Four in 10 Australians check their phone before 7am: Report

Start-ups looking to optimise their email marketing should consider getting in early, with new research revealing almost half of Australians first check their mobile phone at or before 7am.

 

The research, conducted by Pure Profile on behalf of mobility solutions provider Good Technology, is based on a survey of 1,007 Australians.

 

According to the survey, 41% of Australians first check their mobile phone at or before 7am, with almost half indicating they check their phone as soon as they wake, even on weekends.

 

Meanwhile, 35% check their phone and email in bed, while 32% last check their phone at 10pm or later.

 

For 45% of Australians, checking emails on their phone is the last thing they do before they go to sleep at night, even on weekends.

 

This compares with 69% of respondents of a similar survey in the United States, and 28% in the United Kingdom.

 

The findings should help start-ups with regard to the timing of their email and mobile marketing campaigns.

 

According to Jim Watson, Good Technology vice president for the Asia-Pacific, companies have an opportunity to respond to consumers’ increasing reliance on their mobile phones.

 

“We are truly living in the connected age as mobile devices like phones and tablets become indispensible tools to manage our professional and personal lives,” Watson says.

 

“Mobility has ‘unchained us’ from the office so that we can all be productive and connect from anywhere, anytime – whether that’s at home [or] in the office.”

 

According to the survey, women are more likely than men to check emails in bed (39% compared to 30%), although men are more likely to respond to emails on a family day out.

 

Men are also more likely than women to use the daily commute for work on their device (52% compared to 47%).

 

Half of the Generation Y survey respondents (18 to 34-year-olds) use Facebook for work purposes on their smartphone outside office hours, compared to an average of 35% across all age groups.

 

Other popular smartphone apps for after-hours work include work calendar (27%), mobile browser (19%) and intranet (9%).

 

In contrast, 63% of Baby Boomers use no smartphone work app other than email outside work hours.

 

They are also the least likely to check email on their phone during the daily commute – 41% don’t answer calls or check emails, compared to 32% across all age groups.

 

The findings are in line with an earlier report by ExactTarget, which found almost three quarters of Australian consumers still check their emails as their first “digital priority” in the morning.

 

“Email is simply the first priority as consumers start their digital day… Despite the ‘social revolution’, email is still strong,” ExactTarget managing director Lee Hawksley said.

 

“This trend should influence the way in which marketing messages are disseminated to Australian consumers.”