As 2011 draws to a close, it makes you wonder; where did the time go? On the other hand, one thing you’re not left wondering is whether mobile will remain an important part of the technological and marketing landscape moving forward. This year there was rarely a conference, seminar or webinar where mobile went unmentioned. With so much going on and the technology advancing so quickly—here is a snapshot of some of the more interesting events.
Confirmation – Why is there so much talk about mobile? Because the space is so big and growing so quickly that the opportunity is enormous. Over 350 million of Facebook’s 800 million users typically access the site from their mobile devices. Out of the 230 million tweets a day, 103 million come from mobile users—that’s 45%. According to Instagram, a popular picture sharing application, 26 photos a second are being uploaded by their 10 million-plus users in less than a year after launch.
Mobile Advertising – Retailers have taken notice of the fact that consumers have gravitated so heavily toward their mobile devices. Best Buy recently announced that it will boost its mobile advertising spend this year going into the holiday season to help drive consumer traffic. This increase in mobile comes amidst the announcement that they will be hiring less seasonal workers (half) as they did last year. The real estate market is primed and ready for use of mobile advertising that can reach both home buyers and real estate agents at the most opportune times in order to influence decisions.
Mobile Payments – With mobile spending predicted to hit $1.9 billion by 2015, there is a lot of positioning going on for how those payments will be made. Google recently announced the launch of their Google Wallet product on the Samsung Nexus S for Sprint. The application allows you to tap your phone to make payments using NFC (near field communications) technology. Isis, a competitive mobile-payment product backed by AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA, also made headway by arranging for top phone manufacturers, such as HTC, LG Electronics, Motorola Mobility, Research In Motion, Samsung Electronics and Sony Ericsson, to ship devices with their NFC payment technology included.
All of these major advancements in mobile technology undoubtedly have an impact either directly or indirectly on the real estate industry. We have already seen the major impact for mobile and social as it relates to real estate. Mobile advertising is in its infant stages within the real estate market right now. Perhaps eventually you will be able to submit a bid or make a downpayment via your mobile device.
Seth Kaplan is president of Mobile Real Estate ID.
For more information, visit www.mobilerealestateid.com.
