It will not be long now before people start asking the question; “Is anyone using a PC anymore?” Of course that seems a bit of an exaggeration, and it very well may be, but mobile is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down its takeover. Mobile has given marketers countless new ways to advertise, and it is mobile that is on everyone’s mind these days in place of the older, more experience desktop PC platforms that have been used for years. Using Facebook as an example of the evolution of digital consumer activity is a great way to gauge just how mobile is making a change in today’s digital marketing climate.
In a recent comScore report, we are told that Facebook hit the top spot for mobile apps in 2012, in terms of consumer audience. It stole the spot as number one from Google Maps sometime around September or October of 2012.
Now, comScore states that Facebook’s overall success is not the only reason that the network’s app took such an impressive lead for the last part of the year. The company states that Apple Maps is also partially responsible, as the app caused a great decline in Google Maps usage near the end of the year when it replaced Google as the Maps application on iOS 6. However, Google Maps did show clearly evident signs of climbing back up during the last couple of months of the year, therefore making it safe to say that the battle for number one will be intense in 2013.
As for Facebook and the reasons for its leading the charts, comScore writes;
In addition to owning the top app audience ranking, Facebook has consistently ranked #1 in terms of mobile app engagement. Their app currently accounts for 23% of time spent on apps, while sister app Instagram owns another 3% of the market. Various Google apps combine to account for 10% of time spent, with Gmail owning the highest individual share at 3%. These two leading web companies combine for more than 1 out of every 3 minutes spent on mobile apps.
Therefore, as many already knew, Facebook is not only number one for consumers and everyday internet users, but it is number one for marketers as well. The network’s mobile app brings in the best engagement of any app, allowing marketers the best results. So, yes, Facebook has a leg up in the competition as far as things stand right now.
However, comScore still believes that the mobile supremacy competition will absolutely be heated for 2013, with Google Maps coming back to their former glory. Maybe so, but it seems that it will be hard to beat out the engagement numbers that Facebook presents currently. Either way, Facebook and Google now lead the way in desktop internet marketing as well as mobile, and the companies cannot be stopped. They are each other’s only real competition these days, and their ongoing battle is always interesting to hear about.
2013 will present an interesting dynamic as Google and Facebook wrestle for app supremacy, while other media properties look to carve out a niche or establish a more prominent position. Will Twitter, Amazon or eBay find their way into the top 10 apps this year? Will engagement on the Netflix app skyrocket as people become more comfortable viewing video on their phones? What will be the next Instagram to come out of nowhere to build an audience of tens of millions in a few short months?
