Trends

Apr 7, 2023 | Blog

We attended the Trend Digital summit earlier this year and one of key takeaways from this conference was an updated, State of the Midwest report, here are some of the findings from that report that you will find interesting.

KEY learning: People are doing more online than ever before.

-97% of people in the Upper Midwest spend at least one hour online outside of work across all devices. This has remained consistent since 2018.

-Men are about 10% more likely than women to use a desktop computer when online outside of work hours.

  1. Women are about 5% more likely than men to use a tablet when online outside of work hours.
  2. As average household income rises, the amount of personal time (weekday and weekend) spent online falls, regardless of device type.

Key takeaway: Consumers are always connected. Create a strategy that plays to different messaging or placement at different times throughout the day or week.

Key findings:

  1. 89% of respondents reported using streaming devices—
    double that in 2018.
  2. Women are 10% more likely than men to report using a streaming device outside of work hours.
  3. Unsurprisingly, respondents are seven times more likely to use streaming devices outside of work than at work.
  4. Respondents were twice as likely to use a smartwatch outside of work.
  5. As average household income increases, so does the likelihood to use desktop computers at work.
  6. Of those who use devices,
    89% use a mobile device.
  7. 17% of respondents are “mobile-only” users—a 55% increase since 2018.

Key takeaway: Marketing and business strategies need

to be thinking mobile-first, since mobile is the most likely way your customers will be engaging with your company. Are your website, email messaging, digital ads, and the way you are speaking to your audience aligned with a mobile-first mentality?

  1. Email is the top online activity for those in the Upper Midwest, underlining the importance of having an email strategy for your business.Younger age groups are more than twice as likely to listen to music online (75% of ages 18–54) than those ages 55 years and older (35%).
  2. Those with the highest income levels are significantly more likely to read news or blogs online (65%) than those with the lowest income
    levels (30%).
  3. Those ages 35–54 are more likely to use social media (85%) than other age groups (80% of ages 18–34, 65% of ages 55+).
  4. Facebook is the most used platform by those ages 35–54 and 55+.
  5. YouTube is the most used platform by those ages 18–34.
  6. Women are at least 15% more likely than men to use Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and Pinterest.
  7. Those with children at home are more likely to use all social media platforms than those without children at home.

If you are interested in the rest of the data from this study, please contact [email protected].