Most business owners will spend their workday on a laptop or desktop computer.
However, that may not be the case for the people they are trying to attract to their business.
The majority of the time, consumers see your social media posts, blog posts, and white papers on their phones or tablets.
Pew Research discovered in 2024 that 97% of American adults are smartphone users, meaning mobile devices are their only source of access to the internet.
What this means for your marketing is that you must focus your content around the mobile and tablet user, rather than the desktop.
Mobile content marketing will become the norm in the years ahead, and content creators must be prepared. If you are looking to launch a content marketing campaign in 2024, then mobile-first content is essential.
What is Mobile Content Marketing?
Mobile content marketing takes the same amount of planning, research, strategy, and effort as desktop-based content. In fact, in some cases mobile strategy can be more difficult than desktop.
What is crucial is that all your content marketing posts must be formatted and optimized for scrolling and smaller screens. Mobile first content consumption now surpasses desktops by 37%, and your mobile content strategy must meet this trend.
To be effective with mobile content marketing, you must be familiar with different mobile devices and content platforms. A well-thought-out mobile content marketing strategy can help you engage potential customers.
Here are five ways to ensure your mobile marketing strategy and content pieces are optimized for mobile devices, and the consumers you are trying to reach.
1) Readability
Readability measures how easily a person can scan and read the copy on your website. It includes the complexity of your content, the writing style, the legibility, and even the fonts you use.
You must make your website content easy to skim or scan. Using bold font, clear headings and subheadings, and bullet points. All content creation should aim to be simple and offer valuable ideas in an approachable way.
It’s also a good idea to use visual content (photos, infographics, videos.) Adding video content is also an excellent way to increase engagement and add personality to your website content.
When it comes to increasing readability on your website, the critical point is to keep it short.
Remember, mobile users are looking at smaller screens, and long-winded sentences and paragraphs will make readers want to scroll.
Higher readability not only enhances the mobile user’s experience, but it can also boost your search engine rankings.
If visitors to your site spend more time (known as dwell time) on your website, this action sends a positive signal to Google’s algorithm that your webpage is user-friendly and potentially helpful to other searchers. Mobile search will always reward sites with high readability over hard-to-read websites. This increase in interest and dwell time increases your website traffic over time.
2) Responsive Design
Once you have made your content more readable, the next step is to check how it looks on a mobile device.
If a website is not mobile-friendly, it can be challenging to use on a mobile device. A non-mobile-friendly website often requires your visitors to pinch or zoom the screen to read the content. Most mobile users will find this type of website frustrating and will abandon the site.
Very often, there can be technical elements that cause your website to look different on each device.
Responsive design has been around the web for over ten years. This functionality allows website developers to create a website that will adapt to multiple devices.
A responsive design will automatically adjust your site page layout according to a user’s screen size. You can test if your site has a responsive design simply by dragging the web browser into a narrow size similar to a phone screen.
3) Mobile-Friendly UX Functionality
When using your phone, you are using your fingers and hands differently than on a desktop. Instead of a mouse and keyboard, you are often using a finger to point, click, and scroll. Your user experience (UX) needs a different approach when it comes to mobile content.
If you want an example, see how differently the Facebook website looks and functions compared to the mobile app. You can also test the mobile version of your website for free with Google’s mobile-friendly testing tool.
To improve your mobile content UX, ensure all your website copy, visual images, and videos, and call-to-action buttons are large enough to see and tap with a finger.
Another aspect of mobile content is that the site has smooth navigation. Mobile users should be able to identify the navigation bar to help them scroll easily.
Finally, you must focus on a speedy website. If a website takes more than three seconds to load, most users will click away instead of waiting. If your site continually runs slowly, you can also use a content delivery network such as Cloudflare to speed up your site speed.
4) Design Emails for Mobile Readers
Since early 2018, the iPhone has been the most popular way to read emails. In 2020, mobile opens account for 46% of all email opens.
This means that even though most emails are written and designed on a desktop computer, they are often read on a phone or tablet.
Many of the same best practices for creating mobile-friendly websites also apply to emails. However, there are other challenges to consider.
For email marketing, there are two main formats: HTML or plain text.
Plain text emails are the simple emails you tend to receive from friends or clients, and customers. These types of emails are typically considered more personal and create the feeling of a one-on-one experience.
HTML emails, by contrast, are the emails you tend to get from a business. They have visual imagery, logos, and videos embedded in them. The visual appeal of HTML emails can help draw readers in and create a more engaging reading experience.
When creating email content for mobile, there is a higher risk of including elements that hinder a user experience with HTML emails. These types of emails are also more likely to be filtered from a user’s primary inbox and into the spam box if they are too promotional.
The best workaround here is to create a plain-text version of each email for users who can’t view the HTML version. Email tools like Mailchimp can do this for you quite easily if you are not sure how to do it yourself.
Remember that the real purpose of most email content is to draw the person into action. This can be in the form of visiting a website, watching a video, or buying a product.
Clear CTAs will help direct your email viewers to click through to your site. Be sure to include CTAs in each email you send.
5) Use Messaging Tools and Mobile Apps
Over the past fifteen years, text messaging has become a standard part of our daily lives. In 2020, most people would rather receive a text message than a phone call.
Using text messages as part of your content marketing (also known as SMS marketing) can be very useful when done well. Text and messaging apps have a 98% open rate for most people. In 2020, digital marketing to a mobile audience is starting to reap the rewards.
Many businesses today send text messages to their clients to offer special discounts or promotions or share exclusive content. Interactive content such as quick surveys or entering a draw to win a prize are also more appealing to a smartphone user.
Tools such as Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp are another great way to engage your customers and prospects. You can share new content pieces as a link, and many people will at least open them out of curiosity.
While not every business might be a good fit for a mobile app, in some cases, it can be an innovative way to improve connection with your customers. Mobile app marketing has become a part of a lot of businesses’ strategies to create engaging content.
A highly useful mobile app can help to strengthen your multi-channel marketing strategy. In place of a mobile website, app developers can help you create an app that your customers or clients can use will take extra time and money but may be worth the investment.
Mobile Content is Here to Stay
Since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, the world has become mobile-obsessed. Today over 85% of the world’s population has a smartphone, and that number is growing every year.
As a business owner or content marketer, you must adapt your approach to include content for mobile usage. Fortunately, many of the tools available today help make mobile-friendly content that can grow leads and revenue for your business.
[…] More relevant and engaging content helps search engines and social media platforms to keep users engaged. Therefore, it is in their interest to promote the content type that will entice their target audience on both websites and mobile apps. […]