We hear a lot about living in a “multi-screen world.” And in the ever-competitive race for share of screen, some mobile marketers have been saying that the “first screen” is our mobile devices.
During a DMA session on “The Cutting Edge of Mobile Marketing” representatives from Google, Mobile Fusion and the Mobile Marketing Association shared some research to the contrary. They stressed that the “first screen” is really whatever our target audience is using at the time. Their research shows that during the day, desktop/laptop usage trends higher than mobile or tablet. Mobile usage trends fairly close to desktop/laptop throughout the day, but tends to come in 5-minute bursts. Tablet usage spikes in the evening and is at its peak about 8-9pm. They further defined consumer behavior in terms of “sequential signals” – consumers who shop on mobile but complete the sale on their desktop/laptop. As well as “simultaneous signals” – showing that tablet usage is often combined with TV viewing.
Intuitively, this research resonated with me (so much so I got to wondering if someone had been following me with a webcam).
As marketers, we have to clearly understand this consumer behavior and be creative in our ability to track results and attribute sales. It may not always be a straight-line connection. But don’t be fooled. There are connections to be made. And the better we get at it, the more effective we’ll be in meeting our objectives.