reduced overall marketing costs

• Almost 80% of marketers who have used social media for a few years have seen improved search engine rankings

• More than two-thirds of those surveyed gained more website traffic by investing as few as 6 hrs/wk in social media marketing

Welcome to Molding Web’s social media marketing blog. The purpose of our blog is to provide you, our readers, with helpful and thought-provoking information about social media, its role in Internet marketing today, and the increasingly important role that it will play in the months and years to come. Whether you’re new to social media and terrified of making a mistake or an experienced online marketer who would curl up into a fetal ball without Facebook Connect and Tweetdeck, we’re going to do our best to speak to you on your level. Statistics, analysis, how-tos, opinion, links to great stories or blog posts—you’ll get all of this and more at Molding Web’s SMM blog.

But before we launch this newly christened vessel into the boundless sea of social media, we’d like to take a moment to introduce ourselves. Molding Web is an advanced Internet marketing company that is acutely aware of how important it is for both online companies and brick-and-mortar business owners to make social media a part of their Internet marketing strategy. We’ve worked for some of the leading companies in the search engine optimization and online retail industries, and we’ve seen how an unwillingness or inability to truly engage with people, i.e. customers, prevents companies from reaching their full potential. But that’s part of the beauty of social media—it’s social. It allows companies to connect with customers and individuals to connect with friends, family, and people who share their interests.

Thanks for reading. We look forward to starting a mutually beneficial conversation with you.