Listen up mobile marketers: More mobile users are taking advantage of location-based services on their devices. According to new data from Pew Research Center’s Internet Project, 74% of smartphone owners 18 and older use their phone to get directions or other information based on their current location.
And more social media users are including location in their postings. Among social media users ages 18 and older, 30% say that at least one account is enabled to include their location in posts. That’s up from 14% of adults 18+ who said they had ever done included location in their posts just two years ago.
The ability to pinpoint a user’s location (and places they have visited in the past) can help marketers deliver targeted mobile advertising. When location services are enabled, it is possible to identify both a user’s general location, such as city or town, and drill down to specifics, such as a restaurant, shop or spot on campus.
While location services are growing, “check-in” options available on some social media declined slightly this years. In the 2013 report, 2% of adult smartphone owners say they use a social media service to “check in” to certain locations or share their location with friends, down from 18% in early 2012.
Among those that did report using “check-in” features, 39% say they did so on Facebook, 18% using Foursquare, and 14% on Google Plus.