The Case For Social Media

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Ron Blum, Senior Vice President, Global

11/18/2011

As many of you know and those who have seen me contribute to this column before, I’ve been told I have an addiction to my mobile phone. Last month, Forrester Research released a Global Mobile Behaviors study and now there’s an official moniker for those of us who, how should I put this…, use our mobile phones to literally manage our lives.

Hello, my name is Ron Blum and I’m a “Superconnected!”

Let me explain. Forrester defines “our” group as the most sophisticated mobile phone users. Those of us that access the mobile Web at least weekly and make regular use of multiple advanced mobile services and applications. Wait… only once a week? What about us? The ones who access the mobile Web at least a dozen times a day? Maybe we should create a subcategory called “What are you thinking! —connected.”

Apparently I’m not alone in my mobile quest. More than half of the users in metro China are in my category, compared to 33% of those in the U.S. (and you know who you are). Superconnecteds comprise only 17% of the top 7 European nations and India comes in at 11%. Keep in mind the telecommunications infrastructure (or lack thereof) in many countries can affect these numbers dramatically.

The mobile universe is just getting off the ground and while you’re planning for 2012, don’t be left behind.

If so many people are online via mobile and penetration rates in major industrialized countries are high enough to make an impact, why are companies still so averse in taking the plunge to mobile? In the U.S., we THINK we’re connected, but the reality is that we pale in comparison to some of our mobile brethren in Asia. Smartphone penetration in the U.S. stands at 31% whereas in Singapore it’s twice that—holding at 62%! China comes in around 35% and the UK and France hover in the 27-30% range. Germany is still “up and coming” and only hits 18% of the mobile population.

With those stats, what is it about the small screen that makes us think there can’t be nearly enough information to put forth about career opportunities and represent our organizations effectively? Perhaps it’s the fact that the corporate website isn’t correctly optimized for mobile? Or, is it the fact that with so many handsets and operating systems on the market, organizations don’t know where to begin?

Another Forrester study from Q3 2010 pegged 45% of companies as “just beginning to work on their mobile strategies while only 32% said they’ve had a mobile strategy in place for at least a year. “ In this study, many companies cited the complexity of mobile technology as a barrier. Just like all technologies—as time and technology progresses, implementation gets easier and programs become much more cost effective and user friendly. So to the naysayers and procrastinators, I say relax, don’t stress, the time is now; 2012 planning is in full swing and this needs to be a core element in your strategy.

The ROI that our agency (and the industry) is seeing on mobile is getting better each and every time we pull reports for our clients. When you look at the statistics provided by Forrester — they prove that now’s the perfect time to jump in. This study backs up the argument for almost everything that has been said in avoidance of creation of a robust mobile strategy. The core of recruitment has always been “reach” and in a mobile world your reach can exceed your grasp. It’s as easy as picking up your phone— no matter where you are in the world. 

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