Nowadays, more and more businesses are collecting data and information with the help of mobile phones, which is called Mobile Data collection. Using Mobile Data presents many benefits, as it allows to get quick access to information, enabling the sales department to increase its efficiency, gives the marketing department tools for better targeting and more. Moreover, the hardware and software technology used in the process for mobile data collection is state of the art, which provides a greater accuracy and reliability of the data collected. Finally, a main advantage of mobile data is that it’s highly cost effective and the capacity to collect information is unlimited.
The use of mobile devices has become part of our daily life, hardly any goes past without using one. A recent study from IDC Research found that 80% of smartphone users check their phone within 15 minutes of waking up each morning. The study also shows that 79% of adult smartphone users have their phones with them at least 22 hours a day. On average adults are now spending 87 minutes communicating and using social media on their phones from Monday to Thursday, and more than 160 minutes on Friday through Sunday.
Moreover, according to the 2016 Cisco Mobile Visual Networking Index Forecast, the proliferation of smartphone ownership, expansion of cell infrastructure, and vast adoption of mobile video will increase mobile data consumption seven-fold by 2021. By the end of the forecast period, mobile data is projected to represent 20% of total internet traffic and smartphones will account for more than 50% of connect devices globally.
In fact, the amount of time spent on the mobile web increased 575% in around 3 years. Even more astonishing: the amount of time spent on mobile internet has now overtaken the amount of time spent online on a desktop. That shows the importance of going mobile and develop a mobile strategy for businesses.
The enormous growth in mobile usage also has some important implications for every business. Think about it: mobile devices are becoming so addictive that they are more than a device. A mobile device is more and more seen as an extension of your customers accessories and it’s an incredibly personal thing. By using mobile data, businesses can establish a connection between their brand and their customers, driving towards brand loyalty. And with the end goal of this increasing brand loyalty resulting in an increase in sales for the company. But there is more to mobile data, it can also be used to understand the patterns and trends in everyday actions or movements of citizens, workers or consumers. This data can also be used in the search of solutions for problems that occur in the everyday life of city’s.
For instance, using mobile data can help to make a city smarter (check out our last blog about Smart Cities in Asia here). Being a smart city involves understanding how people move and behave. By collecting mobile data, it is possible to know how and where are public spaces are used or underused. Carto, a company providing a Location Intelligence Software, used collected mobile data for mapping Prospect Park and show how using spatial analytics can answer a number of questions around park management and usage.
By using spatial clustering analysis, the Carto team was able to create clusters that highlight the points of interest in the park that receive the most visits or foot traffic. This information can be used for infrastructural decisions such as placement of waste and recycling bins. By helping to make a city smarter, mobile data can also be used to investigate traffic patterns through navigation system GPS data.
On the other hand retail expansion management can also be boosted with Mobile Data by giving information as the kind of foot traffic that a new location will receive or if one of their current locations cannibalizes business from one of their other stores for instance. Moreover, Mobile Data can help a strategist by telling him where and when an advertisement has the maximum impact. So also the targeted marketing is valuable for retailers.
Moreover, Mobile Data can be used in Geomarketing through the technique of Pinpoint Accuracy. By using Telco data, it’s possible to draw a clear demographic picture and show where your customers spend most of their time. Thanks to this information, you can predict where your advertisement will have the most impressions for your target demographics.
In the real estate sector Mobile Data is used to drive new development strategies. To reach success in commercial real estate, it’s crucial to quickly and accurately assess potential profitability. Analysts can focus on integrating mobile data to the development strategy in order to map target neighborhoods, allowing developers to predict outcomes early on.
Basically, by visualizing mobile data it helps companies from different industries and verticals to draw insights through spatial analytics.
If you want to know more on how to manage and use Mobile Data through Big Data engineering for your business have a look at our upcoming event: Big Data engineering with Google Cloud, on the 20th of June.