By now many of you may have seen the Manning boys sing about football on your phone.
But there are many more things people are doing. We know that people use their smartphones to go online. You may even be reading this on your smartphone right now. What we didn't know were the demographics of cell phone internet users- until now. Pew Internet released their Cell Internet Use 2013 report, which details who is using the internet on their cell phones and how they are using it. Most notably, the study found that 63% now go online using their mobile phones, more than doubling the amount that did in 2009 and up 8 points from 2012.
In order to best understand these "cell internet users", as they have been dubbed, Pew took a closer look at the demographics. They reported that the following groups have high levels of cell phone internet users, and also happen to be the same groups which have high levels of smartphone ownership:
- Young adults: Cell owners ages 18-29 are the most likely of any demographic group to use their phone to go online: 85% of them do so, compared with 73% of cell owners ages 30-49, and 51% of those ages 50-64. Just 22% of cell owners ages 65 and older go online from their phones, making seniors the least likely demographic group to go online from a cell phone.
- Non-whites: Three-quarters (74%) of African-American cell phone owners are cell internet users, as are 68% of Hispanic cell owners.
- The college-educated: Three-quarters (74%) of cell owners with a college degree or higher are cell internet users, along with two-thirds (67%) of those who have attended (but not graduated) college.
- The financially well-off: Cell phone owners living in households with an annual income of $75,000 or more per year are significantly more likely than those in every other income category to go online using their phones. Some 79% of these affluent cell owners do so.
- Urban and suburban residents: Urban and suburban cell owners are significantly more likely to be cell internet users than those living in rural areas. Some 66% of urbanites and 65% of suburban-dwellers do so, compared to half of rural residents.
An important segment of cell internet users are the "cell mostly internet users", or those who mostly use their phone to go online. This group is made of 34% of the cell internet users, a significant increase from 27% in 2011 when Pew began reporting on these users. Pew also broke down the demographics of those who mostly access the internet on their phones:
- Non-whites: Among those who use their phone to go online, six in ten Hispanics and 43% of African-Americans are cell-mostly internet users, compared with 27% of whites.
- Young adults: Half of cell internet users ages 18-29 mostly use their cell phone to go online.
- The less-educated: Some 45% of cell internet users with a high school diploma or less mostly use their phone to go online, compared with 21% of those with a college degree.
- The less-affluent: Similarly, 45% of cell internet users living in households with an annual income of less than $30,000 mostly use their phone to go online, compared with 27% of those living in households with an annual income of $75,000 or more.
As mobile marketing skyrockets to the forefront of media, it is important to keep these demographics in mind when developing mobile campaigns as they provide a large reach and a large opportunity for advertisers.