The MobiLens study covers the share of the market by mobile OEM and the market share of the different makers of smartphones. The one significant change in these figures is a 4% increase in Google Android. The next three month period will include the impact of the iPhone’s new version, which came too late to be included in this set of figures. Overall, smartphone ownership increased 8.1% over the previous period.

Of the types of activities that can be done via mobile devices, the largest increase was in accessing social networking sites or blogs, at 20.8%, up 2.6% from the period ending in February. Using a browser was close behind, with a 2.3% increase, and using downloaded apps at 2.1%. More ordinary types of activities, such as sending text messages to another phone (1.4%), listening to music (1.2%), and playing games (0.7%) follow, with smaller rates of increase of use.

In all, not much earth-shattering is revealed by this set of figures, but they do show the continued steady increase in the use of smartphone features and capabilities. When one looks a little further back in time, it’s possible to see which capabilities are the ones whose use has grown fastest. Looking at results from the same study covering the three month period ended September 2009, here are the changes for each of the type of activity tracked (May 2010 figure vs. September 2009):

Sent text message to another phone – increase of 4.2%
Used browser – increase of 5.9%
Used downloaded apps – increase of 13.3%
Played games – increase of 1.1%
Accessed social networking site or blog – increase of 7.0%
Listened to music on mobile phone – increase of 2.6%

It’s clear that the activity that is growing in most popularity with the smartphone is the use of downloaded applications. Not too surprising, considering that apps combine utility and ease of use, are inexpensive, and have a viral aspect to them. Accessing social networking sites/blogs is also quickly increasing in use, up more even than using a browser itself.

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Devouring Mobile Content: The Feast Continues

This combination of technological advances means that the fenced-in area can be tracked and maintained without quickly draining the smartphone’s battery, and the multitasking ability of 4.0 means that geofencing can be operating in the background while other apps are being used at the same time. As one might imagine, the possibilities for social networking applications are extensive. Check ins at locations such as restaurants using FourSquare may be accomplished automatically as you enter the defined perimeter, so you no longer forget and miss out on points and value-added items that reward you for taking part in on-location social media. It may even become possible to check to see if your friends are still in the area or if you are so late in dropping by for that drink that they’ve moved on to the next spot in their plans for the evening. Your favorite restaurant could see that you’ve entered the defined area and send you notice of the day’s drink special or appetizer. Press a button or two and your order will be waiting for you when you slide into your chairs at the restaurant five minutes later. More routine, practical applications are likely to become very popular — things such as turning on house lights or a computer inside your home office when your smartphone senses that you are within 100 meters of your garage door.

As with so many things associated with social media, privacy is a large issue. On the one hand, we all want to feel special and be singled out for rewards, but do we really want any business to be able to intrude upon our evening stroll to congratulate us for becoming the mayor of our local Starbucks as we cross into the geofenced area? And what if we’re trying to avoid a specific person from our usual crowd of friends just now? Our social lives tend to be very complex as we mix together business and non-business social obligations and activities, but if we are being tracked through our smartphones, any gaffs we may make could become more public than in days past. We will all need to carefully craft the web of people to whom we want to give full access to all details of our activities, those we wish to only have limited access, and those we want to exclude totally.

For businesses, on the other hand, the addition of location-based tracking is a gold mine. Data gathered that indicates how long people have spent in a given business, traffic flow patterns through a Saturday evening, what type of coupons work best with those people already close to your business versus those who aren’t anywhere nearby — any and all of this kind of data can be extremely useful. On a practical level, restaurants may be better able to foretell the beginning of the lunch rush or dinner rush and plan staffing accordingly. Dessert bars will know when the optimal time is for restocking versus when they will be over-run with those seeking a sugar fix. It will be easier to track items like coupons for a special item or product, with very specific details on when and where the coupon was used. Tracking of advertising campaigns can move from the online to the offline instantaneously. Feedback can be gathered before patrons leave the area and problem/complaints can be dealt with immediately.

Geofencing has a lot of positive applications for consumers and businesses both. Balancing the pluses with the desire for privacy is a part of any component of one’s social networking endeavors, and will be a large part of the adjustments that we all will ultimately make in the decisions of how much involvement in our personal life we want to allow the technology in our life to have.

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Under Starry Skies Above … Do Geo-Fence Me In!

