The data below was collected by Quantcast.com.

From an online marketing prospective, the monthly traffic to these websites is staggering. YouTube.com brings in about 81.6M US visitors a month, making this a must for any businesses who are utilizing online video. YouTube is also a great way to distribute viral marketing campaigns.Facebook and MySpace are great places to promote your business and let everyone in on your local events and promotions. Facebook members who have had a pleasant experience with your businesses or have heard good things about you will gladly “become a fan” of your business, opening up a whole new level of exposure to their network connections.

In the recent month, I have had many Indianapolis based businesses who are leary of testing marketing efforts in these mediums, for fear that the sites are “for kids”. This is clearly not the case. Sure, these websites are a daily staple for teenagers and young adults, the data above clearly represents a wider age range of visitors. I think that most businesses can include social networking in to their online marketing plan, but with any types of online advertising, it is important to have the proper tracking mechanisms in place. Try some targeted advertising, tailored to the demographic of the website’s audience. Use promo codes and discount codes to help track your sales from that particular medium and like always, watch your online statistics for traffic and conversion data.