As necessary as it is to daily life and my job, part of me is annoyed with our culture’s dependency on technology. Annoyed with sitting in public — restaurant, gym, bar, supermarket, you-name-it-kind-of-store — and seeing the majority of people with their heads buried in a smart phone.
Annoyed that face-to-face conversations are a dead art. Annoyed that a couple on a date can’t make it through dinner without one of them reaching for their phone as the other gets up to use the restroom.
Annoyed that I just described myself.
Yes, whether I like it or not, I’m fully immersed in this lifestyle. Here I sit with not one, not two, but three screens in front of me. I have a laptop, an external monitor, and of course, an iPhone all on my desk. My co-worker is holding an iPad, and if I had the chance, I’d have one too.
And while we all may feel a little like Fred Armisen in this Portlandia sketch from time to time, this is the modern workplace. Multiple devices, multiple screens; each used to complete every task necessary for running your business. But just how many devices does the average worker use, or need?
Whether you realize it or not, we are all using multiple devices on a daily basis. Sitting at home watching a movie or television show on your laptop while texting a friend or checking your email. It’s second nature.
Last year, Google examined this trend and found that 90 percent of people move between at least two devices in order to complete a task. That’s 9 out of 10 people doing something along the lines of checking an email on their smart phone before moving to a laptop or tablet.
In a similar research report from Forrester, the breakdown of how many devices people are actually using becomes much clearer. After surveying 9,900 employees, the independent market research company found that 74 percent used at least two devices on a daily basis at the workplace. Additionally, 52 percent used three or more devices, 16 percent used four or more and 14 percent used six or more!
With workers using personal devices — smart phones and tablets — along with a desktop or laptop, they are able to complete tasks at a quicker rate virtually anywhere. In fact, many researchers say workers are currently adopting mobile technology in the workplace at a much faster rate than when desktops were first introduced.
Multiple Devices for Marketing
Along with understanding the new trend of multiple devices in the workplace, as a small business owner, you should also understand how multiple devices can impact your marketing strategy.
In the same study from Google, the company found that customers often take a multiple-device path before making a purchase. An estimated 65 percent start on a smart phone with 61 percent then moving to a PC or laptop and only four percent moving to a tablet. Twenty-five percent of customers reportedly start on a laptop while only 11 percent start on a tablet.
This means that a strong web presence across multiple platforms is as important as ever. This also means advertisers and marketers should approach each platform differently in order to appeal to their consumers more effectively. You have to tailor ads or content to best fit the device consumers are using.
“While marketers once generated content to fit manufactured and static advertising placements, consumers now control their own flow of content — from day to night, and from screens large and small,” Natasha Hritzuk, senior global director of Research & Insights at Microsoft Advertising, said. “So it’s even more imperative that marketers understand consumer motivations in order to meet them in their moment.”
The reliance on technology and multiple devices in the workplace and in marketing is only going to intensify in the coming years. By understanding this trend, you can not only use these devices to your benefit by completing tasks, but by also reaching your audience on multiple, dynamic levels, across various platforms.
People wants to be very convenient in their routine life..