Both social media marketing and mobile E-Commerce are becoming more prolific and in the years ahead, are expected by experts to generate even more revenue and visibility for businesses that utilize them. Although major companies such as General Motors have reduced their social media advertising spending due to lackluster results, their social marketing efforts have remained intact. Additionally, Apple and Google have seen an increase in revenue through their mobile shopping platforms on iOS and Android. However, the growth of mobile commerce and social media marketing are likely to become more connected over the next several years. As social network usage and usership continues to rise on mobile devices, businesses will expend more of their marketing efforts on various social platforms.
In 2011, mobile device sales and overall usage saw a dramatic increase and in the fourth quarter of 2012, new entry-level tablet PCs from Apple, Google and Microsoft with a $199 price point will hit the market and another tablet sales boom is inevitable. As more consumers gain trust in mobile wallet technology, the social media marketing efforts will show improved results on an exponential scale.
More users are also utilizing smartphones and tablets as their primary Internet device and this trend is also expected to rise going forward. Support for mobile E-Commerce platforms is also growing amongst online retail companies and even some “brick-and-mortar” retailers are beginning to research and develop proprietary mobile wallet support functionality.
Today, many forward-thinking business owners and online marketers are beginning to design their mobile social media marketing and E-Commerce strategies in order to capitalize on the growth that those sectors will almost certainly experience over the next five years. The influence that social media will have on mobile sales is likely to be substantial and will impact the future of virtually every retailer in the digital marketplace.