There are two new reports out this week that provide some statistical illumination on the present and future of social media use. The first, a white paper from 360i, indicates that many companies are failing to take advantage of the search engine optimization benefits of social media marketing. The other, a report from eMarketer, suggests that social networking is rapidly becoming a primary activity for mobile Internet users.
Titled “The State of Search,” 360i’s report included a brand SEO audit of the top 100 advertisers in the U.S. They found that marketing content accounted for only 23% of the YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook listings that appeared in the top 100 search results for these companies’ brand keywords. The report offered several suggestions on how companies could increase page listings and customer engagement, among them:
• Set up social media profiles on top destinations
• Cross-link owned domains and social media destinations
• Monitor the effect of news, image, social media, and other results on brand-related search results
The eMarketer report on mobile social networks found that social networking is one of the fastest-growing activities among mobile users and has become a significant driver of Internet usage on mobile devices. The 76 million worldwide mobile social network users in 2008 accounted for 19% of all mobile Internet users. In 2009, those figures grew to 141 million and 28%. In 2010, eMarketer predicts a total of 223 million mobile social network users—over one-third of all mobile Internet users. By 2014, nearly half of all mobile Internet users—45%—are expected to be social network users.
