Forty-five percent of US online adults access social networking sites weekly or more from a smartphone, while 64% do so from a desktop or a laptop, and 25% do so from a tablet. Mobile social behavior is certainly no longer niche, and if Facebook’s success hasn’t already driven marketers to better understand the mobile social user, they should take note now.

According to a new Forrester study based on a survey of 37,000 respondents, online consumers who access social networking sites from a smartphone are more likely to read, comment, like, or share content posted by a company than their PC counterparts. For example, 49% and 46% of tablet and smartphone social users, respectively, like something a company posted weekly or more, compared with 37% of PC social networking users.

Time spent on social applications via smartphones is also significant for consumers who engage with brands on their mobile device. On average, these consumers spend nearly 25 minutes per day on Facebook, 12 minutes per day on YouTube, and 10 minutes per day on Instagram. Finally, mobile users are more positive about their interactions with brands on social sites — for example by thinking it’s cool to be associated with a brand on social media and viewing a “like” as a way to show support for a company.

To learn more about this research, visit the Marketing Leadership blog.