Media consumption for Millennial men

Nielsen recently released new research on spending habits of American consumers namely focusing on Millennial men. It reports that in addition to being the most diverse generation racially in U.S. history, the consumer group varies in media consumption by ethnicity.

Center for Media Research explains that African-American men within the Millennial age group spend more time watching traditional television vs. the Millennial men group as a whole. On average, African-American Millennials watch about 33 hours a week with traditional TV and 3 hours a week of video online. Compare this to the fact that Millennial men spend approximately 20 hours a week watching TV and 2 hours 15 minutes watching videos on the Internet. Hispanic Millennial men tend to watch less traditional television and online video at 19 hours and less than 2 hours respectively. The study reports that Asian-American Millennial men spend about 4 hours a week watching videos online, which is more than any other. However, this group tends to watch the least amount of traditional TV at 11.5 hours a week.

It is reported that about 88% of all men in this age group listen to the radio each week for about 11 hours and 42 minutes. This amount of radio consumption is more than the Millennial female counterpart at 10 hours and 46 minutes.

What advertisers need to glean from this is your target audience may have different media consumption habits from others within the same age group. It is the advertiser’s responsibility to evaluate each tier within the target audience and determine which media will be most effective.

Where should you start if you have an advertising client in a new market?

Where should you start if you have an advertising client in a new market? As a media buyer and planner, getting familiar with a new market fast is key in evaluating and putting together advertising recommendations for clients.

One of the first places that we like to start is pulling out a map and literally looking at the market area that advertising dollars will need to cover. Once the areas main highways or thoroughfares are located as are surrounding cities, it is time to start pulling research information.

We will need to check to see if the new market is measured in what is called a Designated Market Area or DMA. If it is measured, it will make collecting data much easier. At that time, we will pull radio information that includes format, dial position, company contact information, demographic breakdown, market coverage, etc. We will pull the same for television.

The next few steps are figuring out what vendors are in the market like outdoor companies, theaters, newspapers, local magazines, cable providers.

Once the vendors are established, it is time to start carving out a plan by obtaining media kits, researching cable coverage, figuring out target demographics, pulling cost per point for broadcast, evaluating inventory from online vendors, etc. 

What digital ad size should you use for a campaign?

There are a lot of different kinds of online display ads available for advertisers. One of the most common questions we get is what is the best size to run? It really depends on the campaign, the objective, and the measurability. Are you tracking success as clicks? Viewability? Conversions? A new report discusses the ad sizes that tend to have the highest in-view rates.

The research comes from Moat Analytics and reports that the following are the ad sizes ranked as far as in-view rates for desktop computers.

·        65.8%: 970x250

·        62.1%: 300x600

·        55.0%: 160x600

·        52.6%: 300x250

·        49.5%: 728x90

Breaking this down, it’s not surprising that larger ads tend to have the highest viewability on site. These ad sizes tend to be set in positions above the fold on websites.

Also, eMarketer reports that the longer ads typically have longer viewing time. Meaning ads like 300x600 and 160x600 are viewed approximately for 21 seconds vs. the wider ads like 970x250 and 728x90 that are viewed from 16 – 17 seconds. Again, this is not surprising because a user may scroll down a page to read content, and the longer ads can still be seen on the screen.

When looking at the mobile ad display units, 320x50 has the best in-view rate of 64.6% and the 160x600 ad size has the best time viewed with 18.6 seconds.

Overall, our recommendation is to run multiple ad sizes for your campaign. As the campaign matures, look to see which ads are getting you the best results. Once you have established what results you are looking for, you can optimize and funnel more impressions towards the better performing sizes. Additionally, for the ads not performing as well, pause or remove them.  

Should companies move customer service to social media?

If you have a question for a company, what’s your first choice for reaching out for customer service? New research shows that while some companies have been emphasizing reachability through social media, most consumers don’t seek help from there.

eMarketer reports on the findings from American Express’ study “2014 Global Customer Service Barometer” which was conducted by ebiquity. According to this, 53% of internet users will use social media to praise a company for a great customer service experience. About the same amount of people 50% will reach out socially to talk negatively about a service situation. The next highest response was sharing information about personal customer experience at 46%. Coming in fourth place at 40% was reaching out to a company for help in regards to a service issue.

