A Third Of Cell Phone Owners Search For Health Information

According to The Pew Internet & American Life Project, in conjunction with Princeton Survey Research, 85% of U.S. adults (264,853,129 million) own a cell phone, and 31% (82,104,470) of them have used their phone to look for health information. Two years ago, only 17% of cell phone owners had used their phones to look for health advice.

Smartphone owners lead this activity: 52% gather health information on their phones, compared with 6% of non-smartphone owners. Cell phone owners who are Latino, African American, between the ages of 18-49, or hold a college degree are also more likely to gather health information this way.

80% of cell phone owners say they send and receive text messages, but just 9% of cell phone owners say they receive any text updates or alerts about health or medical issues. Women, those between the ages of 30 and 64, and smartphone owners are more likely than other cell phone owners to have signed up for health text alerts.

Smartphones enable the use of mobile software applications to help people track or manage their health. Some 19% of smartphone owners have at least one health app on their phone. Exercise, diet, and weight apps are the most popular types. Mobile health continues to climb in popularity, especially among smartphone owners.

Among all cell phone owners, some demographic groups are more likely than others to look for health information on their phones: Latinos, African Americans, those between the ages of 18 and 49, and college graduates.

Mobile Health Information Seekers’ Demographics (% of cell phone owners within each group who use their phones to look for health or medical information online)
Segment

% of Respondents

All cell phone owners

31%

   Men

29

   Women

33

Age
   1829

42

   3049

39

   5064

19

   65+

9

Race/ethnicity
   White, NonHispanic

27

   Black, NonHispanic

35

   Hispanic

38

Annual household income
   Less than $30,000/yr

28

   $30,000$49,999

30

   $50,000$74,999

37

   $75,000+

37

Education level
   No high school diploma

17

   High school grad

26

   Some College

33

   College +

38

Source: Pew Internet/CHCF Health Survey, November 2012

Mobile health information also seems to appeal to certain groups of health consumers: caregivers, people who went through a recent medical crisis, and those who experienced a recent, significant change in their physical health such as gaining or losing a lot of weight, becoming pregnant, or quitting smoking.

Mobile Health Information by Phone: Health Status (% of cell phone owners within each group who use their phone to look for health or medical information online)
Group & Health Status

% of Respondents

All cell phone owners

31%

Caregiver
   Yes

37

   No

27

Those with chronic conditions
   No conditions

34

   One or more conditions

26

Faced medical crisis in last 12 months
   Yes

40

   No

30

Significant health change in last 12 months
   Yes

41

   No

28

Source: Pew Internet/CHCF Health Survey, November 2012

In 2010, when the same percentage of U.S. adults owned cell phones, 17% of cell phone owners reported using their phones to access health information. Today, that number stands at 31%, almost double the previous figure.

Nearly all demographic groups report significant increases in this activity, with the exception of those over 65 and those who did not complete high school. A few groups stand out: cell phone owners who are African American, college graduates, women, those with an annual household income between $50,000 and $74,999, and those between the ages of 3049. Smartphone ownership has greatly increased over the last two years and no doubt had an effect on this trend.

Health Information Accessed by Phone,Then and Now (% of cell phone owners within each group who use their phone to look up health or medical information)
Category 2010 2012
All cell phone owners

17%

31%

   Men

17

29

   Women

16

33

Age
   1829

29

42

   3049

18

39

   5064

7

19

   65+ 8

9

Race/Ethnicity
   White, nonHispanic

15

27

   Black, nonHispanic

19

35

   Hispanic

25

38

Annual household income
   Less than $30,000/yr

15

28

   $30,000$49,999

17

30

   $50,000$74,999

17

37

   $75,000+

22

37

Education level
   No high school diploma

16

17

   High School grad 1

2

26

   Some college

21

33

   College+

20

38

Source: Pew Internet/CHCF Health Survey, November 2012    

Text messaging is a nearly universal activity, especially among younger cell phone owners, but it has not yet had a significant impact on the health market. 80% of cell phone owners say they send and receive text messages, but just 9% of cell phone owners say they receive any text updates or alerts about health or medical issues.

