Colleague and friend Wayne Hastings from Thomas Nelson book publishers just sent me this slide presentation that was created by PubTrack Consumer Data company.  Working with several other research companies, PubTrack conducted an online survey of 36,000 book buyers and dug deep to come up with what I think is highly accurate – and relevant – consumer data.

Some interesting findings include:

• Women are the majority of book purchasers, and continue to grow as a marketing segment. Ages 30-54 come in first, with 13-29 close behind.
• In-store displays beat all other forms of marketing hands-down for attracting interest in a book (something I’ve been saying all along – hello, female eye!)
• The most effective form of advertising?  Online marketing. That includes your website and use of social media tools.
• Speaking of social media: Women make up 56% of social media users; men constitute 44%. 47% of female readers say they are using Facebook.
• When it comes to integrating the Kindle and computers into the reading process, ages 50-64 are leaving everyone else in the dust.

Take a quick trip through the slides and see if you can glean other surprises that might affect how you view your own business.  Many of the stats here are easily transferable to other industries – what are the numbers telling YOU?