As consumers, we love media. And as engagement shifts and mobile usage grows, we as marketers need to embrace the new ways to connect with customers and the calls driven as a result.
It’s not surprising that we spend over 12 hours each day engaging with online, print, broadcast, mobile, outdoor, or other platforms. That’s over half of our day exposed to media in one form or another! A recent study by eMarketer found that in the past four years alone our total daily time spent with media has increased 13.6%; however, each year sees less growth than the last. “Why?” do you ask: we only have so many hours in our day. As marketers we need to understand what media people are engaging with and when, and how we capitalize on it to drive leads.
Digital Has Bested TV in Time Spent Daily
2014 is the second consecutive year that U.S. adults have spent more time with digital media than with TV: nearly 11% more of their day, to be precise. While we’re still spending four and a half hours in front of our televisions, the prevalence of online video and the rapid adoption of smartphone and tablet devices are two key drivers of this shift to digital. It is more important than ever for you to manage your conversations – both the message you are delivering through online advertising, and the resulting leads you receive as incoming calls.
Mobile Is the Golden Ticket
Online traffic from mobile devices is set to surpass that of desktop, and we’re already spending a larger proportion of our day with mobile devices:
- The amount of time spent on mobile devices has grown 20% since 2010 (eMarketer)
- We spend less time online using our desktop and laptop devices, having decreased 4% in the past four years (eMarketer)
- The number of smartphone users will grow 134% to 220 million by 2018 (Pew Research)
Apps Power Mobile Usage
Mobile app usage has grown 52% over the past year (mobile web has grown 17%). The bulk of consumers’ time spent on mobile devices is driven by applications, and as time spent with mobile grows, so will the time people are spending on their mobile apps. In fact, apps are already powering a significant part of mobile growth. comScore found that:
- 88% of smartphone users actively engage with apps and spend 7 out of every 8 mobile minutes using apps
- Most used apps dominate: 42% of app time is spent with a user’s top app, and 3 out of 4 minutes with the top 4 apps
- Facebook is the most used app followed by YouTube, Google Play and Google Search (based on unique visitors)
What Mobile Means for Your Marketing
There’s no denying you need a marketing presence online, especially in the mobile arena. People are viewing content, consuming news, and performing searches on their mobile devices in ever-increasing numbers, essentially living their lives within their mobile phones. Businesses need to be in front of their customers’ faces and at their fingertips at all times. Marketers must also develop advertising with effective calls to action appropriate for the device on which they are viewed that drive quality leads to your business. For mobile, thanks to click-to-call, that means call us now. Having phone numbers prominently displayed on your mobile landing pages and mobile apps and in your search, social, and display ads is no longer a nice-to-have; it is a necessity.
And that means proving the value of your campaigns by tracking incoming calls is also essential. It enables you to optimize your marketing investments across all platforms and, more importantly, helps you understand the significance of mobile marketing and how to effectively reach and engage your customers on their mobile phones.
To learn more tips for generating leads from mobile marketing, you can download the white paper Marketing to Smartphone Users: New Mobile Strategies for Driving Sales Calls .
