The importance of the mobile phone has over taken the desktop computer in the technology stakes according to recent research conducted in the United States. Researchers talked to over 40,000 people about their technology use, and around 75 percent of them listed their mobile phone as the device they use the most. The phone was significantly ahead of computers with 58 percent and the printer in third place with 56 percent.

The research also highlighted the approach to technology by the different age groups, with the younger age groups quicker to move to mobile technology. The researchers say this shows the importance of being aware of your target consumers and how they interact with the technology. What might be easily adopted from a mobile marketing campaign by a younger consumer might not work as well for an older consumer.

The researchers say the survey results show it is important to target the messages and their delivery to specific age groups. While a younger age group will interact easily with mobile technology, older users approach technology differently. Researchers found that older users want to be aware of the benefits the interaction with mobile technology will bring them.

The ease of creating a mobile marketing campaign should not mean that some effort is not put in to target the campaign. Researchers say that while it might be easy to just target a mobile marketing campaign at younger users, the increasing adoption of mobile technology by older users means it is a growth market and a potentially lucrative one.

They say being aware of the importance of targeting the mobile marketing strategy and key messages about product benefits to a specific market will allow businesses to increase sales. “There may be a steeper learning curve for older consumers but if there’s a technology that meets their needs, these consumers will buy and spend big.”