Resistance is Futile: 10 Statistics to Support Having a Mobile Content Strategy

Change is coming, and it’s coming fast.

Resistance is futile, as the Borg on Star Trek famously said before assimilating another species into its cybernetic life form.

For those in your organization who are resisting the mobile trend or who deny the importance of the mobile web on your content marketing strategy, prepare to be assimilated. Well, not really. But at least prepare to change your focus.

As a BtoB Online article explains, the new media model, fueled by the Internet, social media and mobile, is here. In addition to paid (purchased media), marketers are focusing on owned (original content) and earned media (social media).

This means that more and more organizations are realizing that to be successful in content marketing, they have to think like publishers and they have to integrate their social media strategies. And develop strategies to engage readers across platforms and devices, including apps, smartphones, tablets, and netbooks.

A seamless content experience across devices will be key to your success – so people have positive experience when reading/viewing your content on their smartphone, iPad, or desktop, without missing a beat. Plus, integrated digital campaigns that engage users across platforms with a consistent message could mean huge ROI for marketers. Consider a Nielsen study that illustrated how brand recall jumped from 50% in the group exposed to a TV ad alone, to 74% in the group exposed to multi-screen advertising (TV + PC + Smart phone + Tablet).

Here are statistics to support your quest to have a mobilized content strategy.

U.S. tablet users will grow from 34 million in 2011 to 55 million in 2012 (EMarketer).
108+ million will own tablets by 2015. (Mashable)
By 2016, mobile commerce is expected to increase to $31 billion in the U.S. – a tremendous jump from only $3 billion in 2010. (Mashable)
In August 2011, more than 72.2 million people accessed social networking sites or blogs on their mobile devices, an increase of 37% from the previous year. (Comscore)
79% of business professionals who own an iPad “always” use it for web browsing; 76% “always” use it for reading; 73% “always” use it for news consumption (IDG Connect).
88% of U.S. marketers plan to increase their mobile marketing programs this year, according to a September 2011 online survey conducted by AT&T (AT&T).
Mobile usage increased 30% in 2011 (EMarketer)
Mobile accounts for 10.1% of time U.S. adults spend with media, compared to 6.8% for print (EMarketer).
64% of 25-34 year olds and 53% of 18-24 year olds now own smartphones (Nielsen’s State of the Media: The Mobile Media Report Q3 2011)
The number of smartphone subscribers using the mobile Internet has grown 45 percent since 2010 (Nielsen).