James Maduk
A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.
— Albert Einstein
Are Mobile Facebook Ads Coming?
This and othe recent posts lead me to believe that they are closer than ever especially since the IPO news. Mobile Social Marketing is a weak spot for Facebook and this looks like a first stab at Facebook Getting their mobile hous in order.
Facebook may change the face of mobile marketing as we know it in response to the social network’s rumored plan to launch “featured stories” within weeks.
Analogous – at least in theory – to Twitter’s Promoted Tweets, Facebook may begin adding “featured stories” into people’s mobile feeds. What does this amount to? Marketing-led posts that could deliver invaluable opportunities to advertisers of every variety.
But Facebook has already denied the welcoming of any “rich media featured stories.”
“We want to clarify that we are not working with any agency to create paid ads on our mobile platform,” a spokesperson for Facebook said Monday.
Still, with its IPO on the horizon, Facebook clearly has a strategy to begin generating marketing dollars out of its 425-million active mobile user base.
What will the rumored mobile ad platform look like? For now, only hazzy comparrisons can be made. But by early March, Facebook’s “featured stories” may go live. And in the process, they may change the landscape of mobile marketing dramatically.
What do you think Facebook is planning? Please weigh in with a thought or comment below.
This article originally appeared here.
There’s a new study out today fro PQ Media with some interesting Mobile and Social Media Stats. Check out the highlights… specifically the point that caught my eye…. growth of the mobile media sector, citing that it reached the US$ 1 billion revenue mark faster than any other communications industry.
Consumer, Business Demand Growing
A study by PQ Media has determined that the Mobile and Social Media sector has grown 30% from 2010 to 2011 to US$ 45.4 billion in revenues. According to the U.S. Mobile & Social Media Forecast 2012-16 released at MediaPost’s Mobile Insider Summit in Key Largo, Fla., the three “broad sectors” of mobile and social media all exhibited growth during this period. These are mobile content, mobile advertising and marketing and online social media.
PQ Media also identifies seven segments within the three broad sectors: Mobile advertising, mobile marketing, consumer mobile content and access, business mobile content and access, social networks, blogs and podcasts. Among these are 44 distinct revenue streams, including advertising, coupon marketing, paid downloads, access fees, paid content and mobile ads, among others.
A few figures of note:
Mobile content access grew 27.8% to US$ 39.17 billion
Mobile advertising and marketing grew 53.7% to US$ 3.39 billion
Online social media grew 42.1% to US$ 2.83 billion
Fast-growing Revenue Sources
Research shows that in-game ads, search ads and video advertising are among the fastest-growing segments. Revenue from marketing will outgrow advertising from 2012 to 2016, mostly fueled by the popularity of geo-targeted coupons and coupon-based mobile apps. Social networks are likewise the largest and fastest-growing segment, increasing 45.9% in 2011 to US$ 2.28 billion in revenue.
PQ Media lauded the stellar growth of the mobile media sector, citing that it reached the US$ 1 billion revenue mark faster than any other communications industry.
Mobile will also reach the $100 billion mark in 2015 faster than any other communications industry, driven by several key growth drivers, including strong growth in overall mobile device penetration, the transition to smartphones and tablets, the torrent of new mobile content launches and the continued growth of consumer and business time spent with mobile media.”
In terms of business- vs. consumer targeted-activities, business generated a bigger share of the revenues, at 58%, with consumer-related revenues at 42% of the industry. PQ Media says mobile and social media accounts for 4.1% of the overall communications industry revenues in 2011, which is a 1.3% increase from five years ago.
So how ready are you for mobile? Got your blog setup for mobile? All the social media networks joining and posting to on a regular basis with a consistent message?
Thought so!
It’s hard keeping up. Problem is that with the big guys moving in so quickly the independent professional and entrepreneurs will have to get their act together and learn how to build their businesses with Mobile Social Media Marketing.
I’m a big fan of smartphones and mobile social media marketing, that’s why I started the thumbidextrous site!
While I am a facebook user I wouldn’t call myself rabid. Yeah I’ve got a couple of accounts and more than a handful of fan pages that I use only for business reasons. I never had a myspace account, missing out on the whole myspace thing was a blessing in disguise as it went south pretty quickly after Murdoch purchased it.
Will the same thing happen to Facebook as it goes public?
An interesting WebProNews post caught my eye today. (It’s IPO has some of the things that Facebook lists as threats to it’s business, take a look.
I’ve made what I think the key point is in bold.
What Facebook is really worried about
As you probably know, Facebook has filed for its IPO. With that filing, a lot of new information about the company was revealed. Among the noteworthy tidbits of information: 845 million monthly active users, 483 million daily active users, and over 425 million monthly active users using Facebook’s mobile products. Interestingly enough, Facebook appears to consider growth in mobile use among the key risks to the company. I’m not sure this is the biggest risk, but it’s quite interesting that Facebook considers it to be one.
- If we fail to retain existing users or add new users, or if our users decrease their level of engagement with Facebook, our revenue, financial results, and business may be significantly harmed;
- We generate a substantial majority of our revenue from advertising. The loss of advertisers, or reduction in spending by advertisers with facebook, could seriously harm our business;
- Growth in use of facebook through our mobile products, where we do not currently display ads, as a substitute for use on personal computers may negatively affect our revenue and financial results;
- We may not be successful in our efforts to grow and further monetize the facebook Platform;
- Our CEO has control over key decision making as a result of his control of a majority of our voting stock;
- The loss of Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl K. Sandberg, or other key personnel could harm our business;
I don’t think more people using Facebook’s mobile products will be the downfall of the company. People are increasingly using their phones (and tablets) to access the web.
Facebook’s mobile experience(s) are often criticized, and there’s no question that the desktop experience is better, but Facebook will continue to work on improving the mobile experience. The fact that they consider mobile such a risk factor only shows that this will be a significant emphasis. Expect more mobile-related acquisitions from the company, and better Facebook apps across mobile platforms.
So what do you think… are you getting weary of Facebook? Is your use slowing? What about mobile smartphones and tablets? If Facebook is thinking this much about Mobile in it’s IPO you can expect something exciting shortly. What it is I can only guess but what I do know is that you are I are becoming more thumbidextrous every day.
Just about ready to start! Good turn out with over 150 in attendance
I’ve been playing around with various posting strategies as I get set to release my latest MySmallBizMap. Www.mysmallbizmap.com has the details.
Interested on where the images are posted as well.
Attached a recent after work shot as a test. And
Listen To The Secrets!
