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Narrowcasting: Mobile vs. Social [Infographic]

July 14, 2012 By 4 Comments
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Mashable shared an infographic by Mogreet this week that I immediately knew would be perfect for my weekly infographic spotlight.

I don’t even agree with a lot of this. I’m skeptical about the relevance of much of it. But it’s eye candy and a conversation starter.

The infographic is called Is Bigger Always Better? and it focuses on a marketing tactic that Mogreet calls “narrowcasting.” According to Mashable, narrowcasting is the result of the trend of consumers sharing content with smaller audiences. “In contrast to broadcasting,” the report goes, “narrowcasting is about tailoring information to better compel the recipients.”

Yeah, okay. Based on that definition, I’m not real sure how what I do isn’t narrowcasting. I have a very specific niche (Facebook marketing) focusing entirely on that audience. But whatever…

Like I was saying, I didn’t completely buy the way this thing was positioned. But it’s still interesting.

Ultimately, the purpose of the infographic is to show that marketing with text messaging is more efficient than marketing with Facebook, Twitter or Email. Even as I debate the infographic, there were some interesting statistics presented.

True Reach


The Stat: According to Mogreet, 98% of all text messages are opened while 84% of Facebook News Feed stories aren’t viewed, 71% of tweets are ignored and 88% of emails go unopened.

My Thoughts: If I had four eyebrows, they’d all raise over this one. Okay, I buy that 98% of text messages are opened. They’re harder to ignore. But the vast majority of texts are also from close friends. I personally do not subscribe to marketing SMS. If this were more common, I’m sure the numbers change.

I’m also a bit surprised by the numbers for Twitter and Email. I don’t know where they got them, but I’d be shocked if a higher percentage of tweets are actually read than Facebook posts. Twitter is such a firehose… I’m not even sure how they measure that. And a 12% open rate is pretty freaking bad for email.

Still, yes… you got my attention with the 98% reach on SMS. That is an interesting thought.

Unique Users in the US


The Stat: 234 Million unique mobile users and just over 200 Million users of Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest combined in the US.

My Thoughts: Yep, that’s intriguing. But it’s not apples to apples. You’re also reaching many of those social media users via their mobile devices. What percentage of the 234 Million are subscribed to marketing SMS?

Daily Use


The Stat: 174 Million Americans text daily while fewer than 100 Million Americans are on Facebook and Pinterest.

My Thoughts: That’s kind of like saying there are more Americans who use land line phones than are on Facebook as an argument that you should focus on cold calling… right?

Frequency


The Stat: 6.4 Billion texts are sent every 24 hours while there are 3.2 Billion Facebook Likes during the same amount of time.

My Thoughts: Again not sure of the relevance, or if it’s just a way to show how amazing the number of texts is. It is huge, don’t get me wrong. Texts aren’t the equivalent of Likes, however. If anything, they’d be the equivalent of Facebook posts — not only by brands, but by users (including private messages).

Engagement


The Stat: People look at their phones 150 times per day while 58% of Facebook users check in daily and 57% of people check their email fewer than four times per day.

My Thoughts: Oh, I’m definitely one of these obsessive people with my phone. I’d say I check mine 500 times per day. I’m stupid with how often I check it.

It’s Still Valuable


Yes, I find this infographic extremely flawed. But I still think it’s interesting and valuable.

I don’t think that it says what they want it to say. I don’t think it makes very good arguments or compares the right type of data to make those arguments.

But what it does show is how crazy we are with our mobile devices. Does that mean we should focus more marketing efforts on SMS? Maybe, but I don’t necessarily see that.

What it does tell me is that we need to have significant focus on mobile in general, whether that be through apps, a mobile optimized site, reaching people socially there, QR codes or SMS.

What do you think?

image2 600x1717 Narrowcasting: Mobile vs. Social [Infographic]

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Jon Loomer About Jon Loomer

Jon Loomer is a digital marketing consultant with a unique perspective on social media. He was introduced to Facebook in 2007 while with the NBA (back before Pages) and has been using Facebook for business ever since. Stay in touch by liking his Facebook Page (Jon Loomer Digital).

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  • http://www.facebook.com/celeneharrelson Celene Harrelson

    People look at their mobile phones 150 times a day? Really? Am I the only person left with a life? I don’t buy into many of these numbers at all. Email is still king. Write better headlines, give more value in your content and the number of opens, clicks and conversions will jump. Don’t pester me on my phone or it will tick me off! Surely I am not alone here?

    • http://jonloomer.com/blog Jon Loomer

      Hi, Celene! I don’t doubt the number of times people check their phones, but I’m with you on most of what you say. I do think that email is the best way to reach people since 1) recipients are a stationary target, and 2) recipients are used to receiving marketing messages this way.

      I think mobile presents great marketing opportunities, but I doubt that marketing via SMS will approach the success of other methods. At least in its current form, it’s too personal.

      Thanks for your thoughts!

  • Dianne

    Interesting article. I think you missed a few key points though. It appears this infographic was made for MoShare, which is a service Mogreet provides to allow content sharing via text message. This makes the reach and the amount of engagement with phones very relevant- we’re talking about communication with friends, the same thing as social media. You note that text messaging are opened because they’re mostly friend friends and I think that’s exactly what this infographic is getting at.

    You note that comparing a “like” to a text message isn’t a solid comparison, it should instead be between “likes” and wall posts. As wall posts occur much less frequently than likes, this strengthens the arguments that text messaging is a strong communication channel- people are putting in the time to compose messages to friends via mobile more often than on Facebook.
    In my opinion, this infographic was created to promote content sharing with your targeted direct audience via text, not SMS marketing. Nothing here says anything about click through, ROI, etc., so I think you missed the boat.

  • Dianne

    Interesting article. I think you missed a few key points though. It appears this infographic was made for MoShare, which is a service Mogreet provides to allow content sharing via text message. This makes the reach and the amount of engagement with phones very relevant- we’re talking about communicating with friends, the same thing social media accomplishes. You note that text messages are opened because they’re mostly sent by friends and I think that’s exactly what this infographic is getting at.

    You note that comparing a “like” to a text message isn’t a solid comparison, it should instead be between “likes” and wall posts. As wall posts occur much less frequently than likes, this strengthens the arguments that text messaging is a strong communication channel- people are putting in the time to compose messages to friends via mobile more often than on Facebook.

    In my opinion, this infographic was created to promote content sharing with your targeted direct audience via text, not SMS marketing. Nothing here says anything about click through, ROI, etc., so I think you missed the boat.

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