(From my friend Trevor)
If you’re like me, this is now how you
function now. A couple weeks ago, I moved and I’ve only just been connected to
the Internet. As an iPhone, iPad, smart TV, and Macbook owner, not being
connected left me writhing in my shame cave and spending disgusting amounts of
money on coffee for my wifi fix. Now that I’m connected, let’s talk about how
great being connected is over some food, water, shelter, and warmth.
A recent eMarketer report outlined the
multi-device habits of tablet users. Essentially, tablet users are connected
all the time, but across different web-enabled devices.
The majority of tablet owners use them at
home. Their pattern of usage is predominantly: smartphone in the morning,
desktop at the office, and tablet at night. For tablet users, the device is a
complement to household activities (like following #DoctorWho on Twitter while watching
Doctor Who on your smart TV while texting your friend[s] about Doctor Who), rather
than something you take with you when you go out.
Despite the fact that marketers will now
have to play a game of “catch me if you can” with their consumers, multi-screen
exposure opens up a multitude of opportunities:
- For brands with online communities (like BBC Doctor Who, for example), this increases the user’s ability to access, follow, and participate in online discussions. Additionally, consumers will always be up-to-date with brands they are interested in.
- Tablet users are always “on the grid,” which means they’re highly accessible for most part of the day. eMarketer recommends targeting messages by device, time of day, and context of the user.
- Brands can customize messages to the consumer’s context, time of day, and device. If a consumer is constantly switching between devices, it’s easy for brand messages to go unnoticed and become forgotten by the time another “switch” happens. With a customized message, brands can better capture the attention of the “habitual multitaskers” that are tablet owners.
- Familiarity with a brand can generate interest, or at the very least, salience in the consumer’s mindset. eMarketer references a study in which
“users who were exposed to an automotive brand’s messaging across two screens exhibited a 57% jump in regional dealer lookups and test drive requests as compared to users who saw the brand’s messaging on only one screen.”
By focusing efforts on tailored messages to always-on-the-grid consumers, marketers can effectively to reach their consumers in the "Awareness" and "Consideration" phases of the Consumer Decision Journey, much like the "Magician's Hat" Model.
What do you think? Is being connected all
the time over multiple devices more of a threat for marketers than an opportunity?
