By Samantha Berkhead
Mobile marketing is taking over the world at a pace that would give anyone whiplash—and its latest frontier seems to be the entire continent of Africa.
According to a September 8th Mobile Marketing Magazine article, some 100 million Africans are joining social media juggernaut Facebook each month.
Even more amazing? An astonishing 80% of those people are doing so through a mobile device.
“In Africa, we are seeing explosive growth and incredible momentum across the region,” Rob Norman, chief digital officer of Global Group M, told Mobile Marketing Magazine. “At the same time, when you look at the staggering cost of connectivity in many countries, mobile services need to deliver maximum utility on the biggest range of devices and consumer the smallest amount of data, which is exactly what Facebook provides.”
So what does this explosion in Africa's mobile web usage mean for mobile marketing? According to Mobile Marketing Magazine, it means brands now have access to a massive audience of consumers that were previously difficult, if not impossible, to reach.
One example of this new capability to reach people throughout the world's second-largest continent is health care company Unilever, which has partnered with Facebook to work on bringing social media marketing solutions to Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya, according to Mobile Marketing Magazine.
And as more of Africa's immense, diverse population continues to pick up a smartphone and get online, it's clear that more of the world's most prominent corporations and organizations will direct their online advertising attention to this continent.