About Social Media Today
Over the last two weeks, we’ve seen a lot of posts that either recap all activity in 2010 or make predictions for 2011, and apart from the sexified Social Media, the theme of Mobile has stood out. Buzz around marketing on a platform that almost never leaves the consumers’ reach has gained a lot of momentum and for good reason too; 2010 saw a phenomenal increase in mobile internet activity globally. The Next Web has a great infographic that tells us there are 5 billion people in the world who own a mobile, 31% of which are use the mobile web. African countries have leapfrogged the fixed line internet rung and jumped straight to mobile with Kenya and Nigeria showing 20% and 25% of total internet usage to be on mobile. Even locally, UAE has mobile penetration rates of around 205%, users spend 37% of their internet time on mobile.However marketing buzz around mobile is similar to what it was around Social Media about 2 years ago. Adoption of marketing on this new medium is growing but it hasn’t exploded yet. All signs (and predictions) point to that happening this year – 2011 just may be the Year of the Mobile.As for 2010, it was without a doubt the year of Social Media; which is why as we step into 2011 we have many marketers asking if the ad spend is going to be put into Social or Mobile. It doesn’t have to be one does it? @Siddhi_D delivers an answer right to the point with “With the capability to cross integrate the likes of social with display, social with mobile, search with mobile etc there will be limited fragmentation whilst reaching the core audience.”
As much of a buzz word ‘integration’ is, I believe that really is going to be the key to effective digital marketing plans this year. Instead of it becomes an either/or situation with Mobile and Social, both can be used, in tandem to deliver effective results. An example of this is taking the banner to a landing page which features a Facebook fanpage like button or taking them to a YouTube video where they may subscribe to your channel. These are of course simple examples but it’s a start to the direction we should start exploring in.
I guess what I’m trying to say is by taking your focus off click and pageview that come in just today, we’re essentially building connections that will last for much longer (by fans, followers or subscribers) increasing the value your brand receives per click. Think strategic, not tactical.
Tags: digital media, integration, mobile marketing, social media
