If you’re fishing, you’ll want your line in the water exactly where the fish are. A few years ago Apple iPad’s and Android Tablets came on strong to the market and were all the rage. However, since then smartphone use has grown immensely to be the dominant digital device, and tablets are often thought of as simply overgrown phones or laptops without keyboards. But perception doesn’t always equal reality. The IAB’s new Tablet Playbook demonstrates that these devices are in a class by themselves. Tablets are a highly valued tool used by affluent Americans to not just browse, but to buy products and services. This is why tablets are where you should be spending a key chunk of your media dollars.
How about shopping and buying? Tablets are way dominant over smartphones. The Playbook collects research that shows tablets have almost a 2 to 1 margin of mCommerce sales share.
The common perception is that tablet growth has slowed. Well the answer to that is yes and no. Tablets were released with great technology and fanfare, to the point that there are 156M U.S. users today growing to 173M in 2018 (according to eMarketer’s Dec 2014 Report). We will only see tablet sales increase with better, faster product giving the population a reason to upgrade. Until then, people are using what they have and 156M affluent, educated users is a great audience.
Think about it. You come home from a long day at work or school. You’re on the couch. Can you bring your laptop to the couch? Are you going to grab your 5” cell phone and try and decipher things on a small screen? Yes, people do both, but many Americans opt for the more pleasant experience of simply grabbing their tablet.
Tablets are the ultimate storytelling device. They deliver great video experiences: video viewers are far more likely to watch long-form video (10 minutes or longer) on their tablets than on their PCs or mobiles. For brands, they offer a big beautiful canvas that can fully support large interactive messages or swipeable pages of product. HTML5 ad development tools have made the process easy to build ads that are informative and take advantage of the massive full screen. Now that is impact.
Tablets are the workhorse of today’s digital environment. Tablets are where the fish are biting. Go fish!