Do You Ever Unplug From Your Mobile?
It’s somewhere around 2 am when you’re suddenly awoken by something. It takes a few seconds for you to realise what it is: your mobile is buzzing, singing, beeping – whatever your notification sound is at the moment. Do you roll back over and go to sleep, or sit right up to see what the message is?
On those nights I forget to put my mobile in silent mode, I just roll over and keep sleeping. That is, unless a member of my family is out and may be contacting me in an emergency. But the fact is my mobile is right there, plugged into my nightstand (yes, I bought a nightstand that included built in plugs for my devices). It sits there in the top drawer while my iPad sits on top of my nightstand, conveniently running the Nightstand app. So even while I’m sleeping, my mobile technology is just a few inches away.
While it’s undeniable technology is a growing part of our everyday lives, it may be surprising how few of us ever turn it off. Or leave it behind. A 2014 study of Americans revealed that 43% never unplug from technology (mobiles, tablets, TVs, laptops, etc.). Another 17% only unplug a few times a year. Twenty percent say they unplug daily, but that large a percentage makes me wonder if they misunderstood the question. Perhaps they took it literally and said yes they unplug their devices everyday – like when you unplug your mobile to take it with you. We’ll never know I suppose.
This latest survey matches up well with previous studies in the UK that revealed many felt giving up technology was as hard as giving up cigarettes or caffeine. If you do a Google search for “unplug” you’re likely to find a slew of websites and social media movements aimed at getting people to turn off their technology, at least for a little while. I love the concept, but in practice it’s a very hard thing to do.
But there’s a good side to always being “plugged in” too. At least when it comes to mobiles. Never before could we be so in touch, so up-to-date, and informed. From our perspective, always having your mobile so close by makes it the perfect means to send timely or critical information via SMS messaging. For example, school closures, account balance information, reservation confirmations, delivery notifications, and emergency alerts of all kinds.
What do you think? Do you find a balance between “always on” and “unplugging”? Or are you as addicted to your mobile as I am? Is any thought you should unplug mobile devices going to fall on deaf ears?
Related Articles
12 Reasons Mobile Messaging is “A Beautiful Thing”
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But could text messaging really be considered beautiful? You might argue that it depends on the messages you get! That’s a valid approach, but I recently found a description of mobile messaging that made me believe it is indeed beautiful, so I thought I’d share it with you.
Marketing Review for 2015 Holiday Season
Comparing SMS and email marketing results for the 2015 holiday season, this article taps into reports from Expedia and Adobe to share important insights.
Do Your Customers Want Emoji in their SMS Messages?
Emoji are showing up everywhere. Should you be using these cute, fun, and illustrative icons in your SMS marketing? Your customers probably want you to. Around 72% of people have positive feelings about brands who use emoji. But before you get started, you’ll want to find out the details in this blog.
Older Generations and SMS Messaging
50% of people between 55 and 64 own a smartphone and 18% of people over 65 do too. If you’re trying to reach out to these older demographics, it might be time to consider mobile marketing. But what kind should you choose?
70% of Employees Want Their Employers to Use SMS Messaging
SMS messaging is a terrific way of keeping in touch with employees. Confirm work schedules, notify employees of payroll transfers, chase deadlines and more. What's really great is that the employees themselves really want employers to communicate the way.
Why Your Startup Needs to be Using SMS Marketing
Are startups afraid of using SMS marketing? Is it because they’re afraid of annoying customers and breaking the regulations? I don’t think so. If your startup isn’t using SMS marketing already, it’s probably because you don’t know all the facts. Find out why SMS is actually perfect for startups.
OFCOM Report Proves SMEs Reliant on SMS Messaging
A recent OFCOM report answers the age-old question: Do SMEs use SMS messaging? Maybe it’s not such an old question, but the answer is quite interesting if you work in an SME. That’s because SMS turns out to be one of the most relied on communications methods available.
Email vs. SMS Revisited
The digital marketing age has really given us so many options when it comes to running campaigns. If you Google “digital marketing channels”, you’ll get article after article about which ones work the best. Of course, most of them won’t completely agree. Here we take another look at how email and SMS measure up against each other.
5 Key SMS Marketing Statistics
SMS Messaging is Much Better Than Shouting!
Just in the last 60-70 years, communications have gone from requiring a person to route the calls to not needing anyone other than the two people at either end. It all got me wondering about the history of communications and how much different it is from even just a 100 years ago, or a thousand. The result of my wondering is this infographic that covers most of recorded history (at some level of detail anyway).