The way your audience discovers content has changed. We are now fully in the mobile age but many marketers are still struggling to connect with mobile audiences.
Recent data from UM highlights three key areas to consider when you’re trying to market to a mobile audience. Instant messaging, watching video and managing social network profiles are where brands should be looking to find their mobile audience.
Instant messaging
More than 70% of mobile users are using their devices for instant messaging. This is a tricky area for brands. How do you become a part of a private conversation? Do you even have the right? Important questions, to which the answers currently look pretty unfavourable. You usually can’t and no you don’t, respectively. However, there are opportunities for smart brands to engage audiences via IM.
Create content that encourages sharing via IM
There are three factors to consider here. Firstly, your content has to display well on a mobile phone screen. If your readers can’t view it on their phone, they aren’t going to share it on their phone. Secondly, brevity is key. If it’s a quick read, it’s a quick share. Lastly, it doesn’t hurt to ask. Having a little note at the end of your content (and well-placed sharing buttons) that asks your reader to share is always a good thing.
Use IM as a customer service portal
Your customers are using IM to talk to each other. Why aren’t you allowing them to use it to talk to you? Text messaging has surpassed all other forms of long-distance communication. It seems almost insane that businesses haven’t yet caught on. Imagine not having a business phone before the internet was a thing. This is exactly the same.
Use IM as an information portal
This is a bit out there at the moment but some brands are experimenting with using IM for the delivery of content based on conversational cues. So far, mostly because the chatbots are rubbish, the technology hasn’t been well received but it’s still early days.
Video
A majority of mobile users are using their phones to watch video. Bearing in mind what we also know about users sharing content via IM, it pays to keep your video content short, sharp and shareable. Creating video content in portrait will also make your content much more watchable and shareable for mobile users.
Video streaming is also on the rise. All of the major social platforms now have a built-in ability to stream live content and users are lapping it up.
Managing social network profiles
Around half of the users surveyed by UM indicated that they used their devices for managing their social network profiles. This, of course, encompasses many different things but most importantly highlights how users are sharing content that makes them, their profile and their personal brand (oh yes, personal brand is back) look good. Creating content that will help your audience amplify their brand is a surefire road to victory. The other side of this is facilitation. Your audience are also content creators. Give them the tools to create content that makes them look good and they will use it.
Mobile is the now
We often talk about what the future of online marketing looks like but we seem to have forgotten about the now. If you’re not already exploiting mobile to reach your audience, now is the time. If you need help creating engaging content for mobile audiences, give me a shout.