The Web is getting increasingly social.
Experts even predict that someday you may search for all of your information
through social media sites instead of search engines. People love Facebook,
Twitter, Pinterest, Groupon, YouTube… the list goes on. These are some of the
most visited sites on the Internet.
Studies show that people on mobiles are
especially prone to socializing. They spend way more time on social media sites
than PC surfers do. Mobile apps and social media are a perfect match. If your business
can take advantage of this pairing, you can really increase your bottom line.
Mobile users love social media because of
the speed. Everything is happening in real-time. You carry your phone with you everywhere.
You might be on the go or hanging around with time to kill, and what better
time to check out your friends' news feeds? If you think about it, it makes
sense. People aren't as likely to be planted in front of a desktop doing that.
We socialize more on mobiles because our
friends are there when we need them most. For example, you're going to check
out a new restaurant for lunch, but you want to see what your friends have to
say about it first. Mobile connects you quickly.
Social media works together with mobiles
through apps. These are software programs designed just for mobile devices.
They connect you directly to social media sites so that you can engage with
them anywhere.
Apps that let word of mouth travel are
extremely popular. Foursquare is an example of one of these. It's an app that
lets users leave and read reviews and “check-in” to places. You can leave an
instant review of a place you just visited and share with friends.
Apps can also help people find local
businesses using maps as well as reviews left by friends. When you're looking for
a place to eat, you can read your friends' reviews before you get there.
Geo-local services use your phone's built-in GPS to show you reviews of places
in the area.
Photo sharing apps are also big. Instagram
is currently the fastest growing social media app in the mobile world. The
number of users grew about five-fold in the first six months of 2012. It lets
you take pictures, edit and share instantly.
Businesses can benefit by creating their
own apps that allow users to communicate better through social media. These
could be photo sharing apps, location-based services, review apps, or anything
else your customers would enjoy using.
You can also create your own social
network. Facebook is for everyone, but you can create a networking app that's
just for your customers. Focus on a particular industry, interest, hobby,
location, or anything else that connects people. Think of a way your customers
would like to communicate with each other.
Social media and mobile are both more than
just trends. While social media sites come and go, the phenomenon of
socializing online is never going to go away. Mobile use only keeps increasing.
If your business can harness the power of this perfect match, you can do great
things for your customers and that'll translate to profits for you
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