Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Nearly two-thirds (63%) of smartphone users worldwide use their device every at least once every 30 minutes, according to an IAB report published today (June 13), with ad recall on such devices registered at 86% on mobile web, and 90% in-app.

The findings were released in the trade body study entitled ‘Always On – A Global Perspective of Mobile Consumer Experience’, which surveyed users across the globe and found that over a fifth (22%) tap into their phones every five minutes.

Respondents came from North and South America, Asia, Europe, and Africa with the majority of them reporting that they access the internet via mobile web and mobile apps at least once a day (mobile web – 88% and mobile apps – 84%).

Meanwhile, awareness of advertising on both mobile web and on mobile apps was high among respondents, with nearly half claiming they took action after seeing ads on such devices, with the two platforms performing similarly in generating consumer response (45% on mobile web and 47% on mobile apps)....

The latest example of this deals with mobile coupons. It turns out that consumers who lean on mobile coupons for food shopping – and that’s a lot of people – often change brands for the sake of variety, according to a new study.

The majority of consumers don’t use mobile coupons, but a third (33%) do. And that’s where the behavioral change potential resides.

Nearly half (44%) of mobile coupon users like to change brands often for the sake of variety and novelty, according to the study conducted by GfK. The survey comprised a look at 6,500 products in about 600 categories....

While the great majority of consumers prefer to shop in stores rather than online, most of them are doing it with a bit of a mobile-shopping assist.

In yet another study looking at in-store shopping behavior, the majority (75%) of consumers use their phones while shopping.Almost all (90%) of those 18 to 35 years old use a phone, compared to 77% of those 36 to 49 years old and just over half (52%) of those 50 to 65 years old, according to a study by InReality....

Mobile marketing's awesome potential in 2017 is reinforced with reports like this one: research firm BIA/Kelsey predicts that US mobile-ad spend will exceed $40 billion -- and the industry can expect that number to pass $65 billion by 2020. 

Last year, mobile digital ad-spend fueled mobile-side growth on a path to outpace desktop ad-spend. Meanwhile, smartphones and tablet devices account for 51.3% of Internet use. By year's end, 75% of online content consumption will be mobile, media buying agency Zenith forecast late last year.

Numbers like these tell the story: for mobile marketing, a moment of transformation is at hand.This transformation will bring with it the following five trends -- changing how brands and marketers work with each other, with technology and with consumers....

“According to the data, consumers are not spontaneously window shopping online stores or casually browsing product pages,” said Jim Davidson, head of research for Bronto Software. “They are utilizing multiple devices to extend their shopping experience and influence purchase decisions, creating a nonlinear path to purchase that today’s marketers need to understand and embrace.”

The report found that the majority of smartphone shoppers prefer mobile device browsers (61% of respondents) over apps (39% of respondents), which was also the preference of tablet shoppers by more than two to one (69% vs. 31%)....