Research shows that people prefer to go to a company’s website or email when making a simple customer service inquiry. The next method preferred is speaking to real person on the phone. If dealing with a difficult question, people prefer an actual person on the phone the majority of the time. A close second is speaking with a person face-to-face. Reaching out to a company via social media was the least preferred choice for both the simple and difficult issues.

In summary, the report suggests that companies should utilize social media to reach out to consumers to continue brand awareness, and manage public relation situations and not be the primary means of customer service.

Print inserts still sought out by consumers

Print is not dead. While many people, consumers and advertisers alike, believe that print is dying, I disagree. It is true that with the addition of digital media, there are so many platforms to choose from when putting together an advertising plan. Sometimes, other media forms have to be cut in the process. Just like every type of media, print has an audience.

One of the unique qualities that print offers and consumers seek out is inserts. eMarketer recently reported on research conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates on behalf of the Newspaper Association of America. The purpose of the study was to see how Americans shopped and spent money in 2014.

Of those surveyed who have used inserts, 70% sought it out to check on special savings or what sales are being run. Another 48% reported that it was easier to review printed inserts than search online for the same information.

The study further broke down which sources were used to find coupons.

·        61% used Sunday newspaper inserts or circulars

·        58% used direct mail advertising

·        46% used weekday newspaper inserts or circulars

·        45% went online to download and print off coupons

·        39% downloaded coupons on a handheld device that could be scanned at the store

·        36% used online coupons to buy something online

·        32% used ads from the regular sections of the newspaper

·        25% used coupons from magazines

When should you not advertise?

Is there ever a time where an advertising agency may suggest to an advertiser to go dark and not run a campaign? Depending who you talk to, the answer may be an emphatic “no” or a conditional “yes.”

In my opinion, it depends on the client. An argument could be made that non-retailer advertisers may steer clear of advertising during heavy retail holiday times like Memorial Day, 4^th of July, Labor Day, and Black Friday. These and other dates have national advertisers who have access to big budgets to have high frequency and high impact campaigns, which is great. However, for non-retail, local advertisers who have a smaller budget, your message may get lost in the shuffle.

Another situation in which an advertiser may lighten up a campaign is customer behavior. An example may be a retirement facility that doesn’t heavily advertise in May because families are focused on graduations and finishing up the school year. However, that same facility may heavy-up schedules in January when families realize that relatives may need to start looking for living alternatives.

Overall, advertising your product or service is a 24/7, year-round job. However, there are times where a schedule may be pulled back strategically in order to use a budget wisely. It really comes down to knowing your audience and understanding your advertising environment.

Quick cheat sheet of digital media buzz words

There are a lot of new buzz words floating around the digital media landscape. Half the time I know what people are saying, “optimize”, and other times, not so much, “sticky.” Below is a little lingo tutorial to help decode what digital people are saying.

KPI:  Key Performance Indicator is a type of performance measurement. It evaluates the success of a particular activity in which it engages.

Native Advertising: Much like a print advertorial, this is an ad that is made to look like a part of the website. It may be a sponsor of a popular section of a website or an actual editorial piece on a designated page. These ads will be marked as advertising.

Optimization: This is a fancy way of saying that changes were made to a campaign to make it better. For example, changing up keywords, demographics, geographic targets, and/or creative.

Programmatic Advertising: This is a software program that is used to purchase digital advertising rather than working with vendors.

Stickiness: This is the amount of time spent on a website over a certain amount of time.

These are just a few of the many digital terms in use today. In general, buzz words tend to fall into the categories of Return on Investment measurement (success), the process in which ads are served (ad format), the method in which ads are purchased (vendors), and the manner in which ads are maintained (back-end reporting and managing).

If in doubt, use the word “optimize” as it tends to work in a lot of digital advertising conversations.

What consumers think of email marketing

One highly targetable method for advertisers to reach consumers is email marketing. The question, however, is how do consumers feel about receiving email blasts?

The Center for Media Research reported on a new research study titled, “Take Advantage of Positive Email Attitudes,” by Forrester Research. MarketingCharts helped to summarize the findings. Approximately 33,500 online users were polled.

