iPad passes Mac computer in sales. The tablet is the new frontier.
It’s official. Consumers are tablet crazy; so much so that they are choosing the mobile devices over computers. It’s that time again marketers, just when you’ve finally optimized for mobile…
A look into Apples record breaking year provides an impressive example of the tablets’ rapid rise in popularity. In 2011, the company sold over 156 million iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch), 55 million of which were iPads. To put this in perspective, in just one year combined sales of these mobile devices have exceeded the 122 million Mac computers ever sold. Since it was first available for pre-order in March of 2010, the sales trend of the iPad has blown all other Apple products out of the water (see figure below). CEO Tim Cook commented “This 55 is something no one would have guessed. Including us. To put it in context, it took us 22 years to sell 55 million Macs. It took us about 5 years to sell 22 million iPods, and it took us about 3 years to sell that many iPhones. And so, this thing is, as you said, it’s on a trajectory that’s off the charts.” There has been buzz for some time of the possible upcoming announcement of the iPad3, and today we have verification via Mashable that Apple has sent out invitations for an event on March 7th. The invitation states simply “We have something you really need to see. And touch” and according to Mashable is "superimposed on what is almost certainly an iPad". Knowing this, it is more crucial than ever for marketers to take to heart the magnitude of this trend. It has been rumored that the newest generation iPad will have a full operating system, providing the user with a full blown hand held computer, and conceivably further intensifying this trend. Yes, Apple is just one example, but I think it’s safe to say they are usually ahead of the trend. Assessing how we communicate via tablet will be paramount.
A few weeks ago Trends & Takeaways asked its subscribers to participate in a fun quiz to learn more about professional email marketing topics. Since this was an advanced quiz, subscribers did better than expected however the mean score was 60%. The reason why we chose to make this quiz advanced is because advanced email marketing tactics, or any advanced marketing tactics for that matter, are now needed for long-term success. The pace at which the marketing discipline is evolving has rapidly changed from linear to parabolic requiring constant updating of not only skillsets (as mentioned last week) but also general knowledge. The mean score indicates that professional marketers still have a way to go in mastering email marketing. However, you can take comfort in Phil Kotler, distinguished professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management words of wisdom, “marketing takes a day to learn and a lifetime to master.”
So you think you know a thing or two about email marketing? Here's your chance to prove it! Take the email marketing quiz below and post your score on our 