Health Apps Users (% of smartphone owners within each group who have software applications on their phone to track or manage health
Category

% of Respondents

All smartphone owners

19%

   Men

16

   Women

23

Age
   1829

24

   3049

19

   5064

16

   65+

10

Race/ethnicity
   White, NonHispanic

19

   Black, NonHispanic

21

   Hispanic

15

Annual household income
   Less than $30,000/yr

14

   $30,000$49,999

21

   $50,000$74,999

21

   $75,000+

23

Education level
   High school grad

11

   Some College

24

   College +

22

Source: Pew Internet/CHCF Health Survey, November 2012

Source, all data: Pew Internet/CHCF Health Survey, August 7September 6, 2012. N=3,014 adults ages 18+. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish, on landline and cell phones. Margin of error is +/3 percentage points for results based on cell phone owners.

For additional information and the PDF file, please visit PewInternet here.

Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/187831/a-third-of-cell-phone-owners-search-for-health-inf.html#ixzz2DZYHG2Ze

The Power Of Advertising At Point Of Decision

$500 CPMs?
by Steve Smith , Tuesday, April 24, 2012

It isn’t easy to impress sleep-deprived and constitutionally aloof college students with a cell phone. But I got a real rise out of a college class several years ago when I brought in the first Android phone as part of a gadget show-and-tell and showed them how ShopSavvy worked. I grabbed a Pepsi from a fellow in the front row and scanned its UPC code to bring up a polished page of details, including where nearby they could pick one up. “Whoa!” some of them said in teen parlance. They got it.

This kind of app now is commonplace and has spun off into a number of variations from both first-party retailers and third-party shopping app providers. But we still are only beginning to understand how mobile works in the aisle. The power of bringing the cloud of data and resources down to the point of sale and the point of need is monstrously powerful. This is not only tapping into a time and place, but that mood of consumption that can go in several directions. The consumer might indeed be poached by a rival retailer, as Amazon has ventured to do of late. But the in-store shopping app can also help drive a person toward the item they already are viewing on that retailer’s shelf.

Despite the reputation of shopping apps as poaching devices that turn retail stores into showrooms for online buys, the opposite may also be true, says Jim Barkow, co-founder of Longboard Media, which runs advertising into the ShopSavvy app. “Often the mobile app can reinforce the decision of buying in the store. The price differential to online may be nominal and may push in-store sales.” While obviously some real research needs to be done on this question, it seems reasonable that an app can convince the typical shopper that he or she is not going to find a better deal online — or at least not find enough of a deal to matter.

What we do know about mobile use in retail is that it taps into consumers at the height of a very energetic decision process. “The interactions are off the charts,” says Longboard’s other co-founder Scott Engler. Longboard serves ads into retail Web sites for Overstock.com, NewEgg and RadioShack. But the difference between people in shopping mode on their desktop and actually in-store is phenomenal, as Engler and Barkow observe. Since starting to feed ads into ShopSavvy they have seen users escalate their activity to referencing 30 products a month. Between 15 and 17 million people are using the app across the available platforms. The company also partners with Spotzot to drive ads into its deals engine that drives other shopping apps.

“Believe it or not, month after month, the most-scanned products are milk and other consumer packaged goods,” says Barkow. People are doing price checks and local availability checks. “Mobile mostly is out of the office and out-of-home,” says Barkow. “It is always localized and almost always in an actual store.”

Getting advertising, whether competitive product offers or general branding messages, at that point of heightened consumer awareness is proving extremely valuable. “CPMs are north of $500 for ShopSavvy,” says Engler. “We are getting 30%-plus click-through rates.”

Alexander Muse, co-founder of ShopSavvy, confirms the CPMs and the levels of interactivity. He tells me that on non-targeted ads, they may see CTRs down around 10% to 30%. “When we target based on product and location, they climb to over 30%,” he says.

