1. Social Consumers and Smartphones 2011

2. Social Consumers and Smartphones 2011
In fall 2011, the Pivot Conference undertook a two-part study of the state of Social. The purpose
of the study was to glean what Social Professionals felt about Social Consumers, their activities
today and likely status one year from now and, separately, to gauge the current actiivities and
attitudes of Social Consumers themselves.
The Social Professional perspective was released in early December 2011 in the report: The
State of Social Marketing: 2012. This current report, by contrast, examines the responses from
Social Consumers themselves about what they are doing and where. In an upcoming report we
will compare and analyze the two sets of responses side-by-side.
This research was undertaken in partnership with Crowdtap, a social marketing platform that
enables major brands and agencies to identify and connect with their influential consumers. Us-
ing the Crowdtap system, Pivot launched a series of questions that overlapped those asked of
Social Professionals in Pivot’s companion research. The research was in the field from October
6, 2011 to October 17, 2011. The number of respondents, along with their basic demographic
characteristics are shown in the responses to each question.
Due to the abundance of studies focusing on Social activities on the Web, Pivot focused on the
less intensely studied, but increasingly central Social mobile space. In the summer of 2011, the
most common info travelling over the Internet became a video bit aimed for a mobile device.
In other words, the median of the Net moved from PCs to cell phones, indicating where Social
Consumers are now focusing their time and attention. So, it seemed appropriate to get an initial
sense of their Social mobile experience.

3. Social Consumers favor iPhones for accessing Social media apps. While numerous market
reports have shown that Android Smartphones significantly outrank iPhones in market penetra-
tion, respondents to the survey most often use iPhones for apps, with Android second. Beyond
those two platforms, Social Consumers seem to have little interest. This is a two-horse race.

4. Facebook Mobile heavily dominates as the most common app accessed by Social Consumers
on Smartphones, with more than 80 percent penetration. Unsurprisingly, Twitter comes second,
though the gap is surprisingly large. Also surprising is the strength of Foursquare and Gow-
alla, indications of the increasing value of geo-centric apps. Facebook’s acquisition of Gowalla,
which occurred after this survey was fielded, should increase its dominance in this space. The
13 percent who use none of the apps is interesting. Possibly, this indicates that for some Social
Consumers the stream remains primarily PC-centric.

5. When it comes to games, Social Consumers favor Zynga. But, what is more interesting is the
strength of ngmoco. This Japanese game company has barely announced itself in the U.S. and
yet has already made an impression. This may point to a challenge for Zynga in maintaining its
edge in the space, especially as it takes on the burdens of being a public company. ngmoco is
already public and solidly profitable in Japan and so may have an edge in a public battle with
Zynga, which will be under heavy pressure to maximize profitability following its recent IPO.

6. Social Consumers are significantly less active with photo services than in other app areas; a
majority aren’t doing this activity at all yet. Among those that are active, no single player seems
to have a firm hold. It appears that Social Consumers are still making their minds up on the
value of photo services and which one to use.

7. Groupon and Coupons.com are the favorite apps Social Consumers turn to for deals. Of particu-
lar note, is the strength of Facebook Deals. Facebook closed this service going into fall 2011,
just as this survey was fielded. What might appear to be a big win was seen by Facebook as
less valuable than other available opportunities. This could be because Facebook decided it
could make more money encouraging many partners to make offers on its platform; it certainly
wasn’t because consumers weren’t responding to the service. A vast majority of Social Consum-
ers use online deal sites; the “don’t use” response is among the lowest in the survey. Also, given
the high numbers for several players, it seems probable that the typical Social Consumer uses
several couponing sites.

8. While Google has no presence in deals, when it comes down to checking price, nearly 8 out
of 10 Social Consumers turn to Google. Google’s dominance in price comparison rivals Face-
book’s overall penetration. Google is even stronger than Amazon, the dominant seller, which
makes sense if one of the most common activities is checking whether there is a better price
available somewhere on the net than Amazon offers.

9. Social Consumers are coming to demand deals or other loyalty benefits as a requirement for
engaging with brands. Deals dominate at 83 percent positive response, with loyalty not far
behind at 70 percent of respondents. However, these are the leaders in a broad field of benefits
Social Consumers seek. Content shows support as does the opportunity for Social Consumers
to be invited to provide insight on unreleased products. In sum, the results show a Social Con-
sumer who equates engagement with being treated by a brand as someone deserving of spe-
cial treatment.

10. What kinds of media do Social Consumers share with those in their Social graphs? Two aspects
jump out of the responses here. First, nearly a third of Social Consumers say they don’t share
and want their information and activities kept private. This indicates that, while virtually everone
is active in Social networks, many remain passive receivers of information and haven’t yet fully
dived into the give-and-take of the stream. Among those who do share, it seems that they are
open to sharing numerous media types as well as location information.
Overall, this research indicates a close correlation between Social and mobile among consum-
ers. They are two sides of the same coin. Smartphones and other mobile devices provide one
more, uniquely geographically enhanced, access point into the Social stream. Social activities
represent a strong thrust for app usage on mobile devices. While the research did not specifi-
cally delve into this question directly, we see the interplay between mobile and Social growing
ever closer and deeper in the months ahead. Taken together, they represent, in our view, the
essential thrust of technology development for consumers.