Commentary
A Profile Of The Cross-Device User
- by Tyler Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_tyler, June 6, 2014
Whether the campaigns are automated or bought direct, marketers are increasingly focused on cross-device advertising because that’s what consumer behavior is calling for. But what does the cross-device user look like?
According to a new infographic from Drawbridge, an ad platform with a focus on cross-device marketing, the typical multi-device user has 2.5 devices.
Of those users, 60% choose Android or iOS for both their phone and tablet. That figure is a bit surprising -- I would have assumed more consumers would go with uniformity across their devices.
Apple users are more loyal to Apple than Android users are to Android when it comes to a second device. Drawbridge found that of iPhone owners who own a tablet, 78% own an iPad. On the flip side, Android phone owners only go with an Android tablet 44% of the time.
Broken down by gender, Drawbridge says that 68% of multi-device females go with the iPhone/iPad combo, while just 23% of males go the all-Apple route. In fact, males are almost twice as likely (43%) to go the all-Android route.
The full infographic can
be found here.
Tyler Loechner is a MediaPost Reporter covering real-time, programmatic, RTB and more. You can reach Tyler at tyler@mediapost.com.
so? lol
Howie: thanks for the comment. I found it interesting that only 60% of users go with the same system for phone/tablet. That shows that they aren't looking for the same experience on all their screens -- perhaps that translates to ads, too? Something to think about. (yes, 60% is still the majority, but it's not an overwhelming majority).
Tyler: that definitely translates to ads. At a minimum, one needs to take into consideration whether a user is likely to be using a mouse or their finger to interact with an ad. Ditto available screen real estate; standard IAB desktop ad sizes can look like postage stamps on smartphones and tablets. So if you're targeting a consumer across devices, it's ideal to deploy ad formats suitable to a range of devices. At a technical level, that's not rocket science to a competent developer/designer. The challenge is to provide cross-device creative at scale for all advertisers without requiring massive creative budgets and long lead times. Currently, I would bet that aside from deep-pocketed and forward-thinking brands, advertisers aren't yet confronting the question you brought up (that's not to say the problem isn't being worked on, though).