Comparing iPhone and Android users (and how to tailor your marketing approach)
The art of selling anything starts with knowing your audience. Marketing 101, right? When you know who you’re speaking to – factoring in their interests and pain points – you’re better able to speak their language. This increases your chance of engagement and, ultimately, conversion.
Going one step further, the more you know about your audience’s device habits and payment preferences, the better equipped you are to build an effective customer journey.
The state of eCommerce in Australia
In 2018, Aussies spent $28.6 billion (AUD) online. As of January 2019, online shopping made up 9% of Australia’s total retail transactions.
When it comes to mobile, 2018 saw mCommerce sales grow to 25% of online sales (up from 19% in 2017). And that percentage will continue to grow through 2019 and beyond.
Mobile’s aversion to conversion
Despite this consistent growth in mobile sales, conversions remain only the tip of the iceberg in terms of potential.
Mobile still has by far the highest rates of shopping cart abandonment (anywhere between 85-97% depending on the source). This is at least partly due to a failure to take a mobile-first approach to UX and UI design.
Inevitably though, the nature of smaller mobile screens, with less visibility and higher risk of a slip of the finger, customers simply don’t feel as secure when parting with their money on mobile. Therefore, it’s more important than ever to think mobile-first.
That said, we know mobile users are not a homogenous whole. Studies suggest a notable contrast between iPhone and Android users’ behaviour.
iPhone vs Android by numbers
While there are more Android users globally, Australians appear to favour the iPhone over Samsung devices. As of June 2019, iOS had a 56.79% domestic market share compared to 42.6% for Android.
% of domestic market share (iOS vs Android) as of June 2019
2017 data also showed that iPhone users tend to spend more per transaction – $32.94 on iOS compared to $11.54 for Android – nearly three times as much! The exact figures vary from source to source, but all suggest a similar trend of iPhone users spending more.
So, Australia has more iPhone users and they’re likely to spend more. Does that mean you should forget about Android users? Well, no. But these insights can help you tailor your approach.
What you can do about it
Both Facebook and AdWords provide opportunities to customise how you target different operating systems.
For example, when posting ads, Facebook Ad Manager gives you the choice to target:
- All mobile devices
- Android devices only
- iOS devices only
Google Ads is a little more complicated. While you can’t specify an operating system for Search, you can build an OS-based audience via Google Ads Display Network (see below).
From there, you can remarket to iOS users with iPhone-specific ad copy. As ever, relevance is your best route to clicks.
The takeaway…
As mobile sales continue to grow, increasing focus must be placed on catering to those users. Your ability to reach shoppers and guide them through to conversion on their preferred device is crucial.
While tailoring your approach by operating system might seem daunting in its level of detail, the added relevance can ensure you’re making the most of your digital spend.