It seems plausible that at least for now, people will follow even irrelevant ads when in shopping mode. When I played with the latest version of ShopSavvy, for instance, a scan of a Halls cough drop package rendered a handsome page with a moving image of the product, links to prices and availability — but also a prominent link to an HP products page. PC printers and cough drops? Well, here still is the novelty factor of in-app advertising, and the share of voice here is singular. But one has to wonder how much being in the throes of shopping mode also just makes us receptive to marketing messages — no matter how irrelevant.

Muse confirms that when the advertising becomes category-specific and well-targeted, the price of entry is considerable.  “Our average CPM is $500,” he claims. “We sell them as $.50 targeted exposures.”

Barkow says that retailers and brands can leverage this level of interactivity and shopping energy in many ways beyond mere advertising. He believes targeted content will be the future of in-store shopping app promotions. “If someone is doing a price check, we can use mobile not just to push an ad unit, but to push more content. They need reviews and more detailed specs. We should be able to use mobile distribution to push more content at the point of purchase.”

Which is another way of saying what some of us have been saying about this platform from the beginning. Mobile is marketing’s big chance to get beyond advertising. This is where your brand moves off the centuries-old stage of being the annoying carnival barker we tolerate because he gives away tickets to the show. Now the marketer gets a chance to come off the stage and be a real part of the audience, enhance and enrich their experience and become a partner/companion — not just a shill.

Getting into the store aisle shouldn’t just be an opportunity to poach and pitch. That is a message with a very short shelf life. There is greater value to be added than that.

Steve Smith is the editor of Mobile Marketing Daily at Mediapost where he covers all aspects of the mobile landscape and writes the daily MoBlog and regular Mobile Insider columns. He also programs the OMMA Mobile/Display/Data and Behavioral series of shows and the Mobile Insider Summits. A recovering academic who taught media studies at Brown and University of Virginia, he spent the last decade as a digital media critic for numerous publications and as consultant. He also writes for Media Industry Newsletter and eContent magazine. Contact him here.

12 Mobile Apps to Help Boost Productivity

 

 

I couldn’t resist sharing these. I’m interested in several to test drive.

PR and communications practitioners are no longer solely trading tips on their favorite computer programs or gadgets. Mobile applications are fast becoming the go-to choice for busy professionals looking to be more effective and efficient at their jobs.

A survey on social CRM and mobile capabilities by Nucleus Research , earlier this month, reveals productivity increases 14.6 percent on average when using mobile apps and 11.8 percent with social CRM. Mobile apps won’t necessarily minimize your workload; however, adding them to your mobile toolbox (beyond supplementing email) can help make integration with existing technology and services a whole lot easier. Thus, helping you stay competitive and relevant.

Applications for Android, Blackberry, and iPhone

  • SpeedTest.Net: Android and iPhone fans (sorry Blackberry) can optimize their smart phone and/or network through real-time download and upload graphs that measure connection speeds.
  • Morning Coffee: Every savvy professional needs to stay in the know. Start your day off right with your alarm, news, RSS feed, and more, all in one app.
  • Dropbox: Maintaining file integrity can be a daunting task. Cloud technology at its finest, Dropbox automatically accesses, saves, syncs, and shares your files on the go via the app installed on all of your native devices.
  • EasySign Mobile: Digitally sign Word docs, PDFs, JPEGS, and more without having to print or scan paper documents.
  • HopStop: Never get lost or stuck while commuting again. Named one of “25 Essential Android Apps for Travelers” and a “Top 10 Mobile App for Travel” by Travel Magazine, HopStop helps you find door-to-door transit, walking, biking, taxi, and hourly car rental directions in over 100 cities.
  • Neat Call: Use this app to streamline meetings from scheduling times to actual communication, including: conference calls, web meetings, video conferences, and chat rooms all in one place.


