Dominating the Mobile Landscape with Great Content
What field is changing faster than digital marketing? Not only do we have to manage our customers’ continuous changing attention patterns, we also have to plan for great content delivered across multiple channels.
If we only have 9 seconds to capture a potential customer’s attention, how can we create great mobile content that fits into a thoughtful overall content strategy? What do we need to know to do that effectively? Where do we even start?
Mobile content isn’t that different from other types of content
Truth be told, mobile content is the same as all other types of content—if done properly, you start with your users and their needs. Delivering a fabulous content experience to an audience that is continuously shifting their attention focal point is what makes managing mobile content complex.
To further complicate matters, as audiences embarks on multi-screen experiences, and multi-threaded conversations, content itself becomes slippery, as our users move and consume along the information superhighway.
What are multi-screen experiences?
How many of you now watch a TV show with your smartphone or tablet in hand in order to talk to “friends” about the happenings on the show? We split our attention between the action on the screen and the reactions of our Twitter or Facebook friends. We may not even know these people in real life, but the exchange of real-time information is enticing. It is like being in a bar watching an important sporting event, without ever having to leave the comfort of your own home.
What are multi-threaded conversations?
Multi-threaded conversations are happening with multiple people at once, usually around different topics. Our attention is so divided we can braid our thoughts around multiple topics. The challenge for digital marketers is maintaining users’ focus on their content and goals.
4 D’s for Great Mobile Content
In order to deliver great mobile content, you need to think about the 4 D’s:
- Desire
- Devices
- Data
- Design
1. Desire
What does your user need at that moment? Directions? Reviews? The name of the last Academy Award winning documentary?
Great mobile content comes from thinking through your users’ needs in the moment. Remember, their world is slippery because their contexts are changing as they move through different experiences during the day. By understanding those needs, you can limit your focus on certain types of content, ensuring a richer, more satisfying mobile content experience.
2. Device
Device is critical. As we learn more about the habits of mobile users, we know there is a difference in use from tablets and smartphones.
If they are on a smartphone, they are probably commuting, waiting in line or passing time. However, on a tablet, their desire might be different: They actually might want to read a long format article and use the rich, immersive experience of the tablet to add depth to their understanding of the topic.
3. Data
The only way to truly know how your mobile content is performing is by deeply examining your data. The beauty of digital marketing is that you can track and know so much more about your customers than you ever could before. Which pages are they spending the most time on? Are they commenting on posts? Are they abandoning certain pages? Are they converting when using a mobile device?
Most organizations don’t do a great job of analyzing their data. It just feels too overwhelming. Start somewhere—one question: Which devices are they using to access your content? Just by answering that one question, you will be able to know where to place your development efforts to capture the potential ROI.
4. Design
Of course, the fourth D is design, both big and little. Design is so critical to great content—more so than ever in the world of mobile. If design is truly the container that holds our content, than more than ever we need to work with talented designers who understand how to build beautiful interfaces. Google is recommending responsive design for mobile, but you may have valid business reasons to veer from that approach.