Here are some highlights:

·        42% deleted most email advertising prior to reading (This was down from 59% in 2010 and 44% in 2012.)

·        39% felt that he/she received too many email promotions and offers

·        37% sought to unsubscribe from unsolicited email lists

·        29% wanted to know how advertisers got ahold of the email addresses

·        24% reported that email advertising was a good way to be informed of new products and promotions

What advertisers should take away from this study is to make your product as relevant as possible to your consumer. Buying a list of unsolicited addresses may not help perceptions and too many emails per week may tire your audience.

Youth tablet and mobile phone usage

Generally speaking, there are many devices that a consumer can utilize to access media. In the digital realm, there tends to be three major players: mobile phone, desktop/laptop computer, and tablet. New research dissects the user age demographics of mobile phones and tablets.

In the study, “The Mobile Device Path to Purchase: Parents & Children,” conducted by Communicus, there was a breakdown on media usage between the age groups preschoolers 2-5, kids 6-9, tweens 10-12, and teenagers 13-17. eMarketer reports the general findings:

Preschoolers 2-5:

·        37% of those surveyed use a mobile phone

·        71% use a tablet

Kids 6-9:

·        47% of those surveyed use a mobile phone

·        83% use a tablet

Tweens 10-12:

·        71% of those surveyed use a mobile phone

·        80% use a tablet

Teenagers 13-17:

·        94% of those surveyed use a mobile phone

·        65% use a tablet

Important to note is the shift between mobile phone and tablet usage and age. As kids grow into teenagers, tablet usage decreases while mobile phone increases. Kids between the ages of 6 and 9 tend to use the tablet the most.

Americans think certain topics get too much news coverage

The definition of news coverage varies depending on who you are asking. According to a new survey conducted by Harris Poll, some Americans think certain topics of news have been over exposed while others are lacking.

MediaPost reports that those polled felt that news had too much emphasis on entertainment, professional spectator sports, politics and superficial and sensational stories. In fact, about 76% stated celebrity gossip and scandals took up too much coverage in news reports.

In the same poll, people thought humanitarian issues, education, science, government corruption, health, global humanitarian issues, etc. received too little attention in the news.

Interesting to note is that Harris found that the audience had similar degrees of agreement to news coverage when looking at age generations. Meaning, people within the same age generation had similar attitudes towards certain news coverage. An example being that about 88% of older generations reported that celebrity gossip had too much coverage, 79% of baby boomers were in agreement, followed by 76% of Gen Xers, and 68% of millennials. 

New research studies evaluate online offers and what consumers prefer

Retailers could find it beneficial to sales if special offers are given to consumers. However, the kind of offer is important to the customer which may translate to more revenue for advertisers.

eMarketer reported on two studies conducted in regards to which special offers online consumers prefer. A poll produced by Retention Science asked which the most effective online customer incentive was for retailers. Results showed that close to a third of responders liked percentage discounts like a 20% off coupon. Immediately following was free or discounted shipping at almost 22%. The third top offer was a certain amount discount like a $15 off coupon.

The second study, which was done by Flagship Research for BlueHornet, looked to see if the age demographic affects how customers react to an advertiser offer. It appears that research supports that younger adults 18-45 prefer discount offers over free shipping options. In contrast, older adults 46-75 enjoy free shipping over discount coupons.

What advertisers need to take away from these two studies is that the consumer finds value in a “good deal.” So, know your target audience. This will help optimize selling your product or service to your customer. 

How Millennial Moms research and make purchases with digital devices

American consumers have a lot of choices on how to access the internet these days with desktops, mobile phones, and tablets. A new study focused on how Millennial Moms, women who are between the ages 18-34 and have at least one child, navigate their digital devices in regards to research and purchasing. For the study’s purposes, it focused on the four categories: retail, consumer electronics, consumer goods, and automotive.

MediaPost reports that the new study was conducted by Millennial Media and commissioned by the agency Ansible.

Details released include that roughly 30% of responders stated that smartphones were used in the “inspiration” and research phases of shopping. Twenty one percent used smartphones to make a purchase.

Looking at tablets, 25% used the device for research, and 18% used it for purchasing.

