The Smartphone Takeover in Social Media

The Smartphone Takeover in Social Media

Everywhere you look there is a smartphone. Everybody has one or is preparing to get one, and not just anyone, but the latest model that’s due to come out (Galaxy or IPhone). Smartphone technology is getting smarter and smarter as the days progress. Such things are Smart Watches which just don’t tell time, but can answer calls, check email, or even schedule appointment dates. But even though we are making such great strides in phone technology, some consumers are happy with sticking with old regular analog phone. Also surprising enough some people still don’t have a cell phone at all and are operating with the standard home phones.

Since the conception of smartphones and tablets, PC sales have been declining. Nowadays every time you turn around a person is on some type of social media app or another. Social media apps keep popping up from everywhere. In 2014 1.75 billion people worldwide were using smartphones eMarket reports, “Worldwide Mobile Phone Users: Hi 2014 Forecast and Comparative Estimates”.

http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Smartphone-Users-Worldwide-Will-Total-175-Billion-2014/1010536

Mobile phones are becoming more affordable, and smartphone use account for the majority in 10 of 22 countries and that’s expected to increase. Since mobile technology is clearly pulling ahead in the race, social marketers have to adapt their product to suit the mobile customer and create apps that are more flexible and mobile user friendly. So while still trying to engage your audience social media must remember the 3 R’s: Right time, Right place, Right person.

http://www.digitaldoughnut.com/blog/blog/are-you-ready-for-a-smartphone-social-media-marketing-future. Consumers are on the go and for the most part want to quickly access social media applications. So media needs to be compact and easy to use from your mobile device. Most consumers are working and not supposed to be using social media at work, but you’d be surprised at how many people sneak to use it on their mobile phone while on the clock. The phones are being used for everything from checking email, games, shopping online, camera, and social media access. So when these applications are being created it must be created for a 4 inch screen and it must respond to commands just like it would for a 17 inch PC monitor, so it must also be easy to navigate.

Many brands still are working to perfect the social concept. It was sited in at least one article that “Facebook in Now a Mobile Company.” https://blogs.oracle.com/socialspotlight/entry/surprise_social_is_mobile. They recognized the unrelenting pace that social media was moving and is already changing since being introduced. More than 680 million people 64.2% of Facebook users are using it on mobile phones. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledges that they miscalculated the growth of social media on mobile. http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323829504578272233666653120.  It is imperative that companies optimize their content by deploying responsive websites that automatically adapt to the screen size they are being viewed on. According to Google research 61% of consumers say if your site is too hard to navigate they will move on to another. http://googlemobileads.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/mobile-friendly-sites-turn-visitors.html.  So smartphone social media usage is on the rise and marketers better get ready, if they haven’t already prepared or be prepared to lose business.

http://www.inc.com/john-boitnott/avoid-hurting-your-brand-with-these-10-social-media-mistakes.html