The concept of mobile social networking is
catching on in the U.S., as all
tier-I and tier-II operators now offer social networking applications.
Support from mobile operators expects to directly impact application
discoverability, provide marketing support, and drive growth in the
U.S. mobile social networking markets.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.mobileandwireless.frost.com), An Insight into U.S. Mobile Social Networking Markets,
finds that revenue from on-deck mobile social networking services in
the U.S. expect to reach $ 412 million in 2012. Additional revenues can
also be expected from mobile advertising.
“While
the extension of popular online social networking communities onto
mobile phones is a major growth driver, it is unreasonable to expect
the same level of functionality as is offered through the PC,” notes Frost & Sullivan Senior Analyst Vikrant Gandhi. “Mobile social networking services clearly need to be targeted toward mass-market phones in order to gain traction.”
Mobile social networking represents an additional monetization
opportunity for the mobile communication value chain participants. The
convergence of three main trends - emergence of popular social
networking services on the Internet, increasing penetration of the
mobile web, and emergence of mobile advertising - drives mobile social
networking.
For example, popular online mobile social networking services such as
Facebook, MySpace, and several others are now accessible through the
mobile Internet - penetration of which is at
the 15 percent levels. Similarly, mobile advertising has emerged as the
prime revenue model for off-deck mobile social networking providers.
The challenge, however, is to develop dedicated and effective mobile
advertising models to deliver targeted advertising to the mobile social
community. This would require a close cooperation between advertising
solution providers, mobile social networking solution providers, mobile
operators; as well as willingness of the subscribers to share more data
about themselves.
“For
instance, the present cost per thousand for mobile advertising within
mobile social networking services is not very high,” says Gandhi. “Similarly, the fill rates or the ability to monetize the available inventory are also low.”
The industry needs to take a balanced approach in this regard. For
example, it will hurt in the long run if key industry participants over
hype the monetization potential of mobile social networking services.
Advertising should also be immersive, simply displaying banner ads
within mobile social networking sessions may not be enough.
An Insight into U.S. Mobile Social Networking Markets is part of the Mobile and Wireless
Growth Partnership Service program,.