There has been a paradigm shift in the advertising media. Yesterday’s numero uno television has been relegated to the second spot as now, digital media reigns supreme. Today, digital media is to TV what TV was to radio and print five decades ago.
The shift has caused a lot to change, and it’s not all linear. In fact, it is exponential. The ever-evolving technologies are giving birth to novel ways of reaching out to consumers. Mobile devices are one of them.
Teenagers of today who are growing up in the age of the Internet don’t like to sit and watch news on television. They consume it on the go on their smartphones. And that is the go to way. Even governments of third world nations are distributing free smartphones in an attempt to make the world more connected and aware. Over three billion people in Asia and Africa will go online in 2016. That is a huge number. To capture it, it is imperative for advertisers to know how to tailor-make their content for mobile phones.
So how do you write and manage content on smart devices? The traditional advertising pattern of ‘inform-persuade-remind’ doesn’t work anymore. The new mantra is—demonstrate- empower- engage.
1-Crowd source content: Use technology to crowd source visual content from mobile at scale. Brands have realised that user-generated content is an important source. Mobile content can use video, audio and images alongside print. Now 3D is also entering mainstream advertising technology.
2-Design-responsive blogs and websites: Website content should be visible and readable on smartphones. If web content is inaccessible because the font size is too small on phones, advertisers will lose customers. To upgrade a WordPress site, a short-term solution is to load a plugin that allows a web content to be read easily on a smartphone. Mobile plugin for WordPress WPTouch has been downloaded six million times till date.
3-Build an app: An app for your site is a must. It is a portal for brands and ‘go to’ content source. An app sits on the screen of the mobile, and is a constant reminder of the services offered.
4- Less is more: Content must function on the principle ‘less is more”. Since a mobile platform limits the length/volume of content, messages have to be kept short and simple. Mobile content can be developed in the following formats:
-blog articles
-bio or about
-product sales app
5- Visual communication: The Internet generation consumes digital media rather than television. The media that influences them has to match their media choice. Apps must have video content. Frank Eliason, vice-president of CitiBank, says: ‘We tend to trust humans and not some corporate logo. So video is the best way to do that on a scaled basis.’ Online video can be used to scale trust.
Mobile devices will soon take over the digital world. Consumers today spend almost five hours every day on their smartphones. This staggering number points to the immense impact that mobile devices can have on brand audiences. Especially when, people are increasingly using phones and tablets to make purchases, even costly investments. Mobile phones are no longer limited to only browsing and primary research. It’s all the more reason why mobile content should be the top priority for every brand.