Take a Tablet for Your Marketing

Do you need a tablet for your marketing plan? Apple introduced the iPad a year ago, creating a new category of computing devices known as tablets. These Internet-enabled devices have a touchscreen like a smartphone without its telephony. Check the data on tablets and you’ll see that they’re the fastest growing computing device to-date. Tablets provide an enhanced content consumption experience, particularly photographs and video.

3 Important Facts About Tablet Usage

To integrate tablet usage into your overall marketing plans, it’s important to know how owners use them. Here are three salient factors to consider based on AdMob research via Google.

• Tablets are used regularly. Two thirds of owners spend an hour or more a day on their tablets. The top tablet activities are games (84 percent), information search (78 percent), email (74 percent), news (61 percent), and social media (54 percent).
• Tablets get used at home. Four in five users primarily use their tablets at home. Two thirds of usage occurs during the week and roughly two thirds of usage occurs at night.
• Tablets substitute for computers. Tablets are the primary computer for one quarter of users while three quarters of owners have decreased their computer usage.

7 Tablets Consumption Habits

While tablets evolve, marketers and media executives must consider what experiences and content consumers are looking for these devices to deliver. As new electronic toys, buyers want to take their tablets home and use them. Don’t underestimate the need to deliver content they can use while they’re excited to test it out.

1. Playing games. Think games like Angry Birds that keeps players engaged and takes advantage of the tablet’s functionality. Also, consider time-filler puzzles that people play while they’re waiting. In terms of marketing options, you can create the games or sponsor or integrate your advertising into an existing game.

2. Trolling for information. Tablet users, like smartphone owners, may use search as a navigation alternative. Additionally, it’s another form of concurrent information consumption, whether it’s watching television or attending a conference. Consumers look up relevant references.

3. Consuming print content. Newspapers and magazines view tablets as a vehicle to re-invigorate their media entities. Tablets enhance these old media formats and provide interesting advertising options. Remember new advertising formats tend to perform better although their audience is smaller in size.

4. Using apps. Like smartphones, apps are a great way to provide a tablet user experience. Apps can be free, paid or a combination. Due to the ever-growing market, you still need to promote their download and usage. (Here’s more data on apps.)

5. Watching video. Tablets can be used to watch video content. Although data for this use is still low, it’s a good bet that road warriors, parents, and travelers index higher for this activity.

6. Reading email. Tablets weren’t envisioned to be content-creating devices, but because people are always look for ways to stay in touch 24/7 and empty their inboxes, email ranks high on this list.

7. Participating in social media. Given the time spent on social media and the ability to check updates and other information quickly, consumers use tablets for another filler activity.

5 Tablet Marketing Tactics

Tablets provide new opportunities for marketers and media entities to entice new users. Here are five marketing tactics to integrate into your marketing plans.

1. Plan for optimized tablet user experience. The tablets’ touch and swipe capabilities (although heavy users may add an external keyboard) most likely will require some modifications to your content presentation and user interface.

2. Requires supporting marketing to build audience. If you provide targeted content for tablet consumption, promote your apps or special versions of your content. Leverage your other forms of content marketing including your website, social media, and company communications to expand your installed tablet user base. At a minimum, let prospects know that you have a special tablet interface or app. If you’re looking to extend the engagement of your offline advertising such as television, use the same look and feel.

3. Allow for concurrent usage. Based on research, many tablet owners use their devices at home in the evening. This implies that there’s concurrent usage while watching television. For television media companies and advertisers, provide ways that viewers can extend their experience on their tablets. Further, dual usage isn’t limited to consumers. Tablets are showing up at conferences where the audience is checking references from the talk.

4. Provide content-on-the-go. Due to tablet portability, owners use them for a wide range of content consumption, particularly print publications like newspapers and magazines (also to a lesser extent books.) Think content snacking that can be packed into otherwise wasted time such as commuting or working out. Depending on your product and/or content offering, you may want to include geo-location information for travelers.

5. Consider dayparting. Since research shows that tablets are used most frequently at home during the evening, look at the potential for supplying timely content based on daypart in your editorial calendar.

Consider how your target market will use tablets and work to integrate improved usability and content into your marketing mix since these devices are here to stay!

Have you started creating tailored content and/or apps for tablet usage? Have you started testing advertising or sponsorships on tablets? Please share your experiences in the comment section below.

Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen