My parents use it. My cousins abroad use it. My colleagues and classmates use it. I use it. Whether you like it or not, let’s face it, mobile devices are becoming an extension of one’s self and it would be very difficult to go about your day without it.
It’s even supported by evidence gathered from “state of mobile” reports. Without a doubt, I agree with the findings of these reports. Claims such as “consumers are glued to their mobile devices 5 hours a day” and “mobile time is mostly app time” because it is a fact that I use my device nearly 5 hours a day and that I do use my smartphone for app activity.
If I were telling these statements to my parents or my grandparents, they would be appalled by my use because there is that generational stigma of “being on your phone means that I’m doing useless things”, but that is far from the facts. Let me take you on a journey of how my mobile day looks like to prove that being on my phone doesn’t mean I’m wasting my time.
So how many applications do I have on my phone?
I have a grand total of 168 applications downloaded in my phone. I’m quite surprised at that number because I don’t use all those apps too often as I tend to spend my time in apps that are related to news, social networking, productivity, and entertainment. All the other apps I have improve the quality of life aspect of using my phone. Things like mobile banking, cooking apps, fitness apps, reservation apps, education and learning apps are all applications that I use daily but at a lower volume than the ones I mentioned earlier.
Even popularity contests exist with apps.
As an aspiring digital marketer, it’s imperative that I keep up with the latest global and social trends, latest memes to inspire entertaining content ideas, industry news, local and global news. These are my 5 most frequently used apps.
The first app I use is Instagram. I have two accounts on the platform — one to follow different leading brands in multiple categories of B2C and B2B brands and the other that is more akin to my own interests.
The first account that I scroll through is used mainly to get a sense of what brands are doing to publish content analyzing their approach to differentiating amongst the competition.
My personal account follows categories akin to my interests such as men’s apparel brands, zero-waste focused accounts, sporting teams and clubs, consumer brands and musical artists. I tend to analyze what these accounts are doing creatively to be more engaging with their followers by inspiring interaction in the comments section. As an aspiring digital marketer, it’s important to learn from the people, or in this case accounts, that are “doing social media well”.
Twitter is my main source for consuming news at a faster pace than I would when I’m reading long form articles. I like to keep updated reading short and concise tweets so that I can allocate the time I would have otherwise used for reading to other things that are important for my day like catching up on projects and assignments for school, life stuff like banking or doing groceries and commuting without distraction (I wouldn’t want to be one of those people who are on their phone walking on a busy sidewalk being inattentive to their surroundings).
Reviews — Yelp, Google Search (Micro-Moments)
I tend to use the mobile versions of Yelp and Google Search to find solutions for those micro-moments of “want to know, want to go, want to learn, want to buy”. Usually these take place while I’m on the go, inside a store or looking up where to eat. Sometimes a micro-moment of “want to learn” takes place when I’m confused about something I’m learning and that thinking prompts me to do a Google Search on that topic to get more clarity on it. Thankfully, I almost always find what I’m looking for making me feel comfortable with I find.
Bobby Voicu described Reddit in a perfect way in a Medium article he wrote last year: Reddit is a forum of forums, a community of communities. It’s not your regular Facebook or Twitter or Instagram. It’s a customizable collection of information that you can tailor for yourself based on your own niche interests. I tend to use Reddit as a learning platform. Aside from viewing occasional pet photos and reading wordy debates and political discussions, you can find a niche forum for anything like building a pc, keto recipes or frugal living.
Since I’m still a student looking for full-time work, LinkedIn is super important to me. I use it to browse jobs, see what recruiters are looking for in a candidate and use that knowledge to understand what I need to learn and translate that into a marketable skill.
Messaging — Slack, Kakaotalk, Messages, Messenger
These are the apps I use for instant communication with my colleagues, friends and classmates. Without these apps, I don’t think I could handle waiting forever for responses.
I hate it when I can’t connect to the internet in times of urgency
Information is always available as long as you have a stable internet connection. Whenever I have those moments of “I need to know now” and my mobile internet connection is weak or absent, I tend to go looking for areas in my proximity where I think cellular data reception is strongest to strengthen that connection because I needed the information urgently.
Marketers Need to Prioritize Mobile-first Marketing
It’s important for marketers to optimize their content for mobile viewership and accessibility. Loading times for webpages may turn off the user and result in a negative experience with the brand. By approaching a marketing strategy with a mobile-first design will ultimately lead to positive brand sentiment and increased brand value because the world is increasingly becoming mobile.
To wrap up, the world will continue to be data driven and mobile driven. my mobile days are typically filled with information gathering for learning and growing as an individual and aspiring digital marketer, learning on the go with respect to valuable life lessons, and seeking instant satisfaction based on my mobile micro-moments of “want to know, want to buy and want to do”.