Is "smartphone-dependent" the new norm?

As smartphones take the foothold of the mobile phone marketplace in the United States, a term has surfaced to describe those individuals who primarily utilize a smartphone to have access to the internet. These people are called “smartphone-dependent.” The Center for Media Research released details from a series of surveys orchestrated by Pew Research Center and Jon S. and James L. Knight Foundation about such mobile users.

Of the American smartphone owner population, the following statistics can be extracted:

·        10% of users do not have broadband internet in the home

·        7% of owners do not have broadband available in the home and do not have easy access to internet services on anything other than a smartphone

·        15% of smartphone users between the ages of 18 and 29 are deemed “smartphone-dependent”

·        About 13% of people who have an annual household income lower than $30,000 are “smartphone-dependent”

·        1% of people who have an annual household income above $75,000 are also “smartphone-dependent”

·        Demographic breakdown of the dependent population:

o   12% African Americans

o   13% Latinos

o   4% Caucasian

As more people utilize mobile phones as his/her internet access point, it will be necessary for advertisers to keep that into consideration when creating campaigns.

Which age bracket boasts the biggest user share of Snapchat?

It’s easy for marketers to assume that young adults are well-established with social media. While research may back that up, which social media is touting the highest share of 18 – 24 year-olds in the US? eMarketer recently reported on comScore Media Metrix research, which broke down the traffic by age group.

American 18 – 24 year-old internet users have the following share percentages on these social media platforms:

·        45% Snapchat

·        28% Tumblr

·        28% Vine

·        23% Instagram

·        19% Twitter

·        16% Google+

·        16% Facebook

·        15% Pinterest

·        14% LinkedIn

With social vendors like Facebook and Google+, the share among the different age brackets was a little more even. Snapchat, Tumblr and Vine were the only media vendors that exceeded 50% share when combining the 18 - 24 and 25 - 34 age brackets together.

Overall, young adults are heavily involved in social media. As it was predicated when Facebook came out after MySpace, the younger generation tends to flock towards the newer platforms instead of established brands. 

How many households do not have landlines?

New research reports that US households without landlines are growing steadily. The Center for Media Research recapped the findings from GfK Mediamark Research’s recent interviews with US adults.

Approximately 44% of adults in the United States do not have landline telephones in the household but do have cell phones. By comparison, there were only 26% of households in 2010 that only had cell phones. That is a growth of about 70% over the last few years.

The research further broke down the percentages of cell-phone-only households by age groups.

·        64% of Millennials

·        45% of Generation Xers

·        32% of Baby Boomers

·        13% of Pre-Boomers

Overall, about 93% of all adults in the US have cell phones according to recent accounts. Time will tell in how the cell-phone-only households’ growth will trend.

Planning sessions with the client

Is it better to run a :30 radio spot instead of a :60? How about a :15 TV spot vs. a :30? Should we launch the digital with the print? These are just a few questions that advertisers and media buyers/planners discuss during a planning session. Such sessions are important so that the client and the agency can relay important factors to each other and craft a media plan in which both parties are confident.

Ideally, a meeting or phone conference should start the brain storming process with the bare bones information. Namely, a buyer needs to know the geographic target area, the ideal customer/consumer that the client would like to reach, a time frame for the campaign (Is there a specific date or event that the media needs to push?), what are the budget constraints, what are the expected Key Performance Indicators (KPI), and what creative is available to use. Once those data points are established, it is up to the planner to put together a schedule that can efficiently reach the target audience and maximize the Return On Investment (ROI) for the client.

Once the first draft of the plan is created, it is sent to the client with the intent to talk through it and the thought process behind the media used, flight weeks planned, and level of approach (baseline, moderate and aggressive).

Typically, another round or two of revisions are required until both sides are pleased with the game plan. A key in keeping this process moving is open communication with the client and remembering to keep your ego at the door. A plan should be flexible to change and so should the buyer/planner.