PCs seem to get the biggest research time when the consumer is looking for a high consideration purchase, like a car. A bigger screen and other available shopping tools give desktops the advantage.

It is suggested that advertisers focus on the context that each screen reaches the Millennial Mom. Meaning, if that consumer is using a certain device at home, at work, or in a store, it’s important to make the advertising messages relevant to each location and device.

What a media planner/buyer's "To Do" list looks like during 4th Quarter

As media buyers and planners enter 4^th quarter, a few items pop-up on “To Do” lists:

·        Reconcile all outstanding credits, invoice issues, payment issues to make the accounting department happy.

·        Settle all makegoods, missed spots, and odd trafficking problems before the fiscal year ends.

·        Verify all reporting has been done, checked and verified. Any anomalies need to be addressed ASAP.

·        Compare the planning budgets from last year to what actually ran this year. Use this as a starting off point to planning budgets for next year.

·        Reach out to the client to see how this year has been performing.

o   Discuss high and low points of the year.

o   Look for correlation between media and high and low points to discern how best to adjust the plan for next year.

o   Investigate any new opportunities that may work for future campaigns.

o   Evaluate current media partners and determine if it still beneficial to include them into the pending media plan.

·        Get back to the cubicle ASAP and start constructing budget options for the client and sending out RFPs to vendors.

·        Get RFPs back and convert into an agency approved proposal and send to the client.

·        Wait.

·        Wait.

·        Revise the proposal per client recommendations.

·        Wait.

·        Approval- MUST BOOK AND BILL EVERYTHING ASAP. Be sure to tell accounting staff that they are Rock Stars. They are and should be reminded of that from time to time.

·        Send out orders and confirm.

·        Update all flowcharts accordingly.

·        Check billing and approve it to be sent out.

·        Set up reminders to remind client for creative.

·        Send out traffic and ads. Confirm.

·        Set up reminders to get online summary reports, makegood requests, pull posts, etc. Pray your hard drive doesn’t crash because your brain can’t hold anymore reminder dates.

·        Cross of everything on your “To Do” list.

·        Get a call from the client and/or vendor.

·        Revisions needed.

·        Set up a new “To Do” list.

While this is not the full and thorough list, it covers the basics of a buyer/planner’s job during this time of the year.

Some people may read this and think, “Who cares?” First of all, thanks for reading up to this point. Secondly, most may not care, and that’s ok. Really, this is to provide a little insight in a buyer/planner’s internal monologue during this time of year. Believe it or not, we love this timeframe because it’s a chance to dig in and start a new campaign. Bring it on 4^th quarter!

US internet users weigh in on how they make purchases digitally

While digital purchasing can be the preferred payment method by the consumer on goods and services, it is wrong to state that consumers choose to buy all categories in that manner. eMarketer reports the results of a June 2014 study performed by Harris Interactive.

Not surprisingly, US internet users used a digital device of some kind (desktop, laptop, smartphone, or tablet) to purchase clothing 69% of the time. The remaining 31% had never purchased a clothing item online. 

Some of the categories that had internet users prefer a brick-and-mortar experience over a digital one were cosmetics and personal grooming, prescription medications, specialty food and beverages, over-the-counter medications, and general food purchases. Cosmetics and personal grooming was the only one among these groups that saw digital purchases reach past 30% at 35%.

A few categories had close to an even split between consumers who have purchased items online and those who never have. Those include accessories, personal electronics, and household electronics.

As marketers work to reach a target audience, it can be crucial to know how a product or service is purchased by a consumer.

More magazines launch vs. close in first half of 2014

According to the online database MediaFinder.com, the first half of 2014 welcomed approximately 93 new magazines in the media landscape. By comparison, 30 magazine titles closed during that time frame.

MediaPost reports that the biggest magazine category that launched was classified as “regional interest.” In addition, of the 93 new titles, approximately 15 of those were business-to-business geared magazines.

Of the publications that closed between January and June of this year, 13 of them were automotive enthusiast niche titles. Two noteworthy magazines ceased publication this year. The first being Jet and it will now just be an annual special print edition. Also, the long-running title Ladies’ Home Journal shut down the monthly print magazine. Instead, it is transitioning to a newsstand-only quarterly publication.

