Of all Americans, 64% now own smartphones and 90% own a cell phone at all. There are few people who don’t have access to mobile technology. A Pew Internet study in 2015 looked at the different ways people use their smartphones, and the results were amazing. The question is, how do people use their smartphones, and how can you monopolize on marketing because of it? Here are some tips based on the stats provided by Pew Internet.

Smartphones over at-home internet

Of everyone surveyed, Pew found that 15% of smartphone users have a smartphone but have limited options for going online other than their cell phones. That is a huge number of people who are going to be doing all of their research through mobile instead of using other devices. This is one of the many reasons why marketing through mobile is so much more effective than marketing just through online means. There are a few ways to go about this.

First, make sure your website is optimized for mobile. You are the key source when people start researching your product or service, and if you site isn’t working properly, customers will just go somewhere else.

Next, you should ensure you are highly engaged in social media marketing. Those who are using their smartphones for the internet are probably doing a lot on social media, and it is a great way to get exposure and provide customer service to anyone who has a problem.

Another step would be to ensure you have text marketing available to your customers, so they can text you questions directly and you can respond or send out marketing messages to them. This feature is especially important for people who may not have the ability to just hop on a computer at home and look up information about your company or who don’t even have a smartphone with access to the internet.

Audiences differ on smartphone use

Consider your audience and how they are using their smartphones in order to determine how exactly to target the right customers. For example, 57% of smartphone owners have done online banking from their phones. Given that not all smartphone users are even going to have a bank account, this suggests to a bank that their target audience spends a lot of time on their phones and that their customers appreciate being able to access their information easily through mobile. A text marketing campaign that allows customers to text you and get answers back would be a really good way to communicate with them.

Another example could be of marketing to certain age groups. Only 20% of 50+ year olds use their phones to listen to music, so advertising through music streaming services to that group would not make sense, whereas 92% of people in that same age bracket use their phones for text messaging, making text advertising a good use in that group. Text messaging is always a good use though considering 98% of people 30-49 and 100% of people 18-29 use texting on their phones.

Sources: Pew Internet