Android Only

  • AndroZip File Manager: If you’re an Android user, you probably know how hard it is to receive and organize large files and documents on your phone. With this app, open encrypted and compressed files and archive and modify existing documents.
  • Google Goggles: Text search is so 2010. Currently in beta, this app let’s you search the web using pictures rather than struggle to come up with keywords and phrases.


Blackberry Only

  • Blackberry Messenger: This instant messaging app for Blackberry smart phone users allows you to socialize over other Blackberry applications, connect with your favorite music collection, communicate in real time, and build your network. For those of you who have changed devices, but still have friends on the Blackberry network, a beta version is in the works.
  • Battery Boost Ultimate: Save your battery and optimize its usage on your Blackberry to enhance performance.


iPhone Only

  • Engage121: For Engage121 (BurrellesLuce Social Media Monitoring) subscribers, this app lets you monitor your community’s conversation and respond in real-time without being tied to a desk.
  • Notability: Enhance your note taking experience with handwriting integration, PDF annotation, typing, recording, and organization. Then sync with Dropbox.

BottomLine: No matter your productivity needs, interests, or preferred mobile device, there are hundreds of apps that can help you work more efficiently. BurrellesLuce WorkFlow also helps you work smarter by providing all of your media planning, monitoring, and measurement services in one convenient and easy-to-use tool that you can access online or via the mobile web. So whether your coverage appears in print, online, or broadcast – BurrellesLuce monitors all of the media that matters most to you, including proprietary, copyright-compliant sources no other service provides.

About BurrellesLuce

Taking control of every stage of your media planning, monitoring, and reporting needs is simple and effective with BurrellesLuce. Our comprehensive suite of affordable services is fully integrated in one convenient and easy-to-use portal, BurrellesLuce WorkFlow™. Incorporate and review your traditional print, broadcast, online and social media results in one report. Research and engage journalists and bloggers, and intelligently plan future campaigns. Build and manage social media communities. WorkFlow gives you everything you need to start organizing and managing your media relations and public relations results.

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Unhealthy Habit: Why Haven’t You Optimized Your Mobile Experience Yet?

By Reggie Bradford Tuesday, April 3, 2012

We’ve reached the tipping point where the most creative, engaging and action-driving digital marketing initiatives that were originally designed specifically for the Web can be a wasted investment. This is due to the fact that the majority of your audience is likely seeing this content on their smartphone and it’s not optimized for the mobile channel. Case in point, for the first time ever, smartphones outsold PCs this year, and that ratio will only continue to grow.

Mobile devices provide immediate access to information, anytime, anywhere. For example, patients can conduct research from within the doctor’s office or refill prescriptions on the go; people who exercise can check-in to their gym and track their fitness regimen; dieters can update their diet-trackers; and sport coaches can find the nearest doctor -– with directions -– should anything happen at out-of-town tournaments.

So, what’s the prognosis, if you’re not mindful of the growing audience using mobile devices? If the content isn’t optimized for mobile, then that new “find our nearest locations” button is probably too small to see on your customer’s Android screen and that great site-intro developed entirely in Flash won’t be seen from any Apple devices. This results in marketers running the risk of losing loyal customers, if their mobile web experience isn’t all encompassing on one device. Think of full customer service lines, decreased access to information and other missed-connection opportunities.

Many companies in the healthcare industry have already optimized mobile experiences for their patients and customers –- and with each example I’ve provided below, there are lessons to be learned to ensure an optimized digital experience for all users, making it that much easier for consumers to access information from any device.

Recognizing Healthy Mobile Attributes

Understanding that an increasing number of patients accessed their website via the mobile Web, earlier this year, Kaiser Permanente, the largest managed care organization in the United States, launched an optimized mobile site. The new site means that Kaiser Permanente patients can now access their own medical information, securely and from anywhere in the world, through any Web-enabled device. Kaiser Permanente hopes to greatly increase the customer experience by featuring 24/7 access to lab results and diagnostic information as well as providing direct and secure email services with their doctors via a site that has fast load time, automatically scaled to the device’s screen size and providing easy navigation and scroll features. By focusing on the services that matter most to their patients, the company expects mobile traffic “to increase significantly with the new mobile-optimized site.”

