“What would men be without women? Scarce, sir…mighty scarce.”
― Mark Twain
It’s true indeed, especially when we take a look at the behavior of how the fair sex has adopted and responded to smartphones over the years.
Let’s take a look at how women and mobile vs. how men use mobile phones and apps them & how social media has shifted.
First off, unlike men, (yes guys, you know this to be true, deep deep down) women tend to make more thought out decisions and as such they compare (re)sources, options and converse with each other about specifics and advice.
In other words, women share info at a different level than men. Women are much more inclined to stay abreast with things and relate at a deeper and more immersive level. By the virtue of these facts, women have come to dominate the social media context in many areas. Let’s see how.
The first two are Facebook and Twitter. Women are now the majority on both services. On Twitter, women lead with 64% while on Facebook they lead with 58%. Through these social apps, women branch towards every other mobile application category, leading to a high-growth potential for the mobile industry through social networks.
Besides being much more socially active, the shocker comes in regards to games .Where it once was the bastion of nerdy guys, now the scepter has been passed to women. Zynga, the largest online gaming network, with 250 million players logging on every month, shows that 60% of players are women.
As someone once said, ,,Dudettes are more awesome than us when they play games, we just look like geeks”. Seeing as games are the most sought out apps besides social applications, marketers should factor this in their equations and strategies.
The third one would be according to a recent Ericsson study, which shows that worldwide, 77 percent of women send and receive photos, 59 percent use social networking, 24 percent use apps to check in at physical locations.
This heavy exchange of info and activities have resulted in women driving smartphone usage/adoption to a point where they are dominant over men in terms of usershare. For example, did you know that in the US, women own more smartphones than men?
Think of it in these terms. Women influence 64% of global purchases of pretty much everything. 2013 is expected to be a year of many market shifts in developing and defining smartphones and mobile apps that can offer more polished monetization techniques and strategies that take into account the complexities of how women are juggling busy lives and looking for quality solutions.
To women, their smartphone is an extension of who they are, not just a gadget to bring to parties, it’s an essential tool that makes it easier to socialise, manage schedules, order products, research, ease the workload at their jobs, find directions, plan their day, discover new music and entertainment, edit documents, share photos, the list is quite extensive.
All of these lead to a simple yet high-impact conclusion that marketers and developers must never lose sight of: Women look for a holistic experience from their phone.
In doing so, women stand to play a pivotal role in the adoption of broad mass market smartphones and mobile apps in 2013 and setting new standards for quality and needs.
We leave you with a question : Do you think that the mobile and mobile application industry will be marketed more to women or the strategies will be focused on both genders equally?
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