Of course, there are a couple of caveats to this general observation that one must keep in mind before jumping to the conclusion that men are comparing the price of tomatoes from one grocery store to the next willy nilly and will soon be found charging down the detergent aisle screaming “Where’s the Mr. Clean that’s 50 cents off?” First, recall that men are still more likely than women to own and use smartphones, and men in this demographic of 25-34 years of age, most likely of all. Also, men tend to be early adopters of technology more so than women (speaking quite generally of course). Put these two tendencies together, and the pool from which mobile shoppers are drawn is going to skew toward young males anyway.

Still, it’s a significant finding. For example, responses to one question revealed that while 7% of respondents overall reported using their mobile phone to search for an item to find better prices, 20% of males in the 25-34 year age group did so. Add this kind of data to estimates stemming from a number of recent studies that response rates to ads on the mobile platform can be as much as 10 times as for non-mobile online ads, and it’s clearly time for those hoping to sell products via the mobile platform to re-think their assumptions and approaches toward marketing in that environment.

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Paper or Plastic, Sir? The New Face of Shopping On The Mobile Platform

The study found that with the figures from a three-month period ending with April 2010, more smartphone users accessed maps through applications than through browser use (26% versus 19%), the first time the percentages have been in this configuration. Obviously, the growth has been dependent upon the increasing availability of apps for maps over the past year and the general move by more people to owning smartphones over feature phones.

What is also interesting about the comScore data is the information presented on the frequency of use of mobile maps, compared year over year. Although the total audience has only increased by 1%, the frequency of use has greatly increased, with a 44% increase in the numbers reporting using a mobile-based map at least once per month, a 47% increase in those using one 1-3 times in a month, a 60% increase in those using a mobile map once per week, and a 9% increase in those reporting usage of almost every day. While using mobile maps, 87.2% reporting riding or driving a car, 17.2% while walking, running or walking, and 16.7% while using public transit.

There are a number of takeaways from the data, including the increasing appeal of apps as a means of accessing map information on a mobile device as opposed to browser-based systems. The explosion of app popularity is, of course, well-documented for all types of things. An app can be tailored to specific needs, and tasks within those needs, while most of the browser-based mapping programs fit a larger variety of goals. For example, the “street view” feature of Google Maps is less likely to appeal to someone driving down the street in question than a person doing research prior to their trip for what the street looks like so it’s recognizable when actually visited. At least I hope not too many users are cruising along with street view active comparing the actual view with the archived “street view” while actually operating a motor vehicle.

One thing that is apparent is the threat that increasing use of smartphones as mapping aids for those driving (remember that 87.2% of mobile users accessing maps reported doing so while driving or riding in a car) has for GPS devices. The sophistication of apps, including turn-by-turn directions and graphical maps in many cases, is bound to intrude upon the market up until now ruled by the GPS systems. Of course, this is symptomatic of a larger move toward a more integrated, expansive mobile computing experience overall where devices once seen as revolutionary in application are replaced by more sophisticated and powerful pieces of technology in a few short years. For me, anything that saves me from going the wrong way on a freeway and winding up 20 miles away from my destination with no good way of figuring out where I have finally wound up is a step forward — make it seamless, as safe as possible to use, constantly updated with the latest changes, affordable, and flexible and who can resist?

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App-lying Maps To Phones

“35% of US Web-enabled mobile phone owners said they had participated in some form of mobile shopping in the past year, such as browsing or researching but not necessarily purchasing products. That was up from 17% who said the same in 2009.”

When asked about plans for the upcoming 2 years, the interest in shopping via mobile looks as if it will continue to increase, with an additional 40% stating they will likely compare prices within the next two years, for example.

What I found most interesting about the stats, however, was the percentage of those surveyed who actually purchase something via the mobile route and — significantly — what they are actually purchasing. When you look at these figures, it still looks like mobile is going to be a tough nut to crack for the average retailer. For example, the PriceGrabber study showed that the percentage reporting actually making purchases via mobile is only up 3% from last year, to 13%. And, over the next two-year period, 38% more of those surveyed did indicate they may purchase items via the mobile platform. However, this still leaves almost half (49%) not seeing themselves actually purchasing items via mobile even as far as two years out.

Put this together with stats on the type of purchases being made on mobile, and there’s no cause for massive celebration by most retailers. The largest category of products is “digital content for my mobile phone (e.g., ringtones, apps, music, video clips)” with 61% of purchasers dipping into this category (up from 58% last year). Next is consumer electronics at 57% of those surveyed (up from 51%), followed by computers and related equipment (31%) and then books (42%). Clothing (34%) and jewelry/watches (16%) are the remaining categories, while the “other” catch-all category rounds it out at 15%. Some of these categories have even had a slight decline over 2009.

