Latest mobile breakdown from the US of A

I don't normally post on US stats, as stats bore many people and US stats aren't UK stats. However, I have included these as they go some way to explain why I keep harping on about my dislike for people to equate 'Smartphones' with 'iPhones'. Increasingly (and in the US, rapidly so), 'Smartphones' should be equated, if with anything, with 'Android'. Additionally, people have a preoccupation with Apps. The second table reinforces the fact that SMS/texting is still far and away the most common function used on mobile phones (how much SMS/texting does Macmillan do?). Other research I've seen also notes that somewhere between 80 and 90% of all downloaded Apps are either games or social media Apps - so although there is an App phenomenon, it isn't a business-related one as yet. As UK trends do often reflect US trends (in the longer term), this really should make anyone stop and think before creating an iPhone App (and then decide not to!) and really should encourage us at Macmillan to more fully explore what SMS/texting services we can put together to meet some of the more practical (but perhaps less glamorous) needs of PABC.

Smartphone Platform Market Share
78.5 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in June 2011, up 8 percent from the preceding three month period. Google Android ranked as the top smartphone platform with 40.1 percent market share, up 5.4 percentage points. Apple strengthened its #2 position with 26.6 percent of the smartphone market, up 1.1 percentage points from the prior reporting period. RIM ranked third with 23.4 percent share, followed by Microsoft (5.8 percent) and Symbian (2.0 percent).
3 Month Avg. Ending Jun. 2011 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Mar. 2011. Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Ages 13+. Source: comScore MobiLens

Mobile Content Usage
In June, 69.6 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 1.0 percentage points. Browsers were used by 40.1 percent of subscribers (up 1.5 percentage points), while downloaded applications were used by 39.5 percent (up 2.2 percentage points). Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 1.8 percentage points to 29.1 percent of mobile subscribers. Game-playing was done by 26.9 percent of the mobile audience (up 1.2 percentage points), while 19.0 percent listened to music on their phones (up 1.1 percentage points).
3 Month Avg. Ending Jun. 2011 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Mar. 2011. Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers (Smartphone & Non-Smartphone) Ages 13+. Source: comScore MobiLens

Socially Searching

For a while now, Google have been basing a lot of the search results you receive on what your social links have been sharing, talking about and rating.

To see how influential your own social graph is to your Google Search results, try this search query:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?sclient=psy&hl=en&safe=active&source=hp&q=macmillan&btnG=Search&tbs=frim:1

It’s just a Google search for ‘macmillan’, but the ‘tbs=frim:1’ bit at the end makes any Google search query only use your social influences.

You’ll see why you receive certain results by the line under each one saying things like:

Katie Smith shared this

Macmillan Cancer shared this on Twitter - 28 Jun 2011

Mike Hobday shared this on Twitter - 4 Oct 2010

Macmillan - Digital shared this

or my favourite:

Rebecca Cryan shared this on Twitter - 4 Feb 2011

Since each Google Search for the same term can now return completely different results for each user, influencing the usual ‘dumb’ search is becoming less and less important.  Queries like the one above, along with the work of Louise and Richard in Marketing, help us understand how our social interactions are influencing our search rankings… and for whom.

There’s more on this SlideShare presentation.

Would Monkeys Use Qype?

As a follow up to my previous article on colour theory and web design (The Thin Red Line), here's an article on why Macaque monkeys may be worried about searching on Qype too.  Now, that sentence has to pique your interest!


Stop On Red! The Effects of Color May Lie Deep in Evolution… - from The Association for Psychological Science

 

The Thin Red Line

When choosing colours for your website, make sure you understand the cultural and emotional relevance they may have to your users.

Qype, the user-generated local reviews site, uses red as an accent colour and as the text colour for it's field labels.

It confused me for a bit.

Let Them Tweet Cake

I'm celebrating almost a month - time flies - with the digital team at Macmillan after taking over as caretaker social media officer.  And I've been both immediately impressed and inspired by the approach they are taking to social media and their online community.

There was cake in reception when I arrived on my first day. Not for me, admittedly, it was one of the receptionist’s birthday - but quite a first impression.  And on being led through the greenery of the office for the first time I noticed sweets and cakes at the end of virtually every bank of desks.  It's obviously something that's encouraged I thought. Or a philosophy that breeds lots of micro-sugary actions.

And that's not the only thing I like that's being encouraged. What's really refreshing is the desire to involve staff in social media and encourage them to actively uphold the principles and values that underpin the organisation: the values that give them immense pride in the work they do.  By helping them to understand the tools they can use to communicate the brand.

But it's by no means about asking them to shout loud and demand action from supporters.  Nothing is demanded of any member of staff.  Simply, the language of social media is explained so that they can feel confident joining the conversation. And be sure of the place they're coming from when they engage in their social networks.  If they see something they like they can share it with confidence.

And it's an approach that I think will lead to an increase in inspiration being turned into action. Because when you do need action, when you do need a few ripples for a cause, you know the power of the people in your network, you know how to reach them, and all you need then is to ask them to have their cake and tweet it.

The real cost of social media

Here's an interesting infographic on 'the real cost of social media'.

I like the comment:
'Sleep is the real cost of social media.'

Internet World

Just a few notes from the seminars I attended on Tuesday 10th May...

Email, social and the art of storytelling - John Sadowsky.
John gave examples of a few companies that had effectively used storytelling in their marketing, across email and social networking sites, mixing and matching different things to get high response rates and engagement from customers.



Bike Friday sell folding bikes that business travellers can take with them anywhere. Lots of their email content is user-generated – sometimes they run contests for the best stories from customers about a place they’ve been with their bike, or a time they have used it, which people can add to the Facebook page.



The best one appears in the email with their regular promotional material. Customers also upload videos of how quickly they can collapse their bikes (apparently quite competitive!), to the Bike Friday YouTube channel. Though they have a small customer base, they have a very engaged community.

Mydeco.com is an interior design company who have an online area where people can decorate a room. Customers compare their ideas with others so there’s a lot of sharing ideas within the community. World class interior designers also take part. This looks like it would be fun to play with.

Filofax generates stories around questions asked on Twitter and Facebook pages e.g. How did you feel when you lost a Filofax? When did you get your first Filofax? This shows how 'online communities tell the world what a brand means' rather than brands telling communities.

Mathon is a French cooking utensils company that runs regular competitions for the most exciting/inventive thing people have cooked using its products. Has a big fanbase and buzzing facebook page. So, apart from the case studies, the main points John made were:

• Find a 'passion point' in a related activity to your company. Any company can do this, e.g. pots & pans = cooking
• Brands can co-create with communities. User-generated content is usually more credible marketing than company generated content, so mix the two

How participation is creating and deepening relationships with audiences, from Meg Pickard, Head of Digital Engagement at the Guardian.

This was a fast paced talk, with a lot packed in, so I would really recommend watching Meg for yourself than reading my slightly erratic notes!