How To Optimize Your Mobile Marketing Content
Posted by Marti Norberg on Mon, Aug 29, 2011
When I read a book (I read the kind with paper pages), I curl up in a comfortable chair and spend hours lost between the covers. When I am reading blogs or articles on the Internet, I want the information quickly and concisely – or with one click of my mouse I am on to something else.
Web marketers know their readers won’t take the time to read through introductory paragraphs. Mobile marketers have even less time to grab a reader’s attention. You need to get their attention while they are doing something else. Your message will be just one distraction among many others – text messages, emails and pushes. Additionally, there will be outside distractions – the user is standing in line, walking down the street, talking to someone, in an elevator.
The challenges of mobile marketing can be broken down into three primary factors:
- A very small screen, which provides very little space to share your message.
- Short bursts of usage; the act of checking their mobile device is combined with another action
- Constant, unending distractions from all directions
For many people, their mobile device has become essentially the center of their universe. It is their connection to work, family and friends. It is their personal and personalized world; containing everything they think they need to stay connected to that world. And many think they would be lost without it. Mobile marketers need to keep that in mind, along with the following tips:
Establish your goal and stay focused.
Only provide the most necessary information. Your mobile marketing content must be extremely focused – no frills. Your potential customer must absorb what you want them to learn within two seconds; the estimated time it takes for a double-click. Understand your target market and how they use their mobile devices.
Develop strong, concise (and short) headlines.
Your headline must be clever, intelligent and to-the-point. Your reader needs to get the point immediately, but you must leave them sufficiently intrigued to read further. Get your idea across quickly and powerfully. You want to overwhelm the other distractions.
Make it something they want to share.
Your mobile marketing content must be interesting enough and enticing enough that the reader can’t wait to share. You might think of this as making your content “retweetable” even if you are not writing for Twitter. Including a "mobile coupon offer" is good technique for encouraging people to share your message. Add the phrase "FWD 2 A Friend" at the bottom. The reader will stop to consider which of their friends would like what you have to offer.
Remember, one size does not fit all.
There are large variations in the screen sizes of mobile devices. It truly does not work effectively to “think large, then shrink it.” Think small to start with; consider your size limitations from the very beginning. Think small space, but BIG message.
Tell it all upfront.
You got the reader’s attention with your powerful and concise headline; but they still are not likely to read more than the first two or three lines of your content. Say what you want to say at the very beginning of your content; don’t attempt to “lead up” to the important part.
Most mobile users would rather click than scroll. Be very efficient with your words. Keep pages short and at a minimum, but don’t overload the pages so they are slow to load. If your reader has to wait very long, some other distraction will pull their attention away.
Make it fun.
Even if your reader only spends three minutes on your content, make those minutes fun. A person standing in line somewhere is probably bored. Make your content entertaining and they will remember your message -- and may pass it along to other bored friends.
Be open to new ideas.
Experiment and test your mobile marketing content to determine what works best for you. What is effective for one company may not work for yours. You can create two versions of your content and compare their effectiveness with a method such as A/B Testing Tool. You can also recruit friends and family to test your ideas on their mobile devices. And you must keep up with the latest news in technology and trends.
Expand your message.
Mobile marketing works best when combined with other advertising media. Use the same content, only expanded, on your website, in TV or radio advertising, or in print media.
Mobile device users are hungry for information, so keep your mobile marketing content bite-size.