It’s a Digital World Out There

Unless you have been living under a rock, there’s no doubt that social media marketing has been quite successful for brands. Association of National Advertisers (ANA) reported that 90% of U.S. marketers this year were using social networks for their efforts. The survey also shows that growth has plateaued for social media and shifted among other new digital media platforms. One of the digital media platforms that has seen growth is mobile.

However, what is this study really implying?

R2i’s CEO, Matt Goddard, sees mobile as a smaller, handheld version of a computer. “Comparing social networks and mobile is like comparing Facebook and your laptop computer,” Matt states. “The connection is just not there.” Nonetheless, Matt does agree that mobile is an uprising digital media; he just believes the platform shouldn’t be compared to social network usage.

The chart shows the results from the survey. But when it comes to interpreting what ANA is presenting, mobile does have the capability to provide viral videos and social networking. Therefore, yes, social networking shows a plateau in brand marketing, but this doesn’t necessarily bring cause and effect when it comes to mobile usage.

So, this brings up the question just as Matt suggested, “Where is the validity of the comparison?”