So, what is one to make of this? If you sit in a public place and observe those passing by or sitting having a coffee, you’ve got to notice that people are increasingly turning to smartphones as a means of occupying themselves in-between their various daily activities. Instead of sitting down at a table in Starbucks and checking out who is in the coffee shop, a person is more likely to sit down and immediately dig out their smartphone to check messages, make a call, play a game, mess around with an app, check their email, etc. Inevitably, that behavior is going to expand towards browsing around shopping and researching products one is interested in when one has some free time to kill between meetings, appointments, waiting for the bus, hanging out at the airport, or any of the myriad of places and times that we have a few minutes. Many of us feel more comfortable being engaged with something, and if we don’t have a friend or colleague to pass the time with, the smartphone is ready and ever-willing to keep us entertained. For those of us who may be a little shy, it’s a great way to avoid the feeling that everyone is looking at you and wondering why you have no friends

But to take the next step and actually make a purchase? Not so easy. Yes, apps and ringtones are quick and easy purchases, with a slick system already set up to make it painless to purchase and obtain an instant fix. Other items, however, require laborious browsing of a website that may not have been optimally configured for the mobile experience, may not have a great shopping cart setup, may be clumsy for actual payment, and certainly is a deferred benefit, as you have to wait for the physical item to be shipped to you.

No wonder those who do buy from the mobile route are mostly buying the type of things that are designed and geared toward the mobile experience itself. But, if you cast your thoughts back in time, you will recall that it took a number of years for computer users in general to warm up to the buying experience of the Internet, and even today, the tendency is to browse and research online, but buy offline. Online is gradually eating into that dominance however, and I do believe that mobile will also make that transition. It will likely take years, but it will happen, especially as tablets such as the iPad gain market share and offer a more informative/”larger” shopping experience on a screen that can show more detail of certain types of products. The PriceGrabber.com/eMarketer data is an interesting look at the past, present, and future of mobile shopping and purchasing — it will be fun to see how it pans out in real-time.

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People Like To Shop With Their Phone, But Buy? Maybe, Maybe Not …

Via their MobiLens analysis, comScore calculates the percentage share of US mobile subscribers who report carrying out different activities with their mobile phones between the three-month period ending December 2009 and the three-month period ending March 2010, using subscribers aged 13 and over. The results show a gradual increase in all categories — some larger than others. Overall, text messaging and playing games are relatively stable, with a 0.6% and 0.2% increase respectively. The largest increases are in subscribers accessing social networks (2.8%) and using a browser or apps (both at 2.6% increase). The final category tracked — listening to music on the mobile — registered at 1.1% increase.

What does this tell us? Aside from the general increase overall, it’s important to also consider what percentage of the total base of subscribers is involved in these activities to judge if the increases are highest in the most popular categories or if others are starting to make their presence known. In these cases, the data is a little mixed, but overall, the trend is for users to be exploring new uses of their phones. For example, the increase in text messaging was small, but the category itself is used by the highest percentage of subscribers (the growth was from 63.1% to 63.7% of the base population). On the other hand, the largest percentage increase of 2.8% was in the social networking category, the second-lowest category share — it went from 15.9% of the subscriber base to 18.7%. Only listening to music has less share — 12.1% to 13.2%.

The categories of using a browser and using apps are approaching or broaching the 30% barrier. Browser use increased from 27.5% to 30.1%; apps use from 26.0% to 28.6%. The other twenty-something category — playing games — remained stable at 21.6% to 21.8%, a mere 0.2% increase.

It’s clear that US subscribers/users of mobile phones are exploring more varied ways of using their phones and finding more useful applications for them. Part of the increase is undoubtedly a reflection of the increased number of mobile subscribers who have upgraded to phones that have expanded capabilities and the improvements in access by providers. But it’s clear that mobile subscribers are looking for expanded capability in their phones so they can continue their online activities no matter where they may physically be — sitting at a desktop or taking a break during an afternoon hike in the wilderness. It’s intriguing to see some categories leveling out in their usage — perhaps this means that after all, only about 2/3 of us will ever choose to use text messaging as a means of communication or 1/5 of us will find games played on this platform appealing. Perhaps not. But it will be interesting to see the other categories develop as time continues and smartphones with these capabilities continue to penetrate the market and users become more familiar with the capabilities their phones already have that they may not have yet investigated. Obviously, improvements in how websites are displayed will help, but the interest has to be there as well.

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How Do Mobile Subscribers Use Content? Are The Times a’Changin’?

