Posts tagged as: Twitter
A Mobile Future: Mobile Consumers
Now that we know the fate of the PC and we’re up to date on the platform war, let’s get to know those millions of mobile users.
Mobile users are content consumers. In fact, consumption in many categories nearly doubled between 2010 and 2011 including: health information, reference and entertainment. This growth can be attributed to not only overall growth in mobile users, but also increased data speeds, ubiquitous connectivity, mobile formatted content and the proliferation of social integration.
Mobile users are gamers and the demographic is not just young males. In fact, women over 30 are the most avid players of mobile games. A recent report shows that 64% of users who downloaded an app in the past 30 days downloaded a game. Games are the most popular app category particularly amongst paid apps with 93% of app downloaders willing to pay for a game.
Listening to music on mobile devices is huge. Currently, 70% of Pandora’s traffic is from mobile devices. Along with Spotify, iHeartRadio, Last.fm, Rhapsody and many others, music apps offer the mobile consumer free, ad-supported or paid access to a nearly infinite library of music. Integration of mobile devices in home theater electronics and vehicle stereos, coupled with pervasive internet connections has turned the mobile device into the consumer’s music headquarters.
Certainly mobile devices are used for socializing. Facebook (33%) and Twitter (55%) are experiencing a large increase in percentage of traffic from mobile devices and the numbers are expected to continue growing. Many social networking platforms either originated as an app or exist only as an app. Location-based apps like Foursquare prominently feature social sharing features. Even photo-sharing apps such as Instagram have millions of users.
A huge differentiator in the mobile versus desktop consumer market is the concept of apps. Desktop users purchase a limited number of software titles and are often very deliberate with these often expensive purchases.
Meanwhile, the now $100 billion mobile app market is growing at nearly 100% per year. On average, mobile consumers have 33 apps on their phones. The relatively low cost of apps and the ease of purchase, download and installation has turned buying “software” into a cheap and trivial task.
The miniscule cost and easy adoption of apps has resulted in a volatile market. New or popular apps can see astronomical growth. Consider these stats:
- AOL took 9 years to reach one million users
- Facebook took 9 months
- Mobile app Draw Something took only 9 days!
Of course, with finite time to spend on their devices, mobile consumers can be quick to abandon apps. Popularity may be fleeting. As Draw Something rapidly gains users, the popular Words With Friends app has seen a steady decline in usage.
Shopping and spending using mobile devices is becoming mainstream. Nearly 38% of mobile consumers have used a smartphone to make a purchase. This was reflected on Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, as 14% of web traffic was from mobile devices that day in 2011.
Mobile payments are also growing via services like PayPal and Square. Paid media content such as downloaded music, books, movies, magazines and TV shows has become big business, particularly amongst tablet users.
The mobile consumer behaves inherently different than a desktop user. Mobile devices make information, games, music, socializing, downloading and shopping immediately available. This changing behavior will only continue to grow. Internet users will double in the next 3 years and most will be using a mobile device.
Consumers are different in the Mobile Future.
Additional References:
State of Media: Consumer Usage Report
Play Before Work: Games Most Popular Mobile App Category in US
Mobile made up 14pc of Black Friday Web traffic
Mobile Shopping Goes Mainstream
The Future of Mobile
Social Trend Watching: Shifting from Facebook to Twitter
Are people really spending as much time on Facebook as we think?
For some time now, I’ve noticed a subtle but steady shift in the behavior of my social circle, as they spend increasingly less time on Facebook and more time on other social networks – most significantly, Twitter. Such a claim may seem trivial when you compare the two: In 2011 Facebook attained 800 million users with earnings of $4.27 billion while Twitter had 200 million users with earnings of $139.5 million. Even so, I’m not the only one who’s wondering if things are actually what they seem: Facebook vs. Twitter
While Facebook’s numbers still reflect positive growth, a closer look reveals that most of that growth, 60 percent yearly, comes from untapped global markets. Asia-Pacific and Latin America are two such markets with huge populations experiencing Facebook for the very first time. However growth is waning in western markets – with Europe at 35 percent and North America at only 25 percent. This pattern of growth is most certainly why Facebook keeps expanding in emerging markets as they continue to saturate seasoned ones.
So why do audiences grow so rapidly in emerging markets? Possibly because of a kind of “Facebook phenomenon,” in which a person’s highest point of interest is when they first join and are still making fresh connections. Then as time passes, some experience Facebook fatigue. As a user’s network expands and becomes more cluttered with irrelevant content, their social experience becomes more predictable. One way Facebook is trying to combat this issue is Timeline. While it’s still too soon to tell, it will be interesting to see if Timeline is able to re-ignite and prolong Facebook’s initial excitement of discovery for veteran Facebook users.
