Social Media Access Via Mobile Grows

Madeline Bennett | ClickZ | August 1, 2012

Mobile users are continuing to turn more frequently to their cell phones for social and gaming purposes, according to the latest data from analyst Comscore.

For the quarter ending in June, 36.9 percent of mobile users accessed a social networking site or blog on their handset, up almost a percentage point from 36.1 percent compared to the first quarter 2012.
Mobile gaming increased by the same amount, up from 32.6 percent to 33.4 percent quarter on quarter.

The numbers might only be slowly creeping up, but the overall pattern shows a greater proportion of mobile subscribers are using their handhelds for traditional desktop tasks.

The biggest growth areas for mobile content use were music and apps. Those using their handset to listen to music grew by 2.3 percent to 27.6 percent, while 51.4 percent have used a downloaded app, up from 50 percent last quarter.

But the humble text message is still by far the most popular use for mobile devices, with three quarters of users sending a text over the period. And SMS isn’t losing any of its popularity, growing 0.7 percent since March.

The news is not so rosy for certain mobile providers, with Comscore revealing that Research In Motion has dipped 1.6 percent to 10.7 percent in its share of smartphone subscribers, losing out to Google's Android and Apple's iOS, which grew to 51.6 percent and 32.4 percent respectively.

Android is also winning in the battle of the handset. Although Samsung and LG both dropped slightly in their share of the market, they remain the top two vendors, with 25.6 and 18.8 percent of mobile users respectively. Still, Apple's strong position is highlighted by the research as it managed to creep up by 1.4 percent to 15.4 percent, despite industry concerns that it would lose mobile users in the face of competition from popular Android devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Nexus, and the continuing wait for the iPhone 5.

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Facebook Ad CTR: Up 11% in Q2 2012

Jason Hahn | July 25, 2012 | DM Confidential

According to TBG Digital’s “Global Facebook Advertising Report: Q2 2012,” Facebook ad engagement increased by 11 percent in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Facebook ads in the U.S. saw average cost per thousand impressions (CPM) rise 25 percent.

The report measured 406 billion impressions in more than 190 countries, according to TBG Digital.

According to the report, Facebook ads displayed a 41 percent increase in CPM year-over-year. From the first quarter of 2012 to the second quarter, CPM surged 58 percent. Germany saw CPM rise 31 percent quarter-over-quarter, while the U.S. saw CPM rise 25 percent quarter-over-quarter.

The rise in CPMs is “great news for Facebook, as they signify that their inventory continues to work better for them,” according to TBG Digital.

Click-through rates (CTR) for Facebook ads rose 11 percent in the second quarter in the five major territories analyzed (U.S., U.K., Germany, France and Canada). In the first quarter of the year, CTR decline 6 percent. Germany saw CTR rise 44 percent, while the U.S. saw CTR rise 11 percent and the U.K. saw CTR rise 9 percent.

TBG Digital notes that the launch of Facebook’s mobile ad targeting feature in early June may have helped CTR for its ads. The increase could also be partly due to a general improvement in targeting techniques and ad creative.

Cost per click (CPC) for Facebook ads rose 23 percent quarter-over-quarter in the five territories monitored by TBG Digital. The U.S. and Canada saw CPCs of more than $1.00 for the first time.

According to the report, the top 10 sectors in terms of Facebook ad CTR in the second quarter were:

1. Health (0.064 percent)
2. Pets & Animals (0.060 percent)
3. Not for Profit (0.056 percent)
4. Entertainment (0.054 percent)
5. Food & Drink (0.048 percent)
6. News (0.044 percent)
7. Beauty & Fitness (0.044 percent)
8. Retail (0.039 percent)
9. Computers & Electronics (0.036 percent)
10. Home & Garden (0.036 percent)

In terms of CPC, the top 10 sectors were:

1. Jobs & Education ($1.42)
2. Finance ($1.34)
3. Retail ($1.02)
4. Computers & Electronics ($0.95)
5. Games ($0.91)
6. News ($0.91)
7. Beauty & Fitness ($0.87)
8. Home & Garden ($0.84)
9. Autos & Vehicles ($0.83)
10. Internet & Telecom ($0.80)

According to TBG Digital, the average CTR of the “page like story” ads were 53 percent higher than the CTR of the “page like” ads.

Also, the report found that Facebook mobile ads have a CTR that’s 14 times higher than CTR for desktop ads.

Source:

http://clearslide.com/view/mail?iID=A8GU559Z78B9DX9V4Q8A

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