Mobile Technology Research: 5 Trends to Watch
I found this interesting article that many of you may find useful by Joy Liuzzo
Trend #1. Rise in smartphones
Advanced mobile technology that can handle Web browsing, email and applications is becoming more widely available. Consumers are responding by increasing adoption. Approximately 24% of all mobile users own a smartphone.
Here’s the smartphone ownership of mobile users, according to age group:
- 18 to 24 year-olds -- 29%
- 25 to 44 year-olds -- 29%
- 45 to 54 year-olds -- 24%
- 55 to 64 year-olds -- 13%
Trend #2. SMS is widely used
Some marketers have responded to this increased smartphone use by offering branded applications. But to reach a wider audience, SMS messaging may be the best mobile strategy to employ.
SMS adoption among younger mobile users is reaching a plateau, Liuzzo says. But older age groups are still showing strong increases.
Here’s the percentage of mobile users who send text messages, according to age group:
- 18 to 24 -- 83%
- 25 to 44 -- 65%
- 45 to 54 -- 52%
- 55 to 64 -- 33%
- 18 to 24 -- 32%
- 25 to 44 -- 27%
- 45 to 54 -- 19%
- 55 to 64 -- 15%
“Quite honestly, I think it’s something that brands and marketers need to acknowledge and to jump on and figure out how they can have a continued conversation,” Liuzzo says.
Trend #3. Growth in mobile social networking
The ability to interact with friends and contacts on the mobile Web is just starting to blossom. Nine percent of mobile phone owners have accessed a social network on their phone.
Here are the most popular networks, followed by the percentage of social mobile users who said they’ve accessed them from mobile devices:
- Facebook -- 58%
- MySpace -- 54%
- LinkedIn -- 7%
- Flickr -- 6%
- Twitter -- 5%
- Visit friend’s profile
- Post comment
- Post and update
- Browse profiles
- Update via text message
Trend #4. The mobile Web is highly engaging
Liuzzo’s team has noticed that consumers who browse the Web on a phone are very engaged.
“Folks who had a smartphone and who used these devices to do those activities -- browse the Web, listen to music, watch videos -- were as engaged, if not more engaged, on the mobile phone than they were on a PC.”
This level of consumer engagement offers marketers a great advertising opportunity, Liuzzo says. Consumers enjoy using their phones to access information, and marketers can be part of this positive experience. Also, mobile display advertising is often proportionally larger than online display advertising in relation to a page’s content.
Trend #5. It’s a good time to start
Since mobile computing is still emerging as a consumer trend, nearly every type of mobile interaction continues to rise.
“That’s the genius of mobile technology right now. We aren’t seeing anything that’s losing consumers’ interest.”
Liuzzo suggests that marketers who have not yet used the channel get started and work toward staking a permanent claim in the mobile Web. The state of the market is similar to the Internet when it began its exponential growth in the 1990s, and is actually moving much faster, she says.
“You need to make the jump and be ahead of consumers on this or you will be left behind.”
Comments