So who is the primary beneficiary of this subtle shift that is underway? Many would say Twitter. Even though the two social networks are seen quite differently (Facebook more as identity management and Twitter as news with possibility), people are making a choice between the two. This tweet captures it nicely: “Facebook is for friends who are now strangers; Twitter is for strangers who should be your friends.”
Perhaps Twitter’s biggest advantage is not its ability to constantly evolve, but rather that its evolution comes from users not just updates. With its organic user behavior, unpredictable nature and pure outpouring of ideas and opinions, Twitter is able to do what Facebook has not: consistently facilitate fresh experiences.
Listen, Observe & Share
Strategic insight and spirited copy give CaroMont Health a voice to be heard.
Launching CaroMont Health’s social media campaign began with in-depth strategy and setting clear goal objectives. Taking an authentic approach, we invited audiences to meet and connect with the CaroMont family. And the conversation began to flow. From the latest medical breakthrough to congratulating the local spelling bee champ, we send a variety of playful, informative, sometimes inspiring posts and tweets into the community.
To emulate CaroMont Health’s embrace-life mentality, our social media team went out into the community: exploring local museums, botanical gardens and even going white water rafting. Sharing our experiences through video, live tweets and photography, we promoted healthy lifestyles and encouraged audiences to get out there and do the same.
With soaring engagement, influence and confidence levels, our social media efforts have become an invaluable tool for community outreach. CaroMont Health is now regarded as trustworthy, in-touch and personable by their peers and within their community.
Join The Flutter
Our playful social campaign causes a flutter at the 2010 Addy Awards.
As the digital agency sponsor for the 2010 Charlotte Addy Awards, we were charged with producing a series of marketing and production materials for the event. Tactics included at-event show animations, campaign development, branding and visual design, pre-event social media and web presence.
We asked Charlotte’s marketing community to Join the Flutter and compete to see who rocks the hardest in the social media scene. Leveraging the Addy’s Facebook and Twitter community, we created a Web presence with a pre-event social media agenda that encouraged Charlotte’s ad community to go head-to-head for prestige and prizes. Utilizing multiple flat panel monitors placed in a 360 degrees circumference around the event’s ballroom, we projected a LIVE twitter wall for event participants to use. The result was a highly active, hilarious and memorable conversation among peers.
Twitter: Micro-Blogging is in our DNA
A good article (unlike this blog post) should have a solid hypothesis–we twit because we crave attention–which generates research (see references), which leads to a well-informed conclusion–micro-blogging is in our DNA. I would love to lay it all out in such an academic fashion, but I have a million hypothesis on the Twitter topic and none of them are conclusive.
We twit because we can.
We crave attention in every facet of our lives.
We know little about one thing, but a lot about everything.
We like knowing that someone might be listening.
We need to share our happiness. Our sadness. Our anger.Our lives are streaming… and it makes us feel sexy.
There are dozens of discussions about Twitter as a Social media revolution and its use as a marketing tool. Absurd experiments, different strategic opinions and third party tools are popping up everywhere. All of this is backed by the theory that more Brand activity, even if its short nonsense conversation, is better than no activity. Ostensibly unedited, spontaneous conversation is easy and seemingly instinctive for us. It comes naturally and Twitter is the ultimate conduit.
Dennis White presents a strong indifference towards this constant stream of useless nonsense produced through Twitter, claiming that “society individually and collectively suffers for it.” Tina at BSS critiques how the Booklyn Museum might have missed the target by encrypting their feeds and trying to monetize on it (an experimental gimmick). She concludes that Twitter and social media in general is about the conversation, not the message. Some business-centric journals are claiming “expertise” on how this channel [Twitter] is crucial to businesses. Its has personal charm, provides intimacy, revenue opps, etc. If your interested in Dell Outlet’s approach, or toys to add to your Twit-hero utility belt, see references below. I’m not sure how crucial it is or will be. Nonetheless, a little Brand conversation maybe better than none.
Update:
Today’s issue of Shelly Palmer’s self-plugging Media Bytes focuses on how to Tap into Twitter’s Value. Not a fan of the series, but it shows that there is growing Twit buzz at iMedia Connection network. Digital journalist giant Leo Laporte recently ranted about the fact that his Twitter following has not moved in 7 days (a man who has over 80k+ followers), claiming there is something technically wrong with Twitter’s capacity.
References:
Social Media: Top Five Twitter Tools for Business Intelligence
Getting Intimate (with Cusomters) on Twitter
