With the imminent release of Windows 8, I began thinking about the slew of changes brought about by the rapid growth of mobile devices and tablets. This growth has begun to alter how online business is performed.
How people use smartphones differs widely from how they use other digital devices. While they operate tablets in largely the same way as they use personal computers, smartphones are used quite differently.
Most notably, smartphones are very attuned to geographic location. When you walk around with a smartphone, not only does it know where you are but also what advertisements and products might attract your attention.
This is a new area that advertisers and developers are rushing into. Since smartphones are also affected by bandwidth and the size of the display, users are very conscious about any transmissions that negatively impact performance.
ComScore recently reported that Americans used 114 million smartphones in August, up by 13 million since January while sales of personal computers fell 8.6 percent from last year. This indicates a huge movement toward smartphones (and tablets).
Even more noteworthy, in August 2012 mobile devices accounted for 13 percent of all web pages viewed, up from 7 percent last year. This increase in web pages viewed of almost 100 percent has enormous ramifications since it depicts a huge shift in Internet usage tendencies.
According to a recent Google survey, the first or second most frequently asked question by smartphone users overall involved getting directions and operating hours for a brick-and-mortar store or business. For retail stores, this percentage was 74 percent. The study also reported that 61 percent of respondents used their smartphone for product information research while 50 percent made a purchase.
This very interesting result means that consumers are still more likely to use mobile platforms for traditional inquiries and purchases from retail stores. However, this process is changing due in large part to the showrooming practices by more than one-third of smartphone users. Showrooming occurs when shoppers use their smartphones while in a brick-and-mortar store to search online for better prices.
The average time spent on mobile (no voice) devices is currently 82 minutes a day, exceeded only by radio, online and television. Of all the major mediums, it has by far the fastest growth. Since it is also capturing time from these other mediums, its growth in the next few years is potentially explosive. Most notably, this also highlights the need to have a mobile optimized website ”“ particularly for retail establishments.
One area that has caused much consternation from marketers is how to effectively and profitably advertise on mobile platforms. This is a problem that in particular has vexed Facebook. It was also one of the major factors in Facebook”™s stock price plunge when it went public. With limited bandwidth and display space, revenue from mobile advertising was seen as a financial drag on the company.
Yet, its recent third-quarter statement reported surprisingly positive earnings of 14 percent of its total advertising revenue from its mobile advertisements and a ROI (return on investment) of more than five times for 49 percent of the advertisements. Likewise, Google is expecting rising revenue from its mobile advertisements in the fourth quarter of this year. With these results and expectations, you can expect new and more frequent advertisements to appear on your smartphone in the near future. Most likely, they will be geared directly to your location and likes.
One area that marketers have started to tout involves text messaging. It”™s the most common and the easiest to use. Furthermore, text messages work with any type of phone. The downside of text messaging is that the messages can be very annoying and intrusive. It is really important for any business that they receive permission before sending an occasional text message. An incentive program in this instance can work wonders.
In the near future, I will be purchasing a new computer with Windows 8. I am really anxious to see how well it operates and translates to both tablets and smartphones.
Bruce Newman is the president of wwWebevents.com, a division of The Productivity Institute L.L.C. in Carmel. Newman can be reached at bnewman@prodinst.com.Â
