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?
FrequencyCalculated as (Impressions/Reach), Frequency is a Facebook ads metric that measures the average number of times users have seen your ad. More
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?
