Daytime audience for online marketers

The amount of time web users spend online during work hours is astonishing, and one wonders how any work gets done. But, for marketers, it’s an opportunity to target what is being called the “online at work” Internet population.

by Helen Leggatt

While most respondents to a Burst Media survey identified “home” as being the place they most used the Internet from, some cited work as the place they spent the most time surfing for personal reasons. In fact, work is cited by 32.8 percent of men and 28.4 percent of women aged 25-34 years as the primary location to access the Internet.

Keeping informed was the most common reason for personal online use at work. Emailing and instant-messaging with friends are popular, as are checking the news and weather. Other “online at work” activities include managing online bank accounts, checking sports scores, making travel arrangements, downloading music and playing games.

More data, this time from Accountemps, found 21 percent of their professionals do some of their online shopping at work.

Marketers can take advantage of this gateway to a daytime audience, particularly when targeting “hard to reach” demographics such as males aged 25-34.