The face of mobile access
is changing rapidly

ExactTarget has released a survey on mobile use that indicates mobile users rarely read or act on email via mobile devices, with over 88 percent returning to a laptop or desktop computer to review email after first checking their smartphones, reports MarketingCharts.

Survey results also posit most marketers operate under false assumptions when addressing mobile's potential.

The ExactTarget survey was compiled of over 4,000 mobile phone owners. Findings included:

• That mobile email users tend to be between 18 and 44 years of age
• Mobile email users tend to be self-employed or employed full time, relatively affluent — with 72 percent boasting an annual household income of $100,000 or higher — and highly educated
• Lowering costs of smartphones and the proliferation of new devices, such as the iPhone, have drawn less affluent groups into the market

Assumptions marketers allegedly had about the mobile market included:

• Mobile Email Rendering Isn't a Concern, judged false by the survey.
• Smartphone Owners Look at All Email, judged false.
• Links in Mobile Emails Work, false.
• Only Business People Have Blackberries, false.
• Only Rich People Want A Treo, false.
• Special Mobile Emails Are Necessary, false.

The complete ExactTarget mobile marketing survey is accessible here (pdf). MarketingCharts also elaborates on the findings.