Category: Featured News

The app for the biggest network in the world is now installed on 70 percent of these Apple smartphones.

A newly released report is underscoring the fact that social media marketing is an ideal fit in the mobile environment, as it discussed the considerable role played by Facebook on one of the top smartphones worldwide, the iPhone from Apple.

The report looked into the importance of the network on this popular mobile device.

This publication was created with data that was gleaned from Benedict Evans, an analyst from Enders Analysis. It helps to provide a more thorough understanding of the influence that social media marketing has on mobile commerce and consumer behaviors. Specifically, it looks at the relationship between the use of the Facebook app and the iPhone smartphone.

The social media marketing app is easily among the most commonly used on a worldwide scale.

Back in September 2012, Evans had released the social media marketing news that Facebook’s smartphone app had achieved 470 million users. That said, it was its use on the iPhone that was especially important, as it was those users who were especially likely to download the application.

At that point, there were already more than one billion people registered with Facebook. The install base on iPhones in that month was an estimated 200 million. The recent social media marketing report has been able to extrapolate from this information that there is, therefore, a tremendous 70 percent market penetration among the users of that device.

This also means that the social media marketing app penetration of Facebook within iPhone devices is considerably higher than that among Android smartphone users. The report suggested that this could be an issue of geography, as many users of Android devices live in emerging markets where the use of the social network is considerably lower.

However, the authors also indicated that even among those on Android who do have the app, the engagement level is notably lower. It was speculated that this could reflect a quality issue with the social media marketing application on that operating system. Equally, Evans stated that there is another trend that this data has clearly identified, which is that the “Use of smartphone apps is surging as a share of Facebook, up from 240 million in September 2011 (30% of the total) to 470 million (44%) in September 2012.”

Smartphone users have a wealth of information available to them by scanning QR codes on products and in advertisements, and will now be able to make charitable donations through the same format.

QR codes to aid 6,000 charities

The start-up Paystik has launched a campaign to raise charitable donations for over 6,000 charities using the QR code as a means to make quick and easy payments when consumers wish to donate to a charity of their choosing. The goal is to use QR codes for easy payments to both charities and small businesses. Both can sign on with Paystik to produce QR codes, thus reducing problems with billing and advertising.

The result will be an app for smartphones, allowing consumers to send quick and easy payments. Project C.U.R.E. will begin a campaign this week with direct mail. Last year, this organization reached out to consumers for charitable donations over the holidays and supplied over $40 million in medical care and supplies around the world. This campaign will be aimed at merchants this year.

QR codes gaining in US

The US has been a hard sell for mainstream use of QR code for payments. Companies like Paypal, DigiMo, Qriket, and Doxo have been accepting payments through QR, though none have become a huge success in that category. It is thought that smartphone saturation in the US could see a change in that regard, with smartphone use steadily on the rise. Still, a QR code is often a hard sell in the US. Some consumers are still not sure what their purpose is and are not aware of how to use the technology.

Co-founder James Ioannidis said, “Obviously, the first time is the hardest. But after on-boarding them, we see consumers making repeat transactions.” He went on to explain that he feels aiding charities will bring Paystik success where other campaigns featuring QR code have faltered. The biggest obstacle is getting the consumer aware of the code and to also download the app.

About Paystik

The company of New Stanford is a three-person operation based in Stanford Venture Studio at the Graduate School of Business. At the present time, the company is bootstrapped, meaning they have no outside investment. Ioannidis is a former program manager with Microsoft.