More Australians more mobile than ever | Digital Business

These days it seems that you can?t talk about doing business online without talking about mobile connectivity as well. The two are becoming more intrinsically linked, as smartphones and tablets bring the internet with us wherever we go. And as the latest Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index (AMPLI) survey results show, the rise of mobile connectivity does not look like slowing any time soon.

AIMIA, the Digital Industry Association of Australia, has been running the AMPLI survey for eight years to gauge a better understanding of how Australians are using mobile phones.? Given that the iPhone had not even been launched eight years ago, you can imagine how dramatically the survey results have changed over the years. Over 3,000 mobile phone owners participated in the 2012 survey.

How many Aussies are using smartphones?

According to the 2012 survey results 76% of respondents had a smartphone, up from 67% the previous year. Based on the purchase intentions of mobile phone owners, it appears this is likely to increase to 84% by the middle of this year.

The iPhone leads the mobile handset market, owned by 40% of respondents (up from 32%). The report also found that Samsung mobile phones are becoming more popular, rising from 13% to 18%, while Nokia recorded a significant drop, from 28% to 16%.

How are Aussies using mobile phones?

The mobile phone is clearly about more than standard calling and texting in our modern world. The survey found that in 2012 79% of respondents were getting information online, 76% were visiting websites or searching online, 72% were using their mobile phone for entertainment purposes.? Further, 69% were emailing on their mobile phone and 42% bought things online.

Nearly one third of respondents (31%) checked their email on their mobile phone at least five times a day, while 25% visited websites or did online searches at least five times a day. Overall, 17% of respondents used their mobile phone to buy things online at least once a week.

It appears that mobile phones are also increasingly being used to help inform consumers? purchasing decisions. The survey revealed that 38% of respondents use their mobile phone to check prices and that 43% use it to check reviews before making a purchase decision.

Website versus app?

The majority of AMPLI survey respondents used a mix of apps and websites on their mobile phones. A very small proportion used apps only (4%) or websites only (8%). While the majority of respondents had downloaded six or more apps on their phone in the six months before the survey (71%), most respondents only use five or less apps on a weekly basis (60%).

Most respondents indicated that they accessed websites by typing the URL directly into the browser on their phone (75%). However, 68% also clicked on links provided in search engine results and 48% clicked on links in text messages.

How about advertising?

While 40% of respondents had opted in to receive SMS or MMS messages from 1-5 businesses, 43% were not receiving any SMS or MMS advertising.

Around a quarter of respondents had engaged with vouchers or coupons sent to their mobile phone (26%), or with banner/text ads in websites (26%) and apps (25%). When it came to social media, 24% had engaged with ads or messages about a business via Twitter or Facebook.

So what does this all mean for your business?

There are a lot of statistics here (and more in the report), providing plenty of food for thought for Australian businesses. With around 4 in 5 mobile phone owners using their mobile phone to get information, visit websites or perform searches ? many multiple times a day ? it appears to be more important than ever that your business has some form of online presence to maximise your chances of being found. The trends over the last few years show that consumers are also becoming more and more comfortable shopping and doing other transactions online.

When it comes to the question of whether businesses should have a mobile-friendly website or an app, the survey shows that mobile phone users are engaging with both. But if you are going to invest in an app, it is a good idea to ask yourself what you can do to make sure your app is one of the five that the average mobile phone owner engages with regularly.

And while it seems that a relatively low proportion of consumers are engaging with other forms of advertising, such as SMS and MMS messages, the trend over the last few years appears to show that consumers are becoming increasingly willing to connect with businesses through these forms of advertising.

Have you had success engaging with customers through their mobile devices? Or are you considering addressing mobile in your business strategy? Share your thoughts and experiences with us.

By Natalie, DBCDE

Source: http://www.digitalbusiness.gov.au/2013/01/31/more-australians-more-mobile-than-ever/

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