Smartphones vs. Tablets. Most companies are already taking note of the explosion of smartphone and tablet traffic to their websites. But smartphones aren’t tablets and vice versa. The first place to find proof that all devices aren’t created equal: Conversion rates. During last week’s The Smartphone & Tablet Experience webinar, Thomas Husson, VP principal analyst, Forrester Research, illustrated that point with data from Forrester and Shop.org.
“The vast majority of retailers reported conversion rates on smartphones were around 1%, while conversion rates for tablets were 2.4%,” said Husson. Monetate found similar tablet and mobile conversion trends in its latest Ecommerce Quarterly, underscoring that it’s likely that it’s easier to use tablets during the checkout process, leading to a spike in conversions for visitors on that device compared to smartphone users. “The kind of content and services being accessed by smartphone and tablet users are very different,” Husson said. Contextual Search. The average person with an Android smartphone is using it to search the web, from a browser, only 1.25 times per day, says Roi Carthy, CEO of Tel Aviv-based mobile startup Everything.Me. That isn’t just bad news for Google, which still relies on ads placed along search results for the bulk of its revenue—it also signals a gigantic, fundamental shift in how people interact with the web.
It’s a shift upon which fortunes will be made and lost. Carthy knows how often people use search on Android because once you install his company’s Everything.Me software, it replaces the home screen on an Android smartphone with one that is uniquely customized to you. And then Everything.Me collects data on how often you search, plus a whole lot else, including where you are, where you go, which apps you use, the contents of your calendar, etc. Context is the new search We’re accustomed to turning on our phones and seeing the same set of icons in the same place every time.
App-First Internet. The PC is dying, long live the PC! These headlines have been thrown around for years, as sales of laptops and desktops have continually dwindled downward. The tablet has long been pinned as the murderer of the traditional computers and it certainly looked like it was going to be the one to do away with them (perhaps in a few years), with the focus of many companies such as Apple and Microsoft shifting towards a tablet-first world. It’s obvious from the steadily declining shipments of traditional computers and companies exiting the PC market, that it’s not looking good for PCs, with tablets regularly eating into computer shipments year on year.
That was, until Apple reported in its last earnings call that it had actually sold fewer iPads than the previous quarter for the first time ever. The media is in a frenzy, wondering if the tablet isn’t the savior after all. The tablet bridge 16% 15-20 year olds with tablets18% 20-29 year olds with tablets25% 30-55 year olds with tablets.
Mobile Marketing Statistics. Many marketers have experienced it: presenting a case to superiors for a larger budget or defending how they spent the existing budget. At times, it can be a difficult process with lots of push back and discussion, while other times it’s an easy conversation due to the success of your spending decisions or widespread internal buy-in. Either way, budget management is a critical aspect of your role as a marketer, or soon will be at one point in your career. Your marketing budget should be informed and defended with facts and figures to support the channels you wish to market your organization on and why. Mobile, as a marketing channel, can no longer be ignored and must be addressed in order to succeed.
A mobile-first advertising strategy is already in place by many companies looking to reach their customers where they’re actually active. Start now, before your business gets left behind, as many of your competitors already have active mobile advertising campaigns in motion. Takeaway: Location-Based Marketing. So who is already using them? Apple, of course, has been using them for its 254 retail stores across the U.S. since December 6th, 2013 to enhance customers’ shopping experience. After some rumors about ballparks planning to install iBeacons, San Francisco Giants (and most of MLB) have confirmed to be using Apple’s iBeacon. Both fans with Android and iOS devices can receive alerts within their stadiums via the ‘At the Ballpark’ app. The app users receive maps, concession info, video clips and the ability to upgrade your seat at the entrance and once checked in they can also get tailormade notifications and relevant offers. Macy’s and American Eagle have started delivering the iBeacon experience via both the Shopkick app and Macy’s own apps.
Philips took this micro targeting technology to the next level: the company created a lighting system with built in iBeacon for retailers to send notifications to a customer’s phone. What is geofencing and who’s using it?