Of course, advertising on the mobile platform is not necessarily a cheap date at this point in the development of the platform. Running campaigns of a similar scope to those proposed for the iAd program cost in the neighborhood of $100,000 to $200,000 already — a pretty pricey neighborhood for most advertisers. But that’s still a whole lot less expensive than the $1 million figure that’s being cited (or the $10 million that is also being passed around as a potential cost). One could take the $1 million earmarked for an Apple-directed ad campaign and use it to hit a variety of online outlets and different smartphone ad formats, potentially reaching a much larger proportion of the market than the iPhone and iPad currently command. So why would an advertiser choose Apple? Especially if, as is rumored, Apple is going to demand creative control over the ad itself?

Actually, I do appreciate the fact that Apple wants to ensure that the admittedly high level of quality that they build into their products is also reflected in the content carried by those products. But as they expand out from their first ventures in entertainment for the masses, it appears as if Apple isn’t responding to what the masses want, but more along the lines of what it thinks is good for the masses. Sound like something from a commercial? Think 1984 and the introduction of the Macintosh. On the other hand, maybe Apple is leading the way and setting the bar for other mobile advertisers, all of which will result in a better experience for users everywhere? As the deal plays out, we’ll know more. We’ll see which products are willing to play the game by Apple’s rules in the hopes of a huge payoff. Will they be the items that would appeal to the type of person who buys an iPad anyway? Will increased sales justify the cost? Will the foray by Apple into advertising tip the scales and herald a new era of advertising on the mobile platform that finally provides the take-off point that makes it appealing enough? Questions, questions, questions. Answers will follow.

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iAd Is Not Looking Like myAd

So how might the iPhone affect your online marketing efforts? In a few ways:

Safari browser. iPhone’s browser has created a lot of hype because it can open full versions of web pages, just like you would see them on your desktop/laptop. Due to the small screen, users are able to zoom in only on one area of the website at a time. Although Flash and Java are not supported, visitors using the iPhone will be able to take advantage of more features on your website than ever before. Some aspects of your overall design will probably have to be rethought.

Expended range of services. Being able to see the same web pages as a regular desktop/laptop users, iPhone users will most definitely expend the range of services mobile users are used to. Having a more powerful mobile device will make already popular destinations for mobile users like maps and local search even more important. But with the iPhone a lot less limited by its browser, we will see some other services added to the mix, like social networking and video search. You can bet that Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and a sea of Twitter clones will be more popular than ever.

Size does matter. Steve Jobs hopes to sell 10 million devices in the next 18 months. Whether that is a realistic goal or not remains to be seen (it already looks like the phones are sold out). Either way, very soon we’ll have millions of people running around with iPhones, ALL of them having an unlimited data plan. Over the next weeks and months we will see a lot of businesses trying to figure out how to market to this new crowd. I suggest following closely any iPhone studies coming out.

One thing is clear, this is just the beginning. The whole tech industry is watching Apple, trying to figure out whether they got it right. They definitely got some of it right. There will also be room for improvement and so just like with iPod, we will see other companies jump in and try their luck with their own devices. The new standard for mobile devices has been set and it will have a far reaching impact beyond the tech industry.

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iPhone and Your Online Marketing Campaigns

The first step is probably the most apparent one, but it needs to be said. You have to define your target audience. Most mobile campaigns fail because their brand is not matched up with the appropriate viewer. Mobile marketing is more about connecting a brand with a consumer than about a product or service you are offering. Mobile users want the right information fast and they can be converted if it’s given.

Engaging your audience within a mobile marketing campaign is crucial. Mobile users typically like to do the following three things: play games, browse and text message using their mobile devices. According to M:Metrics, approximately 10 percent of consumers use the mobile web for gaming, messaging, and browsing. To help ramp up your mobile marketing campaign think of either creating an impression based campaign for branding purposes or setting up a campaign based on engagement and interaction (survey, a chance to win a new car, etc.).

Fit the right applications for mobile usage types. Are you going to target mobile video, mobile web or mobile text? Each medium has a different viewership and different audience demographics. Make sure you target accordingly.

When I set up a mobile search campaign, I always try to setup other campaigns to help support it. At this time I would not recommend using a mobile search campaign just by itself. I would normally use a mobile marketing campaign in tandem with some offline and online marketing tactics. For instance, I would create a viral campaign using press releases and online advertisements along with social media marketing and offer a big prize. All the users have to do is use their mobile device to apply. Deal or No Deal does this and so do some other games shows, such as American Idol.

