KEY TAKEAWAY: According to Comscore “smartphone is now the dominant platform in terms of total minutes across every market and apps dominate 80% of smartphone time”. Time has shifted to mobile, but some large desktop audiences impact ‘mobile firstness’. It can be easy to assume the shift of digital time to mobile has significantly shrunk the desktop marketplace, but from an audience point of view [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]desktop audiences remain larger, with corresponding considerations in reaching and marketing to these users.[/inlinetweet]
The data from Comscore begs to ask the question “What does it all mean?’. Here are my thoughts..
1ne: People are using their smartphones during idle times, when they are bored.
2wo: Apps represent 80% of online smartphone time. If you don’t have an app or can’t reach your audience via an app the numbers don’t make sense.
3hree: Local service based businesses still need to consider mobile as a primary platform, especially if you’re driving to drive retail traffic to your store.
5ive: Don’t ignore desktops! This is especially true when it comes to eCommerce.
So why aren’t people using their smartphones like their desktops? A lot of reasons, but primarily it’s slow speeds and a poor mobile experience. Apps can provide a better experience, especially when it comes to social media.
Smartphones are a device for communicating or watching videos to kill the time. Marketers would be wise to ask “where does our audience interact with us and under what conditions?” before investing heavily in mobile.
