One of our roles as marketers is to anticipate trends and look for opportunities within those trends. In today’s fast-paced world, that’s no small task.

One trend that seems to be gaining more and more traction is the tablet computer. The iPad is no longer the only game in town, and as more versions and variations of tablets get released, and they all become more accessible and affordable, we must understand how to leverage them.

A new study released by the Pew Research Center revealed these facts that we can’t afford to ignore:

1. Eleven percent of adults own a tablet computer of some sort.

2. Almost half of tablet users get news on their tablet every day.

3. Three in 10 tablet users say they now spend more time consuming news than they did before purchasing their tablet.

4. Seventy-seven percent of tablet owners use those devices every day.

5. Tablet owners spend an average of 90 minutes on them per day.

6. Fifty-four percent of tablet users send email on their tablet daily.

7. Thirty-nine percent of tablet users use their tablets for social networking daily.

8. Thirty percent of tablet users use their tablets for gaming daily.

9. Twenty-seven percent of tablet users use their tablets for reading books daily.

10. Thirteen percent of tablet users use their tablets for watching movies and videos daily.

11. Tablet news users say they prefer tablets over traditional computers, print publications and television as a way to get quick news headlines and to read long-form pieces.

12. Forty percent of tablet news users say they get their news mainly through a tablet Web browser (compared with a news app).

13. Just 14 percent of tablet news users have paid directly for content on their devices.

14. Twenty-three percent of tablet news users get digital access of some kind through a print newspaper or magazine subscription.

15. Of those tablet users who haven’t paid directly, just 21 percent would be willing to spend $5 per month if that were the only way to access their favorite source on the tablet.

16. Of those who have news apps, 83 percent say that being free or low-cost was a major factor in their decision about what to download.

17. Ninety percent of app users went directly to the app of a specific news organization, compared with 36 percent who went to some sort of aggregator app like Pulse.

18. Ninety percent of tablet news users now consume news on the tablet that they used to access in other ways.

19. Eight in 10 tablet news users say they get news on their tablet that they used to get online from their laptop or desktop computer.

20. Nearly nine in 10 (88 percent) of those who read long articles in the last seven days ended up reading articles they were not initially seeking out.

21. Forty-three percent of tablet news users now spend more time getting the news than they did before they had their tablet.

22. Forty-one percent of tablet news users say they share news through email or social networking at least sometimes.

Keep in mind that the iPad was introduced in April 2010. Less than two years ago. Imagine the impact it will have as it becomes even more mainstream. How are you going to take advantage of this trend?