Think SoLoMo or SoCoLoMo – Social Commerce, Local & Mobile – For Digital Success

In an evolving digital work place,  it is critical for leaders to think of their products, services and leadership in terms of SoCoLoMo. This is a take off of the popular SoLoMo, which stood for Social Local and Mobile, with the Co addition standing for Commerce and / or Content. Why is SoCoLoMo important? Here are some statistics to consider: 

Social Media

• Social CEOs: 77% of buyers say they are more likely to buy from a company whose CEO uses social media1.¹
• Social Executives: 94% said C-suite social media participation enhances a brand image.¹
• Employee Trust: 82% of employees say they trust a company more when the CEO and leadership team communicate via social media.¹
• Consumer Trust: Positive online reviews make 52% of consumers more likely to use a local business. 2
• Proliferation: 91% of online adults use social media regularly.³
• Facebook Preference: 80% of users prefer to connect with brands on Facebook.⁴

Commerce and Content

Local

• Checking In: 16.7 million Americans checked in via services such as Gowalla or Foursquare in April. That’s 7% of the US mobile phone population.⁸
• Location-Aware: 19% of Men and 10% of Women setup their social media accounts to automatically include location in their posts.⁹
• Being Found: 59% of consumers use Google every month to find local businesses.¹⁰

Mobile

• Proliferation: Global Mobile devices to go from 3.4 Billion in 2010 to 7.9 Billion in 2015.¹¹
• Influence on Retail: By 2016, $689 Billion will be influenced by mobile retail.¹²
• Tablet Time: The average tablet user spends 13.9 hours per week with the device.¹³
• Some Kind of Mobile: 88% of adults in the US have a cell phone, 57% have a laptop, 19% own an e-reader, and 19% have a tablet.¹⁴

This framing: SoCoLoMo is helpful whether you’re evaluating your company’s digital strategy, your own communications or where your industry is headed. In all key decisions, consider how these digital trends will influence the future. Will Social Media, eCommerce and Content, Localization and Mobility help or hurt your decision? How will you leverage these trends for your strength? In our next post, I’ll provide some tools for you to use to track, analyze and report your SoCoLoMo progress.

Sources

1. eMarketer: CEOs who Tweet Held in High Regard by eMarketer 3/27/2012
2. BrightLocal: Study – 72% of Consumers Trust Online Reviews as much as personal recommendations by BrightLocal 3/12/2012
3. The Digital Marketer: Benchmark & Trends Report 2012
4. HubSpot: 9/21/2012 post of the same name
5. Forrester Research: US Cross-channel Retail Forecast 2011 to 2016
6. Forrester Research: US Online Retail Hits $200 Billion
7. Forrester Research: US eCommerce to Reach Nearly $300 Billion by 2015
8. Comscore: Nearly 1 in 5 Smartphone Owners Access Check-in Services via their Mobile Device
9. CMSWire: Key location-based Technology Stats and the Effect on Business
10. BrightLocal: Where do local business websites get their traffic?
11. Statista: Total Number of Mobile Connections, Worldwide
12. Deloitte: The Dawn of Mobile Influence
13. Online Publisher’s Association: A portrait of Today’s Tablet User
14. Pew Internet: The power of mobile