Mobile video viewers are a coveted demographic: Study

By Jordan Crook

July 30, 2009

Mobile video ad from Transpera

Mobile video users are not only significantly more dependent on their mobile phones than other segments, but they also constitute an attractive demographic for advertisers.

Of those surveyed in the study by Transpera and InsightExpress, 62 percent of mobile video users claim to use mobile Internet more than they use the computer to browse the Web, compared to the 9 percent of non-mobile video viewers. This group of mobile video lovers is becoming increasingly attractive to advertisers who are realizing that mobile may be the only way to reach these phone addicts.

"What surprised me most during research was the amount of time that these folks spend away from their computer, eating out and traveling," said Joy Liuzzo, director of marketing and mobile research, InsightExpress, Stamford, CT.

"It really drove home the point that mobile video is presenting an opportunity to reach an audience that is tricky to nail down and that is also highly desirable."

Of those who reported watching mobile video at least once a week, 78 percent claimed that they rely on their mobile device for up-to-date information. Only 19 percent of non-mobile video viewers depend on their mobile phones in the same way.

Seventy-one percent of once-a-week mobile video users claim they actually prefer receiving information via mobile Internet compared to the 13 percent of those who do not view mobile video.

Half of respondents said they spent more time away from computers than in front of them.

With statistics like that, advertisers can no longer sit back and watch the ships sail by during this rapid shift from desktop to mobile.

The study from Transpera and InsighExpress also found that 75 percent of avid mobile video users eat out of their homes two or more times a week, compared to less than half of non-mobile video users who match this statistic.

Fifty-nine percent of the mobile video user demographic have spent more than five nights in a hotel in the last year and 40 percent of avid mobile video users earn more than $75,000 a year in income.

A mere 25 percent of non-mobile video users make the same amount.

Mobile video users are also attractive bait for advertisers as they combine three platforms in one: mobile, television and online.

An advertiser can place a commercial in a mobile video with a clickable banner and send the user straight to an optimized commerce site, without ever tethering down the user in a certain spot.

"For marketers, this means that if it fits in with the objectives of the campaign, mobile video needs to be a part of the larger buy," Ms. Liuzzo said.

"If these folks are out and about so much, it makes perfect sense to use mobile video advertising to plant a seed of desire and direct them to stop in while they are out," she said.

Comments on "Mobile video viewers are a coveted demographic: Study"

1. Courtenay Inchbald says:

   July 31, 2009 at 1:49pm

   This is interesting research. You might be interested to know that in a recent survey of mine, ownership of a Crabble, the only functional iPhone/smartphone stand to fit in a wallet, increased mobile media consumption by an average of 15%.