Overall, the total ad pages purchased have seen a 4% decline from 2013. First quarter of 2013 sold about 29,745 pages, and the same time period in 2014 showed 28,567 ad pages.

Electronic devices top lists for back-to-school shopping

With the passing of Labor Day, the swimming pools close down, and the schools start up for another year. Parents and students alike need to shop in order to prepare for a new term. Recent research shows that 2014 is anticipating a 5% increase in overall back-to-school shopping.

According to eMarketer, research conducted by ebiquity on behalf of American Express reports that electronic devices are the most expensive item on the shopping list. Below is a list that shows the average back-to-school spending for the last few years according to US Parent Internet users.

Category	2012	2013	2014
Electronic Devices			$529
Textbooks	$209	$193	$270
Clothing and Accessories	$241	$236	$265
Shoes	$102	$111	$129
Outerwear/Jackets	$97	$114	$114
Schools	$79	$102	$109

Interesting to note is that clothing and accessories had the most expensive category up until 2014 when electronic devices and textbooks usurped it.

Another report from PunchTab notes that mothers used smartphones to aid in shopping this year. About 48% of mothers surveyed planned to use smartphones to look for coupons or sales. The next reason at 30% is to compare store prices with other vendors. Approximately 37% of those surveyed do not plan to use a smartphone while shopping for supplies.

New study explains consumer opinion for out of home advertising

For advertisers, it can become challenging to keep track of consumer behavior research. Fortunately, the abundance of information is meant to help steer campaigns towards an engaged audience. A recent study performed by Future Foundation titled, Always On: Out of Home Lives 2014, breaks down how the public views out of home (OOH) advertising.

The Outdoor Advertising Association of America reported on key findings from the study. Research was conducted interviewing 6,000 respondents across six large, urban cities world-wide. 

Top highlights include:

·        A reported 59% said that OOH digital advertising would be relevant and interesting if it portrayed information that was localized and beneficial at a certain time of day or location. Examples are concerts, events, or discounts to local stores.

·        Approximately 72% of the 18-34s surveyed have viewed a billboard and taken some kind of action as a direct result.

·        About 35% reportedly selected OOH advertisements as the most memorable. Television was the primary memorable vehicle at 46%.

While this was a world-wide survey and not exactly representative of the whole American media landscape, it can give advertisers tips to re-work outdoor initiatives. 

Blogs evolve to keep readers engaged

Blogs have been around for a while now. The competition has become more intense which makes bloggers work to keep audiences engaged. In a recent eMarketer post, research conducted by Orbit Media Studios shows that almost 75% of bloggers now use at least one image in their posts. Images may include stock photos, diagrams, infographics, and/or charts.

Orbit Media Studios reported that although video and audio components are included in blogs, they are not as common as an image. About 15% of bloggers use video and less than 3% use audio.

When it comes to the promotion of blogs, nearly all US bloggers use social media. In fact, it’s estimated that about 94% of bloggers use social media. Other means of promotion include search engine optimization, email marketing, influencer outreach, paid services, etc. However, there is a small portion, less than 5%, who pay to promote posts.

Graphics go closely in line with the social aspect of blogging. Information recently released by TrackMaven reveals that between May 2013 and May 2014, 88% of brand post shares on Facebook worldwide that contained an image had an average post interaction of 2.35. This can be compared to the 12% without photos had an average post interaction of only 1.71. 

Consumers have higher time spent on mobile apps vs. mobile browsers

Over the last year, researchers have chronicled consumers’ mobile use. Smartphone and tablet owners are continuing to use downloaded apps more often than browsers and those numbers are predicted to increase. For advertisers, this means that shifting focus to advertising within the apps is important in order to keep up with the digital world.

eMarketer reports on research conducted by Nielsen in fourth quarter 2013.  Smartphone users in the United States are spending 65% more time on mobile apps than they were two years ago.  However, the amount of apps the smartphone owners had only increased from 23 to 27 in the last two years.  This indicates that users are increasing their time spent on mobile apps that they had already downloaded vs. accruing more.

