4G Is Arriving, Three Ways It Will Effect Social Media Content

From the end of this month mobile phone users in the United Kingdom will finally be able to sign up to 4g through the Everything Everywhere mobile network, with the remaining networks offering competing services from Spring 2013.

This new mobile network standard offers speeds as fast as a wired internet connection with up to 100 Mbps download speeds. How will companies capitalise on the superfast internet soon to be in the hands of consumers?

Live Streaming

The ease at which companies can stream their own live-events to the web will be greatly enhanced. Just a smart-phone and a tripod are all that will be required to stream HD quality video online to be consumed in real time by viewers . This opens up the possibility of live broadcasts from all manner of events with smaller business’s no longer hindered by the requirement for expensive broadcast equipment or a stable Wi-Fi connection.

Expect far greater integration of live streaming in to the news feeds of search engines and social networks as viewing live video over mobile increases in popularity. Will Youtube be as dominant as it has in recorded video or will a new rival take significant market share?

Mobile Apps

Mobile applications will be able to become more data intensive allowing a greater level of interactivity between businesses and consumers. No longer will a reformatted web page be considered sufficient for a company’s mobile application. Games and social interaction between users will become the norm. Expect to see the integration of live feed customer support, an increase in the complexity of social media games and an overall increase in the quality of video and images accessed through mobile applications in the coming years.

With download times greatly reduced users will no longer have to wait until they reach a Wi-Fi connection to download large applications, Live events or attractions can prompt users to download an app as they wait in line or while there is a natural break in proceedings, prompting even greater levels of interactivity between brand and consumer.

Mobile Advertising

Screen real estate is in short supply on mobile devices and so far this has meant key players including Facebook and Google withholding advertising from their mobile optimised websites. 4G could well offer a solution in the form of interactive , high quality adds. With no buffering times to disrupt the experience short videos played before entry to a site or interactive features providing informative content tailored to the users individual likes could become a real option for those companies desperately seeking ways in which to monetise vast sections of their business.

Those brands with better skills in using film and animation to deliver brand messages will gain a competitive advantage and because users won’t be twiddling their thumbs waiting for pages to load, we might expect better click though rates too. Brands that invest now in creating involving high data content are likely to be better prepared for the new opportunities that 4G could offer and gain significant advantage once critical uptake of network is achieved in 2-3 years time.  

Sam Wolf, Digital Account Manager at Liveinsights