On March 21, 2013, Darrin Clawson of www.engagemobile.com talked to the Kansas City chapter of the PRSA as part of the professional development series. Darrin spoke about “PR and the Mobile Space” – the following are the highlights.
Mobile: The Numbers are Staggering
Smartphone Market Penetration
Smartphones have an adoption rate in the United States faster than the internet and equal to the adoption rate of TV. After 8 years the adoption rate of smartphones is near 60%.
Tablet Growth Surpassing Smartphones in Terms of Internet Page Views
While smartphone growth is significant – tablet growth is even faster. More internet page views will happen on tablets than smartphones in 2013.
Mobile Accounts for 25% of Internet Traffic – Percentage has Doubled in Last Year
The use of mobile devices to access the internet has nearly doubled in the last year. By the 4th Quarter of 2012 nearly 25% of all internet page views took place via a mobile device.
Mobile Internet Will be Bigger than Desktop Internet in 2014
By 2014 there will be more mobile internet users than desktop users. Ignoring mobile devices is the equivalent to ignoring half of your audience.
Growth of Apples iOS Devices
The following graph looks at the growth of iPod, iPhone and iPad devices from launch until 10 quarters after launch. The iPod completely revolutionized the music industry and is represented by the small green area. iPhone adoption dwarfs iPod adoption and is represented by the red area. iPad adoption is almost triple that of iPhone with almost 100 million units sold in the first 10 quarters. Mobile is real and getting bigger.
Android Growth Faster Than iOS Growth
iPhone growth is big – Android is MUCH bigger. The red area in the graph below represents iPhone sales after 16 quarters from launch – the green is Android. A side note is that even though Android shipment are much more than iPhones – iPhones still represent more page view and app store sales by a wide margin.
Huge Upside
Last point on the growth of mobile – Even though growth has been dramatic, it is only going to get bigger. There are 1 billion smartphones in use right now – but there are 5 billion mobile phones in use – so there is tremendous upside. Note that this stat is worldwide. In the United States, roughly half of mobile phones are smartphones.
What is the Overall Impact of the Growth of the Mobile Market?
- Can’t Just be Thinking about Desktops – have to be thinking about mobile.
- Must think “Mobile First”
--"We understand that the new rule is mobile first. Mobile first in everything. Mobile first in
terms of applications. Mobile first in terms of the way people use things." - Eric Schmidt,
Google, Feb 2010 - You have the opportunity (and the obligation) to re-imagine your products and services in a Mobile First world!
- Can’t Just be Thinking about Desktops - Must Think Mobile First – All Devices
The Impact on PR Professionals
#1 – Your Consumers Are Mobile
- MUST meet you consumers whenever and wherever they are – and they are not always on their desktops
- You consumers are receiving information, writing, posting to social media, interacting, etc. – ALL VIA MOBILE – 24 x 7
- Use analytics to determine your real numbers and consumer usage
The image below shows St. Peter’s Square in Rome in 2005 vs. 2013 – Your clients are mobile so it is important that you be there with them.
#2 – Your Sites MUST be Mobile Optimized
- ?Mobile Search will drive people to your mobile web site - what their experience when they get there?
- Don’t just “fit” your content to the screen, think about user needs and objectives and appropriate call-to-action
- Email links must link to mobile friendly places
- Mobile friendly landing pages are key
#3 – Think Mobile First Regarding Communication
- ? Mobile optimized email
- Make sure all social media is mobile friendly
- Mobile Alerts and Push Notifications
- QR codes that go to mobile optimized sites
- Text Messaging
- Build your mobile “list” (or database)
- >95% read rate and > 80% within 1 hr
#4 - Use Print and Broadcast to Support Mobile
- Mobile is all about engagement – EMPOWER your audience to engage
- 80% of people are on a mobile device while watching TV
- Mention your shortcode (SMS/Text Messaging) in broadcast ads. Make mobile a key funnel for guiding people through your engagement process.
- Consider QR codes in your print materials or advertising, and make sure they link to mobile-friendly landing pages.
- Use App Store short URLs
#5 Apps May Be a Fit – But Not Always
- Marketing web sites must be mobile optimized
- Custom mobile web site with Mobile First design
- Responsive Design
- When is an app more appropriate?
- Complexity – communication vs. interaction
- Device context – camera, accelerometer, location, etc...
- App Store – distribution, deployment, and merchant processing
- Performance and user experience
- Offline or disconnected need
Developing a Mobile Strategy
The following is the process Engage Mobile uses when work with clients.
1) GOALS: Determine Goals
2) USER ENGAGEMENT: Determine User Behavior Required to Achieve Goals
3) FUNCTIONALITY: Determine Functionality Required to Achieve User Behavior
4) SIMPLIFY: Reduce Functionality – Simplicity is hard!
5) AGILE APPROACH: Develop, Test, and Iterate Quickly
6) MARKETING AND PROMOTION: Without a Plan the Campaign/Product is Doomed
7) ANALYTICS: Must Track User Behavior
Summary
While the growth of smartphones and tablets have been significant – the future will be even bigger. It is important to be thinking about how your consumers will be interacting with mobile devices and you need to be thinking mobile first regarding how you deal with your consumers going forward.
About Darrin Clawson of Engage Mobile (www.engagemobile.com)
Darrin started working with mobile strategy and deployment more than 12 years ago – long before the first smart phone. He was responsible for launching the initial mobile strategy and development at Cerner, a billion-dollar medical software company, in the early 2000’s and have been on the cutting edge of mobile technology ever since. His real-world experiences of working with all major mobile operating systems and platforms provide a unique perspective on the current state and future of mobile technology.
About Engage Mobile Solutions
We help companies leverage mobile technology and marketing to drive profitability through increasing revenue, decreasing cost and managing risk.
At Engage Mobile work with companies that feel they have an opportunity to drive their business with mobile but are not sure how to do it. We help them develop a mobile strategy – an actual roadmap. We have three major areas of focus:
- Mobile Strategy
- Mobile Development / App Development
- Mobile Marketing
You can check us out at www.engagemobile.com.
Learn about our Kansas City attitude: http://www.engagemobile.com/kansas-city-mobile-attitude/