Walgreens and CVS are two examples of pharmacies that truly understand the priorities of customers that are accessing their storefronts via mobile. In both their smartphone apps and optimized mobile Web sites, customers are able to input and/or scan their prescription barcodes for quick and easy refill orders. Additionally, these two sites feature a consumer-friendly navigation system with efficient scrolling features as well as e-commerce capabilities. Upon accessing the site, customers have the option to immediately download their respective smartphone apps -– a feature that more loyal and frequent customers surely appreciate.

Mobile Web and smartphone apps are only a part of the larger mobile experience. It’s also important for healthcare and wellness companies to think of the big picture and get creative with customer engagement. For example, Foursquare’s badge system is perfect for pushing patients to reach their goals. The company partnered with HealthMonth to introduce new Foursquare badges while making life improvements and help “increase the chances of actually making meaningful changes.”

Speaking of social, it’s time that marketers embrace their mobile-social customers. As I’ve mentioned before, healthcare marketers need to leverage the social Web. Many individuals are looking to their social groups for advice, information, counsel and resources – such as this woman who is grateful for the ability to quickly and easily share a photo of her son’s rash, which allowed a neighbor to identify the rare condition and intervene at a crucial time! Further, with about 40% of Facebook users coming in via mobile, Facebook has been placing a lot more attention on its mobile strategy, rolling out a multitude of mobile features for brands, including premium mobile ads and the new mobile-friendly Timeline layout for brand pages. How is your company’s social presence optimized for mobile users? Are the links, photos and features accessible via Facebook mobile?

Stay ahead of the curve to ensure that your customers are able to access the information, resources, products and services that are most important to their brand experience. Take note of trends like social gaming and Pinterest – activities that pull both mobile and desktop users. Aetna took note of the gaming trend and teamed up with social gaming company Mindbloom to offer Life Game, a “rewarding and effective way for Aetna’s members to make lasting improvements in their physical and emotional well-being.” And while Pinterest doesn’t currently feature a health, medical or healthcare category, this destination reaches an engaged community of mostly younger females -–  the same segment that is responsible for most health and medical-care decisions.

Key Takeaway: Mobile is NOT an Afterthought 

Mobile should be built into marketing efforts. Understanding both where and how your customers and patients are discovering your business will support in optimizing mobile experiences and ensure that engaging, informative and resourceful content is accessible to any consumer, from any device.

Reggie Bradford is the founder and CEO of Vitrue, a social marketing platform. He was the CMO of WebMD and CEO of N2 Broadband before founding Vitrue in 2006.

E Book Revolution From Gatekeepers Pressures Publishers

The nation’s largest book publishers are facing increasing pricing pressure on the digital front as the number of cheap, self-published digital titles gain popularity with readers seeking budget-minded entertainment.

As digital sales surge, publishers are casting a worried eye towards the previously scorned self-published market. Unlike five years ago, when self-published writers rarely saw their works on the same shelf as the industry’s biggest names, the low cost of digital publishing, coupled with Twitter and other social-networking tools, has enabled previously unknown writers to make a splash.

Mobil Users Prefer Mobile Web For Access Rather Than Download

From the Center For Media Research:

reports brief subscribe home
Thursday, November 4, 2010

 

Mobile Web For Media and Entertainment, Apps For Social Media and Music

According to the results of the first quantitative mobile consumer study by Adobe Systems, when it comes to the mobile user experience, respondents generally favor mobile browser experiences over downloadable mobile app experiences across all four key consumer categories: consumer products & shopping, financial services, media & entertainment, and travel.Within the consumer products & shopping as well as the media & entertainment categories, 66% of respondents cited that they prefer the mobile Web for accessing content compared to 34% who cited a preference for downloadable apps. 38% of respondents said they had not purchased anything in the consumer products & shopping category from their devices in the last six months.

