How Are Smartphones Being Used? [Infographic]
November 12, 2012 6:09 pm
A survey released earlier this year by RedC and the WIN Research Group revealed that smartphone penetration in Ireland grew from 35% in March 2011 to 49% in November 2011. The study also showed that this type of growth is set to continue in 2012 with 71% of the Irish population expecting to own a smartphone by the end of the year. So, how are smartphones being used and are there implications for mobile marketing and text marketing in particular?
It’s a well know fact in the mobile marketing community that Coca-Cola allocate their mobile marketing budget 70%-20%-10% between Text Messaging, the Mobile Web and Mobile Apps. That’s 70% of their gargantuan mobile marketing budget on text marketing? It’s never a good idea to question the marketing policy of the world’s most successful marketing department but the question has to be asked “Will the growth in smartphone usage kill text messaging and with it text marketing?”
Well the answer to that in short is a simple NO. Here’s why – text messaging is used on more smartphone devices than any other function. To see for yourself take a look at this great info graphic below from the text marketing company Tatango which details how are smartphones being used in the U.S. today. Despite all the fancy features, despite WhatsApp and Viber, the function that is used on the most smartphones is still text messaging.
Source: Tatango
It’s pretty staggering to think that text messaging is used on more smartphones that even browsing the web… what smartphones were originally designed for! So as we move into 2013 and the smartphone penetration in Ireland breaches the 70% mark it’s essential that business owners and marketers alike keep their mobile marketing focus directly on text. It’s the only way they can reach 100% of their customers.
If you don’t believe us as to how vitally important it is, here is what Coca-Cola have to say about it themselves:
“Text Messaging is the No.1 priority in Coca Cola. You need it to reach all your customers”
Gavin Mehrotra, Coca Cola Director, May 5th 2011
There is still obviously an important role to be played by mobile websites, smartphone apps and QR codes in the mobile marketing mix but text messaging is still king when it comes to how consumers use their phones and how marketers get ROI from their mobile marketing spend.
Image reference: Featured image
Categorised in: Mobile Text Message Marketing