Time spent on mobile devices is growing, but looking closely at how that time is spent is crucial to understanding consumer behaviour. the way individuals spend time on mobile is changing. We have reviewed eMarketer’s extensive 2018 report and returned with some key learnings.
Mobile VS. Other Platforms
- Overall, Americans are spending fewer minutes on most major media, with one major exception: mobile.
- In 2018, TV, the nearest media competitor, will continue to beat mobile in dedicated minutes per day, however TV time is stagnating as Mobile minutes continue to grow.
- By 2019, Mobile is expected to edge out TV, becoming the leading media interface where US adults spend most of their time, with 3 hours, 43 minutes of engagement per day.
- Mobile is expected to grow over the next two years, however, this growth will come directly from smartphones. Smartphones will account for 20% of total time spent with media in the US.
Time spent on mobile: apps come out on top
- Globally, consumers spend more time in-app than on the mobile web. This trend was supported in a study by Comscore who reviewed 13 countries globally.
- UK users spent 17% of the time on the mobile web, which was one of the largest percentages compared to 12% in the US. In Asia, overall, the numbers skew even further towards in-app time.
- When studying only smartphone use, the disparity was even greater. With almost 90% of time spent in-app on smartphones vs. 86% across all devices.
- The overarching trend globally is that consumers prefer apps to native technology, this is the crucial point for advertisers.
In-app categories of importance
- Although the number of minutes spent in-app is rising, the number of apps opened is falling. Most users spend their time in 5 apps per day, with a huge skew towards their top app of choice.
- Apps of choice are concentrated primarily into five areas: digital audio, social networking, gaming, video viewing and messaging. 94% of mobile app time will take place in these groups during 2018. Shopping had some presence, with big retailers attracting enough app users that more than 75% of shopping took place in-app.
- Audio apps come out on top in these areas, followed by social networks.
MCSM Take-Away:
With Mobile primed to take over TV as the platform where consumers are spending the most time, now is the time for brands to adopt a mobile-first approach for their products and campaigns. At M&C Saatchi Performance, a mobile-first campaign doesn’t mean we focus solely on mobile channels, more specifically, it’s about utilizing them optimally to help create context and results cross-screen so we can drive business growth. Apps are the biggest channel for mobile engagement but can be challenging for brands to scale. With experts across all areas of digital and mobile, including App Store Optimization, we are equipped to break through the saturation of apps.
Read more about how we can work with you here.
