MediaPost and Online Media Daily are great publications to read if you are looking for up-to-date information on everything digital, marketing and media. Did you know that the use of mobile messaging and marketing exploded over the holiday season in 2011? PEW American & Internet Life Project highlighted findings that more than half (52%) of adult cell phone owners used their devices while in a store to help with purchasing decisions. So here is the breakdown:

1. 52% of adult cell owners used their devices while in the store
2. Cell owners ages 18-49 are significantly more likely to use their phone for online product reviews
3. 33% of adult cell owners used their phone specifically for online information while inside a physical store
4. 38% of cell owners used their phone to call a friend while they were in a store for advice about a purchase they were considering making
5. 24% of cell owners used their phone to look up reviews of a product online while they were in a store
6. 25% of adult cell owners used their phones to look up the price of a product online while they were in a store, to see if they could get a better price somewhere else
7. 49% of 18-29 year olds called a friend for advice about a purchase
8. 50% of household incomes over $50,000 used cell phones for product reviews and advice
9. 38% of 18-29 year olds used their phones for real-time price matching.
10. 1 in 5 mobile price matches made their most recent purchase from an online store, rather than a physical location
11. 5% of all cell owners who purchased a product online this holiday season after looking up its price online from a physical store
12. 9% of all cell owners searched for the price of a product they found in a physical store but ultimately purchased it at that store
13. 63% of 18-29 year olds used their used their phone for real-time product reviews and advice
14. Only 4% of 65 and older used their phones to find, research, and purchase products
15. 17% of all cell phone owners engaged in both price matching and looking up reviews

It is about time for the brick and mortar stores of the world to jump into the world of mobile. If they haven’t already.We are talking about a world of radical transparency from pricing models to public feedback. Have you taken the necessary steps to start the conversation around mobile technology and marketing? The majority of the consuming world is shifting to a medium that is real-time and competitive.

Here is another stat that may get your juices flowing from USA Today and PEW:

68% open only five or fewer apps at least once a week, finds a survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. Seventeen percent don’t use any apps. About 42% of all U.S. adults have phones with apps, Pew estimates.

Have you started building your mobile strategy into your overall marketing plan? Are you using an integrated approach to build repor with consumers who demand the use of mobile in their daily lives?

kyle lacy
ExactTarget
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