Recently, Rumble released a mobile user engagement study that some key data when it comes to the behaviors of consumer mobile engagement. A key point of their data is that there are big differences in how consumers share mobile content depending on the content and the type of device they use.
Interestingly, Android users were shown to be 2 – 3 times more likely to share articles than iOS users. According to Rumble, “Although building a high-performing Android mobile app can be time intensive and expensive the Android market is continuing to grow and now represents more than half of the U.S. smartphone market”. Therefore, those publishers who want to grow their audience and reach will benefit from having an Android presence.
Additionally, if you thought the most used way users share mobile news articles was via Facebook or Twitter, you would be surprised to learn that according to Rumble, email is the top sharing method (76 percent) versus 12% who use Twitter and another 12% who use Facebook. Clearly it is important that marketers support email sharing in their mobile apps.
It was also shown that iPhone users display 3X more likely to share an article than iPad users. Clearly if your mobile model has sharing as fundamental point, your mobile application development plans should start with an Android application and follow with an iPhone application.
Rumble’s findings also show that push notification is a key engagement tool with rates as high as 70 percent of an app’s user base opening the app with just a single push. Clearly this is an excellent tool for continued engagement with your application.
Based on different studies, it is estimated that between 25 percent and 50 percent of people will read this post on a mobile device. Consumers and business professionals have adapted to mobile apps, devices and web sites at a rapid rate, using ‘all things mobile’ to stay connected, find information or just have fun. In a new study from Syniverse, we see just how important mobile has become for businesses.
One of the key findings is that most businesses aren’t handling mobile developments in-house. According to Synivere’s report, a full 77 percent of those surveyed are turning to outside vendors for their expertise on how to succeed in the mobile market.
Furthermore, it this survey, it is found that 92 percent of the business people surveyed believe mobile is ‘important or very important’ to their business and 84 percent ‘plan to incorporate’ mobile into upcoming marketing plans. Additionally, 88 percent say they have a ‘defined’ mobile strategy for future marketing efforts.
Of those who currently have a strategy, around half state that they are in the process of implementing it. However, only 24 percent say that their strategy has been implemented at this point and only about 10 percent say they are currently developing a mobile strategy
Businesses were quick to understand that mobile apps and web sites allow them to prosper in their local markets. Going local deepens the engagement levels of consumers. Syniverse’s data shows that 73 percent of businesses surveyed have included a location-based strategy, which allows them to use geographic profiling to better interact with shoppers.
In a recent study by International Data Corporation, they conclude that number of smartphones to be sold around the globe in 2013 will surpass the sales of basic feature phones. The massive growth of these devices highlights the need for businesses to have a solid plan for mobile application development (on both of the major platforms, businesses can’t ignore either iPhone applications or Android applications) and a mobile web site.
Sales of smartphones will increase 32.7 percent for this year over 2012, with forecasts from the International Data Corporation, predicting 958.8 million units to be shipped, compared with 722.5 million units in 2012. The decline in smartphone prices is believed to have been a major factor driving growth. In 2011, the average smartphone price was $443, by 2012 that number dropped to $407 and in 2013 it is predicted to finish at about $372. In the future it is expected that prices will drop even further and by 2017, the average smartphone price is forecast to drop to $309.
International Data Corporation predicts that smartphones will account for 52.2 percent of all mobile phone shipments by the end of 2013. Ramon Llamas, a research manager at IDC, even was willing to describe 2013 as a “watershed year for smartphones.” An interesting trend is that nearly two-thirds of all smartphones bought in the world in 2013 will be purchased by people in developing countries, says the IDC, whereas this number was just 43% in 2010. This is assumed to be driven by price reduction as well. “Smartphones have become increasingly common in emerging markets and it is often the first affordable means of computing for these markets,” said Ryan Reith, IDC program manager. “These are markets where average personal income is far less than in developed markets, and therefore vendors have been forced to create smartphone computing experiences for the low end of the market.”
Clearly businesses must address the shift occurring the market and look at the demographics of their target market. Mobile applications and web sites are increasingly important with each new year as we see smartphones continue to proliferate the market.