Get Even Smarter!

Up until earlier this year, cellular service provider giants Sprint and T-Mobile were two goliaths battling each other for supremacy (along with Verizon) – but they decided that collaboration instead of competition was better for them both, so they just merged into one.

The landscape of smartphone use has changed dramatically from the days of just calling someone when you’re outside of your house or office.

It’s the way of life. A smartphone (a term that may soon be antiquated) is more than a phone, it’s a centralized lifestyle hub device. Sure, we use it to communicate, seems as though more people prefer to text than talk. But we use it to shop, to order food for delivery, to research, to grow our social community, for hobbies, to plan meetings, to make appointments, to listen to music and to watch films or TV shows. We even use it to teach us things, such as how to cook and repair a bevy of items. We use it to pay bills and to do our banking. Phone? Yeah, it does that too.

Just within the above description, savvy distributors can mine for creative promotional campaign ideas for clients. Have a restaurant client that partners with UberEats? Why not give those uber drivers a pair of earpods? Local bank branches can also give away a smartphone accessory, maybe a charging station, for people who open up new accounts.  Is a healthcare client opening up a new office? How about a logoed phone cover for the first XX number of new patients (and employees)?

Here’s why prioritizing the numerous promotional smartphone accessories will help improve your bottom line.

Carrie Lewis, marketing/communications manager for BIC Graphic North America, comments, “About 80% of consumers own a smartphone and it is a major component of their everyday lives. That’s great for promotional tech accessories because sales opportunities span generations, demographics and industries. When it comes to top markets, suggest these items to industries that rely on smartphones for communication while on the job like construction, business services, government and real estate.”

According to the Pew Research Center’s “Mobile Fact Sheet” (June 12, 2019), Americans are more mobile-connected than ever – compared to the stationary internet of only a mere two decades ago – thanks to the widespread availability and use of smartphones.

Today, according to the report, 96% of Americans now own a cellphone of some kind (including flip-phones). The percentage of Americans who own smartphones, however, is 81%, up from just 35% in 2011, when Pew Research Center conducted its first survey of smartphone ownership.

There is also a growing share of Americans who are utilizing smartphones as their primary means of online access at home. Today approximately 20% of American adults “smartphone-only” internet users – they only use their smartphone, having eschewed have traditional home broadband service.

According to research from Ukom (“Q2 2018 UK Digital Market Overview”), Adults who are parents spend more time on their smartphones than childless adults. Further, mothers aged 25 – 54 have a 76% share by minutes on a mobile device, compared to 59% for women without kids. Fathers are said to spend 65% of their time on mobile devices, compared to 59% of men without children.

Additionally, this year, “many college students are opting for online and remote learning due to COVID,” Lewis observes. “That means colleges and universities are looking for ways to connect with students, especially new students. Technology promos are always popular with young adults, so products that enhance the usefulness of smartphones are sure to be a big hit. Just be sure it is something that can be easily mailed, like a charging cable/cloth set (#32091) and avoid phone cases that only fit specific models.

On Statista.com, tech market researcher S. O’Dea writes on June 26, 2020, “Smartphones, mobile phones with more advanced computing capabilities and connectivity than regular mobile phones, came onto the consumer market in the late ‘90s, but only gained mainstream popularity with the introduction of Apple’s iPhone in 2007. The iPhone revolutionized the industry by offering customer-friendly features such as a touch screen interface and a virtual keyboard. The first smartphone running on Android was introduced to the consumer market in late 2008.”

Smartphones with Android operating systems represent 85.9% of market share worldwide, while Apple’s smartphone sales market share is 13.3%. Smartphone sales value in North America amounts to approximately $84 billion. Smartphone users in the US are 69.6% (269.44 million).

Tech writer Deyan G., in his research report, “67+ Revealing Smartphone Statistics for 2020,” appearing on Techjury.net (July 31, 2020), related several data points that also support the idea of prioritizing smartphone accessory sales:

·         Last year, 56% of all website traffic globally was generated through smartphones.

·         The average internet user checks his or her phone 58 times a day.

·         Approximately 70% of all media time is spent on smartphones

·         In-app advertising could rise to $201 billion by 2021.

Industry suppliers provide a plethora of smartphone accessories, from portable chargers, power banks, car mounts, selfie sticks, armbands (perfect for fitness tracking, and therefore, for new fitness club members), camera lens attachments, a variety of flash drives, earbuds and headphones, screen protectors,  and skins, cases and covers.

Now, if tech companies can only come up with an accessory that prevents the plague of cell/smartphone users everywhere:  the random butt-dial.

CASE STUDY

Carrie Lewis, marketing/communications manager, BIC Graphic North America: “A promotional products distributor specializing in items targeted to the real estate industry needed a giveaway for an upcoming trade event. They wanted a tech accessory because agents and brokers often work remotely and depend on mobile technology for their day-to-day business activities. The distributor chose the Silicone Phone Wallet with Finger Grip (#32126) because it is a useful item that accessorized the device most often used by agents – their phones. The distributor put business cards into the wallets for the event and was able to give away the full order, with many event attendees attaching them to their phones right away.”