How people in the UAE are using their multiple devices

From smartphones and tablets to laptops and television, 90% of all media interactions today are screen-based. The “Consumer Barometer Survey 2014” by Google shows how people are interacting with the different devices, how they are moving among screens, and which devices they are using at the various stages of these interactions.

I have compiled the most interesting data about people from the UAE in the below infographic.

Here are the main insights about this survey:

• The mobile phone is the most used device with 97% of people using one. 81% are using a computer and 78% are using a smartphone. eReaders come far behind with only 2% of people using them.
• Most people (28%) are using 3 connected devices to go online. 70% of them do it several times a day.
• 37% of people tend to go online using their smartphone and their computer equally. Only 3% are using their computer more often than their smartphones to go online.
• Concerning the online activities that people do at least weekly, the most popular one on their smartphone is using search engines (19%) vs. checking their emails (57%) on their computers. Visiting social networks comes in the 2^nd place for both devices.
• In a more general way, people use their smartphones mostly to listen to music and take videos/photos (73%) but also to play games (58%). Some people are starting to also use their smartphones to track their health and activity levels (16%).
• The use of a second screen while watching TV is also spreading since 51% of people said that they go online on their devices while watching TV. For 73% of them, this parallel Internet browsing is not related to the TV program they are watching. They mainly use their smartphones as a second screen (81%).

What we can learn and predict for these results from a marketing perspective is that:

• Computer devices are still in the game even if mobile is on the rise.
• The top priority for marketers should be SEO, email marketing as well as social media, all 3 linked by a powerful content strategy.
• Mobile marketing strategies should mainly be focused around original content and consumer entertainment.
• Companies and brands should improve coordination between traditional and digital media aligning their media buying and content strategies between TV broadcast and their online presence.