Compete Blog: Smartphone Owners - A Ready and Willing Audience
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from the Compete Blog. Compete Inc. is a web analytics company that focuses on understanding how consumers use the internet.
Years ago, when smartphones were introduced to the market, they were promoted as devices to help the busy, on-the-go, business professional. It was a tool primarily made available to access one's email, calendar and contacts when away from the desk or travelling. Today, that is far from the case -- they are integrated into the daily lives of all types of consumers, and Compete is tracking that changing behavior.
The good news for brands trying to market through the mobile device starts with the amount of time people are spending on their devices throughout the day. For starters, consumers' primary usage of their smartphones is for reasons of personal productivity and entertainment. In fact, when asked how much time is spent on personal use (with the remaining being on business), 74 percent of smartphone owners indicated they are using their device primarily for personal reasons. However, we wanted to further break out usage, so we asked smartphone owners how much time is spent on their smartphone at various times of the day. Below we can look at when, throughout the day, the device is getting the most attention.
It is clear that smartphones are being used at nearly all points of the day, from the morning train ride into the city, to the waiting room at the doctor's office, to texting with friends at night while trying to understand that week's episode of Lost.
So while smartphone owners may be always available, the concern is how receptive these consumers might be to mobile advertising.
Looking at top two box results (those selecting a four or five), we saw consumers were most interested in receiving grocery coupons (36 percent), scanable barcodes (29 percent), offers to save and pursue at leisure (26 percent), movie theater offers (26 percent), and ads via SMS when going by a retailer with a promotion / coupon (21 percent).
The fact that over one in five smartphone owners would be interested in these top five is very promising for the mobile marketing industry, considering it is still in its early stages. Brands need to focus on engaging and driving behavior of these 'early adopters' in order to help bring these concepts to mass market.
Discussion Questions: When do you think mobile advertising will reach mainstream status? If only a minority currently is interested in grocery coupons and even less in text message ads when they arrive at a store, how should retailers and brands be pursuing this opportunity in its early stages?