3. +
Consumer Perspective
Local: aware of
your physical
location
Mobile: can input
and receive
information
through a mobile
device
Social: interact
with your friends
and strangers
SoLoMo
Application
SoLoMo is a term coined for the integration of three platforms namely: Social, Mobile and Local. John Doerr, partner at the firm Klein Perkins is supposedly the one who coined the term SoLoMo. This concept is all about the opportunities behind the combination of mobile platforms like iOS, social networks like Facebook and local commerce. This creates an integrated framework wherein businesses can access their target using the combination of these three.
In other words, when these three platforms interact, it will create an application that is able to connect you with your friends and other people while being able to give you information you need based on your location, accessible through a mobile device. One example of this is Waze. It is basically like a GPS on your smartphone or tablet. What makes this different from Google Maps or any other Location tracking application is that you can see reports from other wazers. You will know what areas are traffic, or if there is any vehicular accident in a certain are. This way, you are able to plan out the fastest route for you. Moreover, you can sync Waze with Facebook so you can see friends on the road, and can even chat with them.
From a business perspective however, this narrows down the possible ways to reach the target market. The social platform can be used to reach the audience through ads, commercials and basically any information with regards to the company. The local platform is for the business to locate its target area, and to identify customers based in that place. For the mobile platform, this is where they should make their applications compatible to certain types of devices, whether it be in the form of a website or a downloadable application for Apple or Android.
So what are the implications of SoLoMo on users? This gives the users more freedom because applications can be accessed anywhere and anytime. It will be more convenient since there have been so many releases of new mobile devices, and telecommunication companies have been more competitive in giving the best deals to customers with regards to internet connection services. With this, the trend to go mobile will continue to increase. As more users download SoLoMo applications because of its functionality, they will be given more power because they are able to give their inputs online, and they have become open to more information sources.
With businesses, this will bring out more opportunities to gain popularity, since it is very easy for users to access the application. It will also give businesses the advantage to identify customers easier because of the location, and also to be able to interact with them in a more informal way.
For the next two years, I think the trend will be: “everything on the go”. With a mobile device, one can do so many things online. People can meet new people around the area, learn more about the hippest restaurants in the city, take part in online events and many more. With SoLoMo, it opens up so many opportunities for everyone.References: http://mashable.com/2013/04/30/solomo/http://socialmediatoday.com/jacey-gulden/1429651/solomo-what-and-why
