Nielsen: Social networkers are going mobile

Social networkers aren't content in going online with their friends; they want to take their friends mobile. According to a recent Nielsen Company report, just over 4 million US consumers access their favorite social sites via their mobiles.

by Kristina Knight

“In the U.K and the U.S. especially, we already see millions of users of MySpace.com, Facebook and other social networks interacting with their virtual spaces while they’re on the go," said Jeff Herrmann, vice president of Mobile Media at Nielsen Mobile. "Consumer demand for mobile social networking may be a significant driver of mobile service pricing models as evidenced by Vodafone UK’s recent move to offer unlimited Internet access as a standard feature of its new monthly mobile price plans.”

According to the study, US and UK mobile subscribers are most likely to log on to a social hub. During the first quarter of 2008, just under 2% of consumers from each country logged on to a social hub from their mobile. Consumers in other European countries, such as Italy, Spain and Germany, are also likely to log on via their mobiles.

It seems the mobile market is another space that marketers, specifically social marketers, should not ignore. With more networks providing mobile-only spaces, marketers should ensure that their ads are compatible with a mobile format. Offering a text coupon or coupon code could be another way to increase the ROI of mobile campaigns.