State of the Mobile App Market

The mobile applications market is growing. According to a joint survey by DM2PRO and Quattro Wireless, 65% of publishers and marketers in North America plan to invest in mobile apps in 2010. “There are now numerous mobile apps that fill utilitarian needs, serving up informative tips and educational bits, plenty that offer pure entertainment and others that hover in between,”says eMarketer's Toby Elkin.“The right kinds of mobile apps tethered to social media can move consumer products marketers closer to their goals.”

The Yankee Group predicts that the US app market will pull in $1.6 billion worth of revenues this year, and that by 2014, revenues will be six times as high at $11 billion. Gartner expects over 4.5 billion applications will be downloaded worldwide this year, garnering $6.8 billion in revenues. By 2013, the number of mobile applications downloaded is expected to grow to nearly 22 billion, bringing in $29.5 billion in revenues. Gartner also predicts that 8 out of 10 applications downloaded will be free, and by 2013, nearly 9 out of every 10 applications will be free.

“Growth in smartphone sales will not necessarily mean that consumers will spend more money, but it will widen the addressable market for an offering that will be advertising-funded,” Stephanie Baghdassarian, research director at Gartner.

The mobile apps trend is expected to hit emerging markets as well. By 2014, approximately 2.6 billion people in Brazil, Russia, India, and China will have access to the mobile Internet. In 2010 alone, there will be more mobile Internet users in China than the entire population of the United States.

With such a staggering concentration of mobile phone subscribers accessing the Internet and downloading apps, the possibilities are endless. Smart brands, particularly global ones, should take advantage of the platform to provide value, engage their audience, and tie mobile into their overall social media and marketing strategy.

Insights on the iPhone Mom

Greystripe's Q3 Mobile Advertising Insights Report provides the most recent data about a little studied demographic: the iPhone mom. According to Greystripe, "the iPhone has greatly altered the mobile application user demographic" whereas in the past mothers were not "a group that advertisers could readily reach through mobile applications." Currently, however, "the iPhone Mom is now a common and active mobile application user. This demographic is particularly interesting to advertisers as iPhone Moms are the dominant purchasing decision makers for households with several consumers."

So who are the iPhone Moms? 62% are between the ages of 25-44, with an additional 24% between 45-54 years old. They are well educated: 30% have a Bachelor's degree, 4% have attended at least some graduate school, and an additional 16% have an MA degree or higher. iPhone moms are varied in the number of children they have and the ages of their children, although they tend to skew older.

Moms download a variety of applications. A full 94% of iPhone moms download games and entertainment apps, 76% download music apps, and 50% use social networking apps. They find out about apps through different sources, including looking at the top apps (67%), checking out the featured apps in the App Store (65%), and through friends (64%).

In addition to applications, 87% of moms use the device for email, 81% use the maps, 68% use the calendar, and 58% for social networking. 79% use their phone for activities related to shopping. The most common shopping related activity? Using their iPhone to locate the nearest store.

Companies Should Use Mobile to Reach Women

With the smart phone battle underway, the US mobile Internet population is increasingly drastically. eMarketer estimates that 29.2% of mobile phone users log on to the Internet from their phones at least once a month, up from 22.3% last year. According to  BIA/Kelsey and ConStat, many of those qualify as “heavy” users—those who go online via mobile more than 10 times per week. And their online activities- researching products and services, purchasing items, and using mobile coupons- closely mimic the top online activities for women.

According to Rick Ducey, the Chief Strategy Officer for BIA/Kelsey, "Consumers have basically doubled their use of the mobile platform for non-voice communications....This represents a fundamental and rapid shift in media use, which needs to be considered in determining the appropriate mix and spending levels among local platforms. Media companies that do not currently offer a differentiated mobile advertising option had better get there quickly.”

Mobile advertising could be a particularly effective tool when targeting women. Smart phones are making the lives of women increasingly easier, with synchronized calendars, mobile applications, and the ability to access the Internet on the go. Forward-thinking companies would have the first-mover advantage to effectively women, particularly young women and moms.