The Illusion Of Infinite Choice

Just like listeners, not all mobile users are created equal.

According to researchers at Dscout, the typical mobile user taps or swipes her phone 2,617 times per day, which generates 2.5 hours of screen time.

Meanwhile, heavy mobile users - the top 10% overall - tap and swipe their screens a remarkable 5,427 times per day and spend 3.75 hours on their screen.

Despite this significant amount of daily consumption, the average session lasts less than two minutes, with Netflix being a noteworthy exception.

A smartphone literally offers users the world at their fingertips ... Facebook, Twitter, texting, e-mail, playlists, streaming, search, weather/news/scores, YouTube, Netflix, banking, gaming ... and even phone calls.

Despite the availability of infinite choice, when it comes to actual usage, it's merely an illusion. An astonishing 90% of overall sessions involve using three or fewer apps, with 52% of sessions involving only one app. Most often, the single app being used is Facebook or text messaging.

All the while, there are 2.2 million apps available, with more being added every day.

With so many options available to mobile users, how does your station stand out?

Top Of Mind Awareness (TOMA) is the brand someone thinks about first when considering a category. Grocery shopping is a great example. Each aisle is filled with multiple choices for the same products, but what are the brands you thought about and wrote down as you created your shopping list?

In a world of infinite choice, people seek out familiarity and brands they know and trust. According to author and tech guru Nir Eyal, consumers want familiar done differently, not something entirely new.

Fortunately, you don't need to spend time and resources generating Top Of Mind Awareness across your market, because not all listeners are created equal. In fact, your brand, by design, isn't relevant to a vast majority of the people in your metro.

Instead, focus on the heaviest users who have the most listening to give and will generate the biggest impact. It's the 80/20 rule in action.

As apps with voice activated search grow in popularity, TOMA will become even more important, because radio's traditional ease of use will be less of an advantage, especially in the car.

By definition, you have TOMA with your P1s. It's a tremendous advantage, but are you maximizing their occasions or could they give you more? Further, what do you know about them individually, which can help you engage them and efficiently recruit more of the right heavy users?

Although infinite choice remains mostly an illusion, the power of heavy users is not. The top 10% of mobile phone users consume 50% more screen time than average users. In a similar way, your heavy P1s dominate your listening with 2-3% of your cume generating 50% of your total quarter hours.

Our 360-degree Listener Engagement Strategy generates Top Of Mind Awareness with those who matter most. Contact win@dmrinteractive.com to learn more.