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IPad Air Christmas day acquisition strategy a must for marketers

The iPad Air hit the shelves on Nov. 1 and already it is experiencing a strong reception, outpacing adoption rates for previous iPads, according to new data from Fiksu.

Ten days after the release of the iPad Air, the number of active iPad Airs was already at 1.31 percent while, in comparison, the iPad Mini was at only 0.37 percent and the iPad 4 at 0.35 percent ten days after their respective release dates. The numbers suggest marketers should be thinking about how to acquire high value iPad users now and to ensure they are visible on Christmas Day and the following week, when a lot of new devices that were given as gifts are expected to be turned on.

?The iPad Air is having a very strong launch, so there are large numbers of new and updating users - users marketers need to make sure they acquire,? said Jim Thomas, senior product marketing manager at Fiksu, Boston, MA. ?That means getting the attention of new users, and keeping the attention of existing users who are upgrading devices and making a decision on what apps to keep and which ones to jettison.

?Overall, marketers need to rethink their user acquisition strategies and their calendar,? he said. ?It's still very important to be visible and acquire users during the lead up to Black Friday, but they should be thinking about how to acquire the high-value iPad users now while the iPad Air is taking off.

?More importantly, they should be planning ways to acquire users and be visible on Christmas Day and the following week, when we expect massive numbers of users to turn on new devices and make long-lasting decisions about which apps they'll install.?

A popular gift
Consumers are at a critical decision point when they activate new iPads as they are actively looking for new apps and services to incorporate into their user experience.

With apps providing an opportunity to build and nurture long-term relationships with customers, it is critical that marketers reach users during this honeymoon period.

In particular, marketers should pay attention to usage trends from previous years which show a significant jump in iPad users on Christmas Day, as these devices are popular gifts.

?Last year, iPad usage literally doubled overnight,? Mr. Thomas said. ?That means a huge number of users got iPads as gifts.?

Marketers should also consider that some existing app users may be upgrading their device to the iPad Air and may decide to get rid of some their existing apps in the process.

Untapped opportunity
In terms of iPad usage, by yesterday the iPad Air was already at 1.3 percent while the iPad 1 was at 0.4 percent. The iPad mini was at 20.4 percent, the iPad 4 at 22.4 percent, the iPad 3 at 17.9 percent and the iPad 2 at 37.6 percent.

IOS 7 has similar seen a rapid adoption rate, outpacing previous releases.

The percent of active devices on iOS 7 at 54 days since its release was at 72.8 percent while for iOS 6 it was 66.3 percent at the 54-day mark and 54 percent for iOS 5.

The percent of devices using iOS 7 was at 73.1 percent on Nov. 11 while the iOS 6 had a 23.1 percent share and iOS 5 3.8 percent.

The research is based on data from millions of iPhones and iPads using Fiksu client apps.

?Plenty of brands are doing are a good job creating custom iPad apps, but aren't taking full advantage of the opportunity,? Mr. Thomas said.

?Many brands are still using an iPhone-first strategy for iOS promotion and aren't necessarily putting the marketing muscle behind their iPad apps,? he said. ?The iPhone still gets the lion's share of attention.

?The balance is starting to shift, especially in high-end retail apps who can't ignore the purchasing power of iPad users, but in our view it's not shifting quickly enough to be commensurate with the opportunity.?

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York