Once upon a time mobile and social media were a couple of young kids worlds apart each looking for a bright future. Over the years they grew up and the products and services they created began to work better when they worked together. Location Based Services like Foursquare, Yelp and Facebook Places work better when used by mobile users. Twitter conversations happen in places like sports arenas, courtrooms, and restaurants because of mobile. Mobile extends social media and makes social media truly engaging because people can communicate with their communities everywhere they happen to be.
This symbiotic relationship between mobile and social media has grown into a love affair as both mobile and social media provide unique benefits for consumers and marketers. However, this love affair is not accepted by all marketers as many small businesses shun mobile in favor of social media. Constant Contact’s Fall 2011 Small Business Attitudes & Outlook Survey reported that 72% of small businesses haven’t incorporated mobile in their business. Furthermore only 13% of small businesses surveyed have created a mobile website.
The mobile audience is huge, which leaves opportunities for businesses targeting mobile users. Your business can create a differential advantage by taking action now!
Here’s a quick synopsis on how the mobile market has grown:
There are 5.3 billion mobile subscribers (that’s 77 percent of the world population). Growth is led by China and India. Source: International Telecommunication Union
90% of text messages are opened within 4 minutes. Source, Opus Research |mobithinking.com | Mobile Data Association
Consumer time on mobile apps surpasses time on Web. (Flurry)
- US Smartphone users now total 95.8 million
- 324 million smartphones were sold through 3 quarters of 2011
- Just on Dec 25, 6.8 million Android and iOS devices were activated
- 242 million apps were downloaded on Dec 25, last Christmas it was 150 million
- Number of apps in apple store –600,000; number of apps in android store –500,000
- Number of app downloads in the last week of December – 1.2 billion worldwide with almost half from the US
81% of smartphone users have used their smartphone to browse or look for products or services and 50% have made a purchase with their smartphone, according to research from Prosper Mobile Insights. Additional marketing-based activities are even more popular, including receiving special offers by text message (54%) or scanning a QR code, about 58%.
Mobile looks sexy to marketers because mobile devices are close to the point of purchase. PewInternet recently released a report that showed “More than half of adult cell phone owners used their cell phones while they were in a store during the 2011 holiday season to seek help with purchasing decisions.” That makes many mobile shoppers one click away from buying. That may be one reason why mobile movie sites convert ticket sales much higher than desktop websites. Mobile is also location aware, which is important when personalizing your service/product offering to a targeted group of mobile users.
Now is the ideal time to launch an integrated mobile social media campaign for your business. Launching now will allow you to see how effectively mobile & social media can build your brand and fill your events.
The upfront cost of implementing a mobile marketing campaign currently cost less than most traditional marketing campaigns. The lower cost reduces risk and allow for higher R.O.I.s.
Mobile tools are abundant and each mobile tool have unique strengths that are increased when used with social media. Mobile provides your business with additional opportunities to Listen, Converse and Publish with your social media communities. You can see many of the mobile tools our clients use at our mobile website.
Now is the perfect opportunity to join in the love affair of mobile and social media. Research how mobile is being used, investigate mobile tools like SMS Texting, Mobile Coupons, Mobile Poll Voting etc. and get started NOW! Because if you wait your competition will adopt mobile and reap the benefits.
If you an Event Planner or Event Producer we have a brand new FREE eBook for you titled “The Mobile Social Guide To Great Events.” This eBook discuss what’s working in mobile social media for events and how mobile is being us. I also created a mobile social media plan for an event so you can adapt to your event marketing plan. You can download the eBook by clicking on the button.
Great info – Thanks for sharing!