Other research by comScore Media Metrix Multi-Platform proved that smartphone apps had the majority of time used with leading US digital media properties because of efficiency and mobile optimization. Media properties such as, Apple and Facebook, were mainly accessed through apps with 99% and 94%.  However, media properties such as Wikimedia Foundation sites and Glam Media were predominately accessed through their browsers with 88% and 84%.

Television is still prime media choice for US' youth

With all of the hype surrounding new technology and how the younger generations adapt earlier, it can lead to the question, what happens to the older technology? The simple answer is it is still there. eMarketer recently reported on a few studies that researched how younger audiences still consume television in spite of other newer digital options.

While the exact amounts of television consumption across younger age ranges differ amongst the research studies, each come to relatively the same conclusion. That is, television is still the primary media consumed by children. One study by Nielsen found that kids, between the ages of 2 and 11, watched approximately 111 hours and 10 minutes per month of “traditional” TV. These kids also spent another 10 hours and 45 minutes watching timeshifted television. In regards to content viewed on a DVD or Blu-ray player, children watched about 9 hours and 18 minutes per month. Another report by Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop put 8 to 10 year-olds as watching 1 hour and 24 minutes of TV per day. This information was according to the children’s parents.

With the introduction of streaming sites like Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, or Amazon, kids have more access to on-demand programming. While the adult counterparts have been accused of “binge viewing” TV and movie content, the term “déjà view” has become a moniker for younger audiences. This term describes the habits of repeatedly watching the same episode or movie many times. If you have kids, how many times have you seen Frozen?

Younger American audiences are watching TV. While researchers may argue the exact amounts, the fact remains that television consumption is still high with the younger audiences.

New report shows how college kids spend income

While most post-college grads have some woeful story about being a poor, broke college kid, it may not be the case today. In a recent poll conducted by Shweiki Media and Study Breaks, it showed that nearly all college students spend money at a restaurant at least once a month.

eMarketer reported on the study’s findings and released information on other products/services college students spend their money on:

·        99% of those surveyed spend money at restaurants

·        87% spend on travel

·        76% spend on beauty

·        70% spend on bars

·        70% spend on fashion

·        60% spend on electronics

·        59% spend on live music

·        57% spend on media

·        38% spend on fitness (This refers to off-campus gyms.)

Unsurprisingly, the students’ parents were reported as the main source of income. This was the largest group of responders at 45%. In contrast, about 40% list primary income as the product of working, and another 15% rely heavily on student loans to succeed financially. 

Core radio listeners and digital media

Digital media has changed the landscape for advertisers over the last few years. While some media feared that digital meant the death of traditional forms, it really has not been substantiated. With the case of terrestrial radio, it’s allowed the medium to reach the core audience in more ways.

The Center for Media Research recently summarized the findings of a Jacobs Media study about core radio listeners. Some of the facts to note were:

The digital breakdown of a core radio listener

·        75% of those surveyed own a smartphone

·        51% have a tablet

·        55% stream audio at least once a week

·        67% watch online video content during the week

·        95% listen to traditional, broadcast radio per day

·        17% of broadcast radio listening occurs on digital platforms like computer or mobile streams, etc.

Another fact reported was that 30% of respondents favored radio stations that interacted with them. In fact, they would listen more. Interaction may include sharing online content through social media, the station’s website, email blasts, etc.

In addition, broadcast radio still holds the majority at 51% as the go-to source for new music. The report suggests that listeners feel that radio stations can be trusted.

The takeaway is that core radio listenership may dip at some point, but if the radio station can broaden its reach with the incorporation of digital media, the audience will continue to be loyal.

Social Habits of 2014 High School Grads

Marketers are constantly tracking the demographics for social media in terms of the younger and upcoming generations. It is evident that social media can take many forms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, etc., but Facebook continues to hold the lead in the realm of popularity. According to eMarketer, nearly nine in 10 of every 2014 US high school graduate have remained active on Facebook since graduating.

Research conducted by Niche shows that 87% of 2014 US high school graduates use Facebook, and 68% of the same demographic are active on Instagram. Forty-seven percent of Facebook users access their account multiple times a day, while a close 43% of Instagram users do the same.