Brad Rencher, vice president and general manager, Omniture Business Unit, Adobe, said “… though mobile apps continue to be extremely popular, mobile users aren’t ignoring mobile websites… ”

Media & entertainment were found to be the highest-penetrated mobile category, by number of users and time spent, with only 3% of those surveyed saying they had not interacted with media content on a mobile device in the last six months. Consumer products & shopping was the least penetrated, with the fewest number of users citing that they have purchased consumer goods from their phones. Despite their differences, media & entertainment and consumer products & shopping drew the highest percentage of satisfied mobile users out of the four categories, with 89% and 85% respectively.

Other key findings include:

  • Accessing maps and directions is the No. 1 mobile activity (81%) followed by social networking (76%), accessing local information (73%), and reading news (68%). The top mobile finance activity is reviewing bank account information (67%)
  • CDs, games and DVDs comprise the second largest mobile purchase category, accounting for 43% of those surveyed
  • Males 30-49 years-old tend to be the most active content consumers and mobile purchasers; 31% of men spent $499 or more through their mobile device in the last 12 months, versus 23% of women
  • Men also spend more time than women on financial and travel content, while 80% of women engage with social media on their devices compared to 70% of men

And, relating to mobile use, eMarketer posted some recent forecasts for mobile ad spending through 2014. According the the eMarketer forecast, 2014 will see $2,549.5 million in US Mobile ad spending. Spending projections continue to span a wide range, however, reflecting mobile’s status as an emerging channel. They also charted the comparable forecast period from several other sources for comparison.

US Mobile Ad Spending, 2009-2014 (Display, Search and Message-Based Advertising; $ in Millions)
Year Ad Spending (MM) Change
2009 $416.0 30%
2010 743.1 79
2011 1,102.4 48
2012 1,501.3 36
2013 2,036.8 36
2014 2,549.5 25
Source: eMarketer, September 2010
Selected Comparative Estimates, US Mobile Ad Spending ($ in Millions)
Forecast By: Date 2010 2011 2012 2013
Borrell Assoc. 4/2010 6,100 10,600 16,600 24,200
JP Morgan 1/2010 3,790 5,099 6,303
Meyers Publishing 12/2009 914 1,280 2,048
Credit Suisse 7/2010 785 1,615 3,072 4,548
eMarketer 9/2010 743 1,102 1,501 2,037
Forrester Research 7/2009 561 748 950 1,131
Yankee Group 4/2010 242 324 432 572
Source: eMarketer, Various 2009/2010, October 2010

eMarketer predicts steeper growth in display spending, banners, rich media and video, accompanied by a sharper drop in messaging’s share of total mobile ad spending.

Noah Elkin, eMarketer principal analyst and author of the report, concludes “These shifts reflect the evolution of mobile from a channel associated primarily with direct response campaigns to one marketers will increasingly use for branding purposes,”

Said Elkin, “In short, the continued development of devices, browsers and mobile networks, combined with the availability and marketer awareness of richer ad units, will significantly enhance how marketers will be able to use mobile to interact and engage with consumers.”

For additional information about the Adobe report, please visit here, and for more from eMarketer, go here.

This commentary is insightful. I recommend it to others.

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Formatting Tips for Mobile Devices

Formatting Tips For Mobile Devices
Guides, Standards and Best Practices

We recently introduced the capability to create special content in ECN for mobile devices.

When creating content, you can now create HTML, text, and mobile content in the same screen.

Below are some handy tips to keep in mind when creating content to be read on a mobile device:

Suggested Tips & Tricks for Creating a Mobile Email

  • Email Width: 320 pixels
  • Font Size: 8pt
  • Subject Lines: Use short subjects such as Action Item; Reminder, etc.
  • Hyperlinks: Keep full URLs; don’t hyperlink names of people or places
  • Headers: Use a text only header
  • Copy: Use the first 100 characters (20-25 words) to get your point across
  • Images: Place images below header text