“Some 72.2 million Americans accessed social networking sites or blogs on their mobile device, an increase of 37 percent. Mobile rising!”
~ comSCORE, Inc., “Social Networking On-The-Go”
Mark Zuckerberg now considers Facebook a mobile company – click to read more.
Since I made that comment in 2011, the rise of mobile communications has increased even more dramatically. From a business perspective, Marla Tabaka of Inc. writes:
“One billion people around the world now have smartphones. Traditional website traffic is going down and mobile visits are going up. Way up. Let’s face it, mobile, social media, and apps are transforming every area of our life and business.”
Molly Glover Gallatin of Compass Labs predicts,
“With the rise in smartphone adoption and mobile usage, it’s clear that the mobile device will become the dominant entry point for social media. Given the growth in Facebook, Twitter and other social environments, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to hear that comScore says 91% of mobile Internet access is to socialize. Still, I find this number staggering. With social interactions playing such a large role in mobile use, it’s time for marketers to prepare a ‘mobile social’ strategy.”
You can read her article by clicking on this link, “Building a Digital Bridge” (Compass Labs Newsroom, March 31, 2012).
The lessons being learned by corporations should not be lost on nonprofit organizations.
Magaly Chocano, Founder and CEO of San Antonio-based Sweb Development, noted during a nonprofit seminar last year that mobile Internet “searches” will soon exceed online searches conducted on stationary computers (home and office). And, many of these Internet searches will involve using specialized applications. Magaly anticipates her work will only increase in the months and years ahead.
The late Steve Jobs unveiling the Apple iPad in 2010.
Aaron Smith of Pew Internet & American Life released a report that nonprofit organizations will also find of note, “Real Time Charitable Giving” (January 12, 2012).
“Charitable donations from mobile phones have grown more common in recent years. Two thirds (64%) of American adults now use text messaging, and 9% have texted a charitable donation from their mobile phone.”
Zach Whittaker at ZDNet (February 13, 2012) discussed a report by Forrester Research that concludes, “In a world where already you cannot travel on the subway without someone flipping out their cellphone, or stand at a Starbucks without someone yapping away on their iPhone, imagine what’ll happen with 1 billion smartphones out there? Forrester seems to think so. Analysts at Forrester believe that by 2016 — only four years away … there could be as many as 1 billion smartphones on the planet.”
TheAppBuilder is terrific ~ I’ve even got one for my work.
In addition, “the report … highlights that mobile apps are the ‘face of new systems,’ and act as a ‘flash point’ for more holistic and far-reaching change.”
MobileMarketing Watch provides a helpful summary of important research by The Nielson Company (May 16, 2012), “Nielsen Says Smartphone App Possession is up 28% in 2012.” “Without question, the mobile app has become such a staple of smartphone usage that the number of apps that now populate the typical smartphone has spiked tremendously.” Follow the link for the Nielson report: State of Appnation.
You might also enjoy, “The Future of Apps and Web” from Pew Internet & American Life Project, by Janna Anderson and Lee Rainie (March 23, 2012). Janna and Lee share a new perspective on mobile apps.
“The Web Is Dead? No. Experts expect apps and the Web to converge in the cloud; but many worry that simplicity for users will come at a price. Tech experts generally believe the mobile revolution, the popularity of targeted apps, the monetization of online products and services, and innovations in cloud computing will drive Web evolution.”
“Video, Social Boost US Mobile Content Consumption.”
eMarketer Digital Intelligence has posted a telling article, “Video, Social Boost US Mobile Content Consumption” (April 13, 2012), which notes, “by 2016, more than 110 million Americans – or one-third of the total US population – will watch video content on a mobile phone at least once per month. This year, just under 20% of the population, or 25.2% of US mobile phone users, are expected to watch mobile video monthly.” eMarketer provides predictions through the year 2016.
The Economist has posted an article of note, “General Purpose Technologies: The Revolution to Come” (April 13, 2012).
“… Information and communication technologies (of which smartphones represent an extraordinarily elegant and powerful marriage) are a general purpose technology. They have, in other words, the potential to reshape the economy and boost productivity across all sectors and industries, like electricity or the automobile. Such transformations are about far more than simple technical innovation, however. They often require wholesale remaking of infrastructure environments, of business models, and of cultural norms.”
After reading these reports and discussions, if you have any lingering doubts about the importance of mobile, I close with an important update for Facebook users, the most-used social media platform of all.
Steven Loeb of VatorNews reports on September 11, 2012, “Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook is Now a Mobile Company.”
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~ On a personal note, I have gone to the trouble of posting the many resources on this and the following page not only to put nonprofit organizations on their guard about the importance of mobile communications, but also to provide potential grant proposal data. It is also true that many nonprofit leaders continue to view social media and new technologies with skepticism. Perhaps some of the information contained herein will help convince them otherwise.
~ Blackbaud has created the insightful Blackbaud Index of Charitable Giving. “Each month, we draw actual giving statistics from the databases of thousands of participating organizations using a variety of fundraising systems to determine how much revenue was raised in the prior month. We include giving from all sources of fundraising activities: direct mail, telemarketing, face-to-face fundraising, email, online, mobile giving, small- and large-scale events, and major and deferred giving.” Nonprofits will want to be watching the Index for the latest insights into mobile giving.
Please find more information on the following page, “Mobile Rising ~ Additional Information.”
