Mobile Social Networking Continues Strong Growth
JUNE 20, 2011
Accelerating smartphone purchases helps category growth
Social networking via mobile phones has been growing quickly in the US for over a year, and it still has the momentum of one of the fastest-growing content categories on mobile.
March 2011 research from comScore found that growth in unique users of mobile social networking over the previous three months was nearly 46%, compared to 43.3% for maps and 40.2% for weather. Social networking was not only the largest growth area during the period, but it was also the only one of the top three that is used for entertainment rather than utilitarian purposes.
The rising adoption of smartphones is helping contribute to the popularity of mobile social networking. comScore reported that 31% of mobile users had a smartphone in March, and nearly half of all new mobile device purchases were smartphones, up from just 29.3% last year. eMarketer also estimates 31% of mobile users will be smartphone users this year.
Arbitron and Edison Research found in February that 43% of all US consumers ages 12 and up were mobile social networkers, up from 32% in 2010. And those who visited social networks several times a day updated nearly as often via mobile as via PC.
The continued increase in smartphone penetration—estimated by eMarketer at 35% next year and 43% by 2015—will fuel this trend and make mobile social networking the norm for a sizeable segment of the population.
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The Influence of Mobile on Social Marketing’s Future
Mobile platforms and location-based networks could take social marketing to the next level
Facebook cuts a deal to kill Foursquare?
You’re walking down the street. You’re hungry. You see the golden arches of McDonalds. It’s far from healthy, but you’ve only got a five-dollar note in your pocket and you feel like a burger. Your phone vibrates. You get it out, and on the screen there is a picture message from Grill’d. They’re offering you a half price burger. The store is in front of you.
True location-based advertising was dreamed up a long time ago, and has seemed to take an eternity to become possible, but Facebook Deals may be the final frontier in making it a reality of daily life.
Facebook have announced that their location-based mobile platform, Facebook Places, will partner with major coupon companies like Groupon (Spreets and Scoopon are popular Australia spin-offs) as well as major brands, like McDonald’s and H&M, to offer location sensitive promotions and deals.
This week, always-newsworthy American retailer Gap will give out 10,000 pairs of jeans in the US to Facebook users through Deals.
Local merchants will be able to get involved and offer deals as well.
Facebook Deals will start rolling out in the US this week as a feature of Facebook’s ‘Places’ mobile platform, first on Android phones, then iPhones.
Is this the nail in the coffin for Foursquare? Certainly in Australia, where a 'Foursquare Australia' Google search still returns evangelical christian websites, the signs of future uptake cannot be good.
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As the increase in smart device ownership helps put the mobile web in the pocket of more and more Americans, mobile will play a greater role in all forms of content consumption—including social media.
US marketers surveyed in June 2010 by PRWeek and MS&L Group believed mobile social would have important consequences for their brand. Asked which social media efforts would have the greatest effect on their company, 17% said more usage of social media on mobile platforms and a further 12% cited uptake of mobile location-based social networking.
Another 4% said investing more in Twitter would be their most important effort. While a majority of users access Twitter from their desktop, the microblogging service is a major example of greater use of social media from mobile platforms. According to the company’s blog, mobile usage of the site rose 62% in about four months, and mobile sign-ups increased from 5% of the total earlier in 2010 to 16%.
Currently, PRWeek and MS&L Group found that few US marketers were using specifically mobile-based social media tools, but the sophistication of smart devices has narrowed the distance between the desktop and mobile for many users.
Much of the marketing opportunity in going mobile lies with the ability to use location data to bring consumers timely messages when they are already nearby and possibly considering a purchase. Social media could prove a smart avenue for such efforts; while pure location-based services like foursquare remain relatively niche, Facebook has picked up location-based check-in services, and social networking has been the single biggest driver of mobile app usage and browsing over the past year.