Experts do mention a shift in terms of age of the high school generation. According to McAfee, 58% of social network users ages 13 to 15 use social media during school, compared to the 75% of users ages 16 to 18. As far as gender is concerned, the users are nearly equal, with 52% of males and 54% of females active on social media during school hours.

In terms of searching and browser history, two-thirds of 2014 US high school grads report closing or minimizing a window when a parent walked in the room, and 67% of these older teens clear their browser history.

Hispanic Gen Xers have highest rate of tablet usage

Recent studies indicate that US Hispanics possess more smartphones and tablets than the rest of the general population. With this, it is evident that they are popular users of mobile technology. Amid the US Hispanic demographic, it is the Gen Xers who lead in the realm of daily tablet usage.

Research, produced by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and reported by eMarketer, displays that approximately 64% of the US Hispanic population between the ages of 35 and 49 use a tablet daily followed by 57% of 50 to 59-year-olds. The PwC survey concluded that 53% of Hispanic mobile users own a tablet. In comparison, 51% of non-Hispanics own the device.

In terms of the demographic shift regarding Hispanic millennial consumers, only 36% of Hispanics between the ages of 18 and 24 used a tablet every day. The older age groups have a surprisingly higher usage rate of around 50%, which supports the statement that Hispanic Gen Xers lead in daily tablet usage amongst both Hispanic and Non-Hispanic groups.

Local search among smartphone users

Consumers, continually on the move, are typically using search engines to gather local information. In fact, a recent poll by Google shows that four in five of those seeking information use a search engine on a smartphone, computer or tablet.

Research demonstrates that the majority of users of smartphones typically seek out business hours, directions to a local store, local store address, and availability of a product. Although these smartphone users were more likely to search for local information at home as opposed to on-the-go, the difference in numbers was only slight. Fifty-three percent of those in the study searched while at home, and the other 47% were out and about.

In terms of actually following through from the search stage to a final sale, eMarketer reports that 18% of local searches via a smartphone led to a purchase, while only 7% of nonlocal searches led to a purchase.

When determining the effect these results will have on advertisers, the research company BIA/Kelsey estimates that US local media advertisement spending will be raised by 8.4% in 2014, from $50.2 billion in 2013 to $54.4 billion in 2014.

The demographic breakdown of Instagram users

Marketers are forever trying to get a handle on user demographics for social media. Whether it’s Facebook, snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, MySpace, etc., advertisers want to know where its target audience spends free time. According to eMarketer, Instagram’s main audience is millennials and Gen Xers.

Research shows that Instagram had about 35 million people access the website once a month in the US alone in 2013. It’s projected that 2014 will see about 40.5 million people per month access the site. Approximately 25% of all smartphone users, on a monthly basis, will participate on Instagram.

As far as age ranges go, approximately 67% of US Instagram users will be between the ages of 18 – 44 in 2014. Last year, that number was slightly higher at 69%.

Experts do mention that a demographic shift is developing in regards to gender. As the site began to gain in popularity, a majority of users were female. In fact, estimates for 2012 users were that two-thirds of users were women. While still the majority, it is estimated that by 2016 males will have 45% membership with females at 55%.

TV platform where more ads are seen

If given the opportunity to watch television on Video-On-Demand, on a DVR, or live, on which method would you tend to watch more TV commercials? If you ask Nielsen, you will find that Video-On-Demand viewers tend to watch more commercials.

MediaPost reports that TV viewers who watch a 30 minute program actually see different amounts depending on the TV platform used.

·        Video-On-Demand: An average of 28 minutes of programming and commercials are viewed by the audience.

·        DVR: An average of 23 minutes is viewed.

·        Live TV: Only about 20 minutes of the program and commercials are viewed.

These averages are not surprising if you apply it to your own TV usage habits. If you watch live television, is it possible that you get up during commercial breaks to do something else? If you have a DVR, is it possible that you fast forward through the commercials or parts of the program you are not interested in watching? Or, do you ever rewind the DVR footage to watch a commercial that caught your attention? If you use Video-On-Demand, you may notice that the fast forward function is not enabled and commercials will run. However, the commercial break may not be as long as live TV.

At any rate, while there are multiple methods in which to watch TV, it still can be said that an audience can be exposed to commercials.