Social Mobile On the Increase in the US

72.2m people in America accessed social networking sites or blogs on their mobile device in August 2011, an increase of 37 per cent in the past year, according to the latest data from comScore’s MobiLens service. Almost 40m US mobile users access these sites almost every day.

The comScore data also shows that while more people access these sites via their mobile browser, the social networking app audience grew five times faster in the past year. While the mobile browsing social networking audience grew 24 per cent to 42.3m users in the past year, the mobile social networking app audience surged 126 per cent to 38.5m.

A look at selected social networking brands, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, reveals that each grew their mobile audiences by at least 50 per cent in the past year. Facebook was home to the largest mobile audience among the three destinations, with more than 57m mobile users in August, up 50 per cent from the previous year. Twitter saw its mobile audience jump 75 per cent to 13.4m people, while LinkedIn’s mobile audience climbed 69 per cent to 5.5m users.

Understanding how mobile users interact with social media is important for brands looking to engage with on-the-go consumers. comScore recently released new social media metrics that revealed that of those accessing social networking sites or blogs on their mobile device in August 2011, 80.3 per cent read posts from people known personally, while 69.5 per cent posted status updates while on their mobile device.

Mobile social networkers are also likely to interact with brands on these sites, with 52.9 per cent reading posts from organizations, brands or events. One in three mobile social networkers received a coupon, offer or deal, while one 27.7 per cent clicked on an ad while on a social networking site.

“Advertisers and marketers should take note,” says Mark Donovan, comScore’s senior vice president for mobile. “Mobile users are not only engaging with their friends through social networking, but a majority are also interacting with brands in these social media environments. Knowing that fans and followers engage with branded content on mobile devices opens the door to a world of opportunity for location-based services.”