You Need to be Thinking Mobile 1st, 2nd, and 69th

For the last six months, I’ve been baffled.

Looking at startups, the client work that we do here at VaynerMedia, work that other agencies and our brands have done, looking at competitive work when we audit things, what baffled me was how many people still don’t design their websites or experiences for the mobile web, or don’t even think about building mobile apps.

This whole notion of “mobile first” is not something I’ve owned. It’s not something that I’ve coined. This has been around for awhile, but yesterday in the Mobile Consumer Habits Study, a fun little stat came out that made me decide it was time to make a video so that once and for all, in 2013, we all realize that mobile is the thing that you need to be thinking about in your business whether you sell tires, soda water, or whatever you do. You need to be thinking mobile first, second, and 69^th. Hence the stat:

9% of people in this study admitted to using their mobile device during sex. Maybe the sex was so boring that they were checking the score, maybe it was something else, but 9% of people admitted to using a mobile device during sex. 19% of people admitted to using a mobile device in church, and 55% admitted to using a phone while driving.

Now let’s remember: admitted. Which means 9% during sex is really 18%. 19% in church is really 30%-50%. And 55% of drivers is probably 99.7%.

As a marketer and a businessperson, if you’re not thinking about how to tell your story on a mobile device first, you are going to lose.