Researching iPhone Users

If you’ve been anywhere near the Internet in the last couple of days you know the new iPhone is on sale today. There’s already lots of excitement around the new apps available, along with lots of disappointment about technical difficulties. One dedicated tech guy has even been lovingly streaming his first 24 hours with the device.

Clearly iPhone users are a tad more geeked-out than your average consumer; anecdotal evidence abounds to back this up. But what can we learn using concrete data about the people who’ve purchased and are using iPhones? Today we’ll walk through just some of the available statistics on iPhone usage. If you’re a marketer, you might use this info to help your clients move into the rapidly expanding mobile space. If you’re a small businessperson, you might use this info to more knowledgeably “go it alone” into mobile advertising. And if you’re anybody with a Web site, you might take some of this to heart to get your site found on the mobile web – before it gets too crowded.

Follow along as we look at iPhone users: Who they are, what they do, and how to reach them.

Who they are:

The best place to start in answering this question is a report released today by Nielsen and Hitwise. In addition to looking at an increase in online searches for iPhone-related topics, the report provides some in-depth demographics on people who’ve visited the iPhone Web site and currently use an iPhone. From the report, using Nielsen data:

• Two-thirds (67%) of US iPhone users are male (compared with 48% of all mobile subscribers).

• 55% of iPhone owners are under the age of 35 (compared with 34% of all mobile subscribers).

• iPhone users tend to be more affluent with 63% earning above $75k (compared with 38% of all mobile subscribers).

• 24% of iPhone owners are Hispanic.

A March study of iPhone users from Rubicon Consulting, which we’ve alluded to before, provides usage statistics and includes an entire chapter on characteristics of iPhone users.

And the Pew Internet & American Life Project offers a report on mobile communications which profiles various demographic groups and outlines their activities with smart phones. 


What they do:

Which leads us to the question of what iPhone users do with those intriguing little devices. In addition to the Pew report above, an M:Metrics report (called iPhone Hype Holds Up) is a good source for insight. The report looks at iPhone users specifically, and compares their online activities to the activities of other smart phone users, as well as to Internet users as a whole. The results show that iPhone users far outpace other users in news consumption, online search, and online video viewing.


How to reach them:

But how to connect with these users? If you’re a small business looking for an intro to mobile advertising, check out this mobile advertising overview from the Mobile Marketing Association. It’s a good introduction to the how and why of mobile ads.

If you’ve got more experience in marketing, use this mobile marketing report and forecast to segment current mobile ad spending and project spending into the future. 

And if you’re just a business with a Web site and aren’t sure about diving into all of this right now, perhaps at least think about how iPhone users might find you. Make sure your business is listed in location-based search engines accessible from internet-connected mobile phones. A couple to start with: Google Maps and Yelp.