The Smart Mobile Transformation - Matthew Yorke-IDG

The popularity of cellphones is well known but the speed at which smartphones have overtaken traditional mobile phones is remarkable. That transformation is brought into focus in research by IDG Global Solutions (IGS). In a worldwide survey of more than 21,000 IT, business, and consumer users, IGS found that 77% use a smartphone for business and/or personal use. The smartphone is also replacing single use devices.

When you board a flight or look around a meeting room, you can see what appears to be a completed transformation but we have just begun with approximately 110 million smartphones in the US! In early September, three BIG launches introduced different smartphone platforms that will further stoke interest. Let's not forget tablet users today drive 25% of all mobile Internet activity. Forrester estimates that there will be 760 million tablets in circulation by 2016

If Internet access began to blur the lines between office and home the past decade, the smartphone has erased those lines. In a poll in the spring 2012 of visitors to 124 IDG technology-related media sites worldwide, more respondents said they were likely to access tech information after business hours (57%) than during the work day (42%). In fact, product reviews (56%) and job related videos (45%) were watched more on handhelds than movies (44%).

There's a shift from B2B use during working hours to work conducted at all hours: The hyper-connected audience. Publishers and marketers need to think about how their content renders on mobile devices, and how to leverage the built-in functionalities for a superior user experience that can drive increased ROI. Consider this prediction, IDC estimates that by 2015 90% of all Internet access will be from a mobile device! Be prepared for mobile apps and websites to generate more traffic, user loyalty, and revenue than traditional websites.

Mobile Momentum Not Matched by Marketing Spend

The reliance on smartphones and tablets happened so quickly that marketers have not responded. Last year, eMarketer estimated that mobile spend was 1% of all marketing programs yet users spent about 10% of their time per day on mobile devices. Consider that mobile CTRs range from .42% -1.41%, much higher CTRs than standard banners, and it's clear that something has to give. Consider, in 1995 there were six million online users worldwide and roughly $55 million in revenue, in 2011 those numbers have exploded to 1.5 billion users and $73 billion in revenue. That old adage still applies, money follows eyeballs.

Fair Exchange Limited

For marketers, exchanging content for a person's contact details is critical. It's a mixed story based in the IGS survey. In Western Europe, smartphone and tablet users (40%) said they were most likely to provide information about themselves compared to North America (22%).More than three-quarters said an email address is all they would provide while 23% would give business card information. Visitor data is fuel for B2B publishers and marketers who depend on lead generation as a vital prospecting tool.

The Full Report

Check out the 15 page report on the survey findings and related infographics at http://bit.ly/NqHdVI

Matthew Yorke is president, IDG Global Solutions (IGS), and is responsible for a sales organization that serves IDG's largest technology vendor customers worldwide. Matt can be reached at matthew_yorke@idg.com.

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