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MobileMarketingWatch (@MobileMW) reports on the findings of a new Greystripe (@Greystripe) study that says better than 66% of moms are plugged into their mobile devices while engaged in the act of shopping:

• 57% search for mobile coupons via their mobile device.
• 45% of connected moms use their smartphone to locate stores.
• 36% utilize some form of price comparison app or service.
• 31% use their smartphones to research products, read reviews, and check product availability.
• 91% prefer free apps with ads over paid apps without ads.

Read the MMW report.

Also see our April 14 blog post, “Motherhood Sends Moms to Smartphones.”

And see Marketing Charts' "1 in 3 Smartphone Shoppers Often Accesses In-store Coupons."

What are you doing to publish content that will reach these moms? Let Somersault help.

This Infographic (#Infographic) by Ad Age (@AdAgeStat) displays social media demographics based on actual user profiles, not just Web traffic. Also see detailed tables of the age breakdowns of Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn.

This article in Internet Retailer (@IR_Magazine) says Facebook is today for marketers what ABC, CBS, and NBC TV networks were in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s: mass media that could reach practically all US consumers with a sweeping marketing message.

Today, the way to market to the masses is through Facebook, where 135.7 million US consumers spent time in March, according to market research firm Nielsen Co.

And consumers don’t just click on Facebook and leave — they spent on average more than 6 hours and 35 minutes on the social network in March, nearly 5 times the one hour and 21 minutes the average Web user spent on Google, Nielsen says. What’s more, while on Facebook they share information about themselves, interacting with the site 90 times in an average month — posting photos and updates, commenting on friends’ posts, Liking products and articles, and more.

In short, millions of shoppers are constantly telling Facebook Inc. about themselves, what interests them, where they live, what they buy and who their friends are. That’s a treasure trove of consumer information. And in the last year or so Facebook has regularly been introducing innovations that enable retailers and other marketers to use that detailed information to precisely target the consumers they wish to reach.

Read the article and its examples in full.

How are you using Facebook to advance your brand?

Trendwatching.com (@trendwatching) has coined “The F-FACTOR” to describe the power and reach social media has on commerce and branding.

• The F-FACTOR is currently dominated by Facebook, as over 500 million active users spend over 700 billion minutes a month on the site. (Source: Facebook, April 2011)
•  And its impact isn’t just on Facebook itself. Every month, more than 250 million people engage with Facebook across more than 2.5 million external websites. (Source: Facebook, April 2011)
• The average user clicks the ‘Like’ button 9 times each month. (Facebook, 2010)
• Three-quarters of Facebook users have 'Liked' a brand. (Source: AdAge/ Ipsos, February 2011)

Here are 5 ways the F-FACTOR influences consumption behavior:

1. F-DISCOVERY: How consumers discover new products and services by relying on their social networks.
2. F-RATED: How consumers will increasingly (and automatically) receive targeted ratings, recommendations and reviews from their social networks.
3. F-FEEDBACK: How consumers can ask their friends and followers to improve and validate their buying decisions.
4. F-TOGETHER: How shopping is becoming increasingly social, even when consumers and their peers are not physically together.
5. F-ME: How consumers’ social networks are literally turned into products and services.

Read further explanation of the above points.

Also see Marketing Charts (@marketingcharts) “Consumers Tap into ‘F-Factor’”

Keep in mind, according to a March 2011 survey by RetailMeNot.com and Harris Interactive, search engines are still the most popular online means of finding deals (67%), outpacing retailer emails/ads (30%), coupon websites (23%), and price comparison sites (22%).

Let Somersault help you optimize the F-FACTOR for your brand.

The above presentation by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project (@Pew_Internet) explores 9 commonly held assumptions about how teens and young adults use technology:

1.    Everyone uses the Internet.

2.    Every teen has a cell phone.

3.    All teens text unimaginably large numbers of messages a day.

4.    Teens no longer call anyone on the phone.

5.    Parents and K-12 schools struggle with management of teens’ phones.

6.    Teens have been supplanted by older adults on social networks.

7.    Teens love Twitter.

8.    Young adults don’t care about privacy, particularly online.

9.    Teens are active creators of content online.

See this presentation in full.

Dan Coates, president of Ypulse (@ypulse) says, “There's a fundamental shift in how media is being consumed, and Gen Y is at the epicenter of it all.”

·         In the prior week, nearly 1 in 4 members of Gen Y watched video content that was streamed to a computer, 1 in 7 downloaded video content to a computer, and 1 in 20 watched video content that was streamed to their mobile phones.

·         On average, Gen Y spends nearly 3 hours a week watching streamed TV programs, and an hour and a half a week watching downloaded TV programs.

·         Gen Y streams and downloads video from a variety of locations: they are nearly as likely to do so at home as they are at a friend's house.

·         Gen Y most commonly streams full-length, professionally produced videos, such as movies and TV shows, with music videos not far behind. College students watch a wider diversity of content than teens, with most checking out news clips, commercials, sports, and political videos in addition to long-form movies and TV shows.

He says, “The trend towards cloud-based, on-demand digital media shifts the locus of control from the producer to the consumer. Having grown up immersed in digital media, Gen Y will lead this shift.”

Read this in full.

What are the implications of these findings for publishers?

Initial findings from Project Reconnect, an ongoing survey based on a global poll of parents and teenagers, found a “remarkable” level of agreement across territories and age groups over which features of online ads are acceptable - and which are not.

The researchers, who questioned consumers in four key territories - Brazil, China, the UK, and the US - found that ads offering a “tangible benefit” for users are acceptable - as are ads that are “different, fun, engaging, and/or offer something extra.”

But the survey also revealed that people “instinctively” describe online advertising in potentially negative terms – “pop-ups, banners, and spam.”

Generally, there is a shared belief there is a “time and place” for online ads, and that advertisers should not overstep boundaries and “pester” consumers.

Read this report in full.

Religion News Service (@ReligionNewsNow) reminds us that Handel's oratorio Messiah was first performed on this day in 1742. Back then, the Dublin Journal wrote a review (originating social buzz), saying, "Words are wanting to express the exquisite Delight it afforded to the admiring crouded Audience.”

If you’ll recall last Christmas season, as a way to promote Alphabet Photography, Inc., a flash mob performed the Hallelujah Chorus at Seaway Mall in Welland, ON. The video of that event has now enjoyed more than 32 million views on YouTube.

Remember what elements comprise a successful viral video? What viral video can Somersault help you produce?

By the way, be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard created especially for publishing and marketing professionals.

Takeover ads are a growing marketing tactic, particularly on major sites such as YouTube. Takeover ads take up all available ad space on the homepage or dedicated landing page of a designated site. They usually involve action or motion, and include an element of entertainment.

For example, Google Chrome’s takeover ad highlights the artists and themes it’s pushing to make the Web a little less grey. It takes you on a journey from a standard grey browser through to the Google Chrome themes. More examples are shown on BannerBlog (@bannerblog).

What do you think? Are takeover ads too intrusive? Are they a fad or will they become a standard? What strategic goal do they accomplish within a media schedule? Would you use them?

Today is the 57th anniversary of the most boring day in the last century (Sunday, April 11, 1954). A computer scientist used the search engine True Knowledge (@trueknowledge) to search 300 million compiled facts and determine this date had "the fewest significant births, significant deaths, or significant events" of any other day. A pretty innovative way to get social media buzz about the True Knowledge brand! Read about it. Also see NPR’s coverage.