At the many conferences I’ve attended, publishers and marketers sometimes use the word “mobile” to imply tablet and mobile platforms for content. However, recent research from the mobile ad firm Flurry makes it clear why we all must delineate a clear line between these two types of devices, especially when it comes to audience demographics and content consumption.Flurry analyzed usage data from more than 44,000 iPad and iPhone devices in May and found a stark contrast between usage. While the company choose to benchmark their data according to “Personas” (new mom vs. mom, Home & Garden Pros vs. Home Design Enthusiasts), it’s easier to look at their benchmark data (below) as delineating what types of content and activities consumers do on each device.Some notable differences include:

• Consumers used iPhones more often than iPads for consuming content regarding value shopping, being single, new motherhood, photos and videos and technology.
• Consumers used iPads more often than iPhones for consuming content relating to pet ownership, small business activities, parenting, video gaming, and home design.
• The iPad was used more for learning and playing, while iPhone users were more likely to use their phone for navigating between sites and apps.
• Consumers were more likely to engage with health and fitness, photo and video, and music apps on their iPhone, but education, Newsstand, games and reference apps were used more frequently on iPads.

Wise marketers and publishers looking to go mobile should take their content type into consideration when deciding which device to optimize for — and disregard broad, general statistics about the popularity of either.