When setting up a landing page, mobile version of your site or mobile advertising campaign, I would suggest the following to be taken into consideration:

Mobile Search Tactics:

• Create a clear and precise call to action
• Create a Click to Call option
• Send page via mobile email
• Add ability to share with others by SMS capability

Mobile Search Campaigns:

Creating a Click to Call Campaign: The great thing about mobile marketing is that the users are more apt to take advantage of this medium. They are already on the phone so, by providing a click to call option on your mobile site, you’re increasing the odds of that user turning into a lead for your business.Branding Campaigns: Branding campaigns are pretty standard within the marketing industry. A reason why mobile is so great is that, with the millions of views this type of search gets, it’s prime for branding opportunities and can lead to massive impressions, further enforcing your brand name and creating brand confidence.

Coupon and Incentivised Campaigns: Again, these types of campaigns are reflective of the standard marketing campaigns but also apply to mobile devices. Mobile search users love to be engaged! The coupons that they can use online, in store, etc. or incentivised campaigns where by doing something online they can receive a free gift is right up a mobile search user’s alley.

Data Collection Campaign: Lead generation is growing rapidly and there are many opportunities for data collection via mobile devices. Remember that we are on the ground floor with mobile search so establishing your virtual real estate in the mobile search arena early will allow you to compete for the high CPL, like the real estate and mortgage verticals.

From my experiences I have seen that clear, simple, straight to the point messages work the best with mobile marketing. From plain text to banner advertising on mobile devices you need to remember that consumers are on the move. They are looking to get in and get out and they are on a mission to find exactly what they are looking for. Being able to steer these visitors to what they are looking for is crucial. What’s great is that mobile searchers are in much need of being pointed in the right direction.

Also be sure to validate your mobile advertising campaigns and websites to have the best chance of showing up properly on mobile devices.

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Executing a Mobile Search Marketing Campaign

Since the release of the beta version of Google 411 there has been a steady growth of buzz regarding it. I hate paying the charge for normal 411 which oftentimes returns inaccurate results. With Google 411, it returns a very good percentage of accurate results using Google Local although there could be improvements on the voice recognition side from what I have heard but NOT experienced. Tech Crunch said “About 2.6 billion 411 calls are made in the U.S. each year, and it is a $7 billion/year market.” With this type of knowledge it seems to me that Google made a great move towards further connecting mobile search with local search and by offering it as a free service that’s Ad Free, I see many people shifting to this Google 411 immediately.

In countries like Japan the use of mobile search dwarfs American mobile search and offering a Search Engine based 411 service is an attempt at bridging the gap from mobile to local and the inevitable utilization of mobile search. We are looking at around a 14% growth rate for mobile search and most mobile search users are landing on portal pages and not results they are looking for creating mass frustration. Until we can overcome some of our mobile search growth problems I see Google 411 being a catalyst for the present and future mobile searcher.

Google pulls their 411 information off of their local business center located here. Just add your site to this local directory and you will be able to appear in the Google 411 local search.

I recently tested this product out and I suggest that you all do the same. My wife and I recently stopped for a bite to eat at Chick-fil-A (plug plug plug…please give me free coupons) taking a short break from apartment hunting. We did not know the directions to an apartment complex we were about to visit or the phone number so my wife said, “hey, lets use 1-800-373-3411…”, which is one of Google’s Free 411 competitors. After listening to a long advertisement and dealing with their horrible customer support that could not figure out how to spell Serrano Apartments they finally gave us a result of the leasing office but this call took about 3 minutes.

I decided to test out Google 411 so I called them up. After giving it the city and state and the name “Serrano Apartments” it gave me the leasing office within 15 seconds. Not only that but it also asked me if that result was OK or if I wanted to hear other results that returned for this query.

Something I experimented with for Google 411 is giving inaccurate places and names to see what would happen. The first thing I test was my name to see if I would get my phone number and I learned that currently they only offer business locations and not residential but this should change if the service takes off.

My second test was to see if the service would look up a restaurant in an area I know it’s not located in. What happened next is very interesting. It told me that the results do not yield anything BUT they have a list of related places that could just help me out if I am in the area. This list took words that I used in previous searches on this ONE phone call and used Google’s related searches to help find information that could help me. Google 411 gave me some really interesting results like Whyte Restaurant on Riverside Drive and other assorted restaurants in the area I chose but it also found a restaurant with my last name. I am not 100% sure if this is how Google 411 works but it seems to work well if it does!

My overall experience with Google 411 was great and I think in a market where most people are reluctant to call for fear of being over-charged, getting incorrect information and just an unpleasant experience, Google 411 will be loved.

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Google 411 vs Other Free 411 Services | Today’s Mobile Search Bridge to Local Search