We spend 7 hours a day consuming media

Research announced today by regulator Ofcom suggests people in the UK spend seven hours a day watching TV, surfing the net and using mobile phones - often all at the same time!

The report on the BBC web site claims that for the average person this represents half their time awake during the course of a day. In fact the equivalent time is more like 9 hours than 7 thanks to multi-tasking - watching TV while texting and surfing online. Coincidentally we have just completed some market research where when asked  where they look to discover information about our client's category of products, respondents nominated the Internet first followed by recommendations by friends and colleagues. And increasingly this personal communication and recommendation is about media communication by text, voice and social media rather than over a pint down the pub.

The Ofcom report says, "Concurrently, the use of mobile data has exploded, increasing by 240% between 2007 and 2009. It suggested that, in part, much of this increase had been driven by one site - Facebook - which accounts for 45% of all mobile web use in the UK, followed by Google at 8%." 

It all raises interesting challenges for marketing in the b-2-b space. Because the web site is the first place to look, is it up to date? Does it for example have things like "Copyright 2008" and a story from last year billed as latest news? Does the company use social media at all? The report also highlights a growing trend for older people to sign up for Facebook, although I know companies who sneer at the idea. Above all does the web site have compelling content? Too few companies use news about their company, products, projects, successes etc. to add great new content that not only keeps the web site current and provides recommendations and third party endorsement, but also provides useful content for search engines to pick up.

The truth is that most large companies do all this, while many small to medium size companies can't be bothered or claim not to have the time. This is where a Virtual News Office centered strategy can give small businesses a platform to compete with the big boys of their industry by delivering fresh and compelling content, providing up to date news feeds, building highly rated in-bound links -  and the good news is it very affordable.