Almost one-third of smartphone users who search for local businesses via mobile end up visiting or calling the location.

This was a key finding of the Q1 2010 Smartphone Intelligence survey by Kantar Media?s Compete.

Mobile Marketer?s Dan Butcher interviewed Danielle Nohe, director of technology and entertainment at Compete, Boston, regarding the study.

Here is what she had to say:

What is the key finding of the study?
One of the most predominant findings to emerge from Compete?s Q1 2010 Smartphone Intelligence is the rate at which consumers? use of local search, social networking and gaming on smartphones is growing.

What is the most surprising finding, and why?
One of the most surprising findings was that nearly one-third of all smartphone owners surveyed reported calling or stopping into a local business after finding it by using a local search application.

Approximately one in three Android and iPhone owners discovered at least two new businesses in the first quarter as a result of using the local search applications on their phone.

The most popular types of information being looked for is an address, more information on a business in the area and a phone number.

What is the rate of growth we are seeing for local search, social networking and gaming in the mobile space?
In addition to the local search growth I touched on above, social networking and gaming also really came of age this quarter.

On the social networking side, 33 percent of the smartphone Twitter users we surveyed use their phones as their default mode of sending tweets.

Of these respondents, 33 percent prefer to read and send tweets solely via their handheld, with 44 percent and 38 percent, respectively, splitting their usage between smartphone and PC.

When it comes to Facebook, 66 percent of smartphone users who access the site from their phones read news feeds, 60 percent post status updates, 59 percent read or reply to private messages and 44 percent post photos.

From a mobile gaming perspective, iPhone users are by far the most heavy gamers.

In fact, 51 percent of iPhone owners have five or more games loaded on their smartphones, compared to 46 percent of BlackBerry owners who report having no games on their devices.

It is interesting to note the differences, likely due to app store maturity and tenure, in how consumers are finding out about applications.

When Android owners are deciding what applications to download, 54 percent spend time looking through all that is available to them and discovering on their own. 

However, iPhone owners rely most on recommendations from friends, family and coworkers.

It is the difference between self-discovery on a new platform versus taking advantage of work and knowledge that others around you have already gained.

What advice can you give to marketers and merchants based on your findings?
The smartphone is quickly becoming the go-to device across many demographics of phone owners. 

The number of Android devices launched in the first half of 2010 across all carriers, prepaid and postpaid, have helped drive this trend, with 72 percent of the current Android phones in market having been purchased within the past six months.

No longer are consumers having to switch carriers to adopt an application-heavy ?cool? phone a la iPhone and AT&T. There are now plenty of options available without having to switch.

Our Q1 Smartphone Intelligence survey underscores numerous opportunities for marketers and retailers.

To capitalize on consumers? increasing use of local search applications, merchants should make sure their sites are properly optimized for mobile browsers.

When you consider that people might visit your store, make a purchase and potentially become a loyal customer all by using a local search application, it makes sense to ensure you are doing everything possible to make your site easily searchable from a mobile device.

And then once consumers are in the store, they are able to use their device to help drive purchasing behavior ? 40 percent of smartphone owners have called someone to get an opinion on an item they are considering purchasing while in a store.

And 39 percent have sent a text and 30 percent have sent a picture of the product to solicit feedback.

IPhone owners have clearly embraced mobile games, with as many as 37 percent reporting they play games on their phones at least daily.

And it is not just a handful of games attracting the attention ? 51 percent of iPhone owners have downloaded more than five different games to their device. 

I would recommend developers start thinking about ways to attract other smartphone owners, and try to get Android and BlackBerry users to become as prolific gamers as their iPhone counterparts.

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