How to Develop a Mobile Content Strategy

The digital marketing landscape changes by the hour. Each passing minute sees an increasing number of users turn to their smartphones and tablets for shopping and searching. This makes your company’s mobile content strategy more important than ever.

Thanks to the ever-evolving marketing landscape, your company must stay on its toes and constantly adapt to the demands of a perpetually learned and savvy customer base.

Google and Nielsen have found that 77 percent of mobile searches happen at home or work, where most users have the option of using a desktop computer. These findings confirm the value of the mobile market and encourage business owners to optimize their mobile web pages. Since the value of a solid mobile content strategy remains relatively new, countless businesses are underprepared, leaving an open opportunity for your company to solidify its presence in the market.

That phrase, “mobile content strategy,” is one part obvious and another intimidating. With a few subtle changes and adjustments to your approach, however, your mobile content strategy will be in peak form and will help drive your company’s business success to the next level. Here are four ways to construct a winning mobile content strategy:

Open the Umbrella

Don’t let the mobile market boom keep you from developing a seamless content strategy. Google’s latest research shows the average shopper relies on multiple devices to make purchases online, so while it is imperative that you define your mobile content strategy, make sure it remains consistent with your storefront webpage on the desktop.  It is equally important to abandon the preconception that consumers use their tablets and smartphones in the same manner. They don’t. A slew of new studies highlight the particular functions of each device and show that when it comes to consumer usage, all smartphones and tablets are not created equally.

In keeping with recent trends and statistics, your company’s long game success is dependent on a solid mobile platform. In the short term, however, you must first construct a unified umbrella narrative and strategy for your content. From there, you can apply the major concepts from your desktop site and fine-tune them for mobile optimization.

Think of it like Starbucks: Howard Schultz had a vision for the empire he hoped to construct. He started with the basics: the coffee beans, the pricing, the location and the employee staff. After fulfilling the development of his flagship store in Seattle, he disseminated his vision in a variety of ways and started selling variations of his coffee products in stores of all kinds around the world.

He started with the big ideas and was able to get more nuanced along the way.

Mr. Schultz applied the umbrella technique to his company, although he probably needed to use one in Seattle anyway.

Image: Howard Schultz/Starbucks – Atlanta Backstar

Smart Simplicity 

Writing any more words in that subject line would have contradicted my point. Brevity is the soul of wit, and given the average consumer’s choice to shop on their mobile device, it’s in your company’s best interest to make your content as taut as possible.

Keep in mind that while your mobile site must be simple and powerful, continue to write interesting copy and remain creative. Many companies make the mistake of paring down their mobile content so far that they water it down to ineffective levels, leaving consumers wanting more out of the website. Contrary to public perception, there is a market for very long-form content in the mobile world. Even if you value a site that primarily offers short-form content, it may be in your best interest to offer some slightly lengthier articles or even video content to please that faction of your consumer base. Stick to your guns and don’t abandon your overarching vision, but embrace the culture of increased simplicity that the mobile platform has encouraged. Just remember that for every person who wants the Sparknotes version of “Crime and Punishment,” somebody wants to read Dostoyevsky in full.

Congruency is Key

Aim to maximize ease of use and clarity of vision for consumers. In an ideal world, your customers will be able to move from your desktop site to the mobile version and perceive few, if any recognizable differences. Consider the triad transition from iPhone to iPad to MacBook: each product has as many similarities as it has differences, yet for your digital platform to be successful, consumers must have a seamless experience as they move across their devices. Recent studies show the consumer bounce rate is considerably higher on mobile devices, so ensure that your content strategy is ready to captivate the buyer’s attention before they move along to the next eye-catching website. Additionally, expect consumers to load your product page on their smart phone, get distracted by a text message or FaceTime call, then possibly revisit your page on their tablet later that night. Online transactions in the modern are more fluid than ever.

Think of it like this: many people hope each Christmas will be as good as the ones from their childhood: the sea of gifts, the stockings, the wonderment. Right? As we all know, that level of greatness can be difficult to repeat. Real eggnog has rum for a reason. In the world of web design, however, the users who are on your desktop site in the morning will absolutely hope that the experience is the same later that night as they scroll through it on their smartphone. People crave familiarity, so give them what they want when they type in your web address no matter the device they’re using.

Image: News Burner

Completing a transaction on your mobile phone can give the same rush as receiving a gift from Santa. Help your customers get to the ‘Place Order’ page faster by making your site simple, effective, and congruent.

Storytelling

Ultimately, you are constructing a narrative that must be congruent. When you can take a picture of your masterfully constructed website on desktop, tablet and smartphone all in a row, you’ll know you have a product worth bragging about.

The best mobile content strategies are like sequels to an already successful novel. They continue your company’s story with greater accessibility (smartphone apps, mobile pages) along with the added familiarity of the introductory book (the desktop site). Beyond that, responsive storytelling is crucial to tailoring your marketing to the right demographic. Randomized blitzkriegs of marketing information may ultimately be more harmful to your reputation than useful, while specifically addressing individual consumers can yield impressive results.

With social interactions, charisma is often measured by a person’s ability to tell an interesting and engaging story that not only entertains but captures the heart and empathy of listeners. Similarly, companies that value storytelling inherently prioritize building a connection between their product offerings and the needs of on-looking consumers.

Image: Final Frontier – Flickr

Your mobile content strategy is essential to your company’s success. While it may feel like “the final frontier,” just remember that the questions to your mobile presence can be answered by a unified umbrella content strategy. Start big, and in no time, you’ll have results like Howard Schultz’s Starbucks. As long as your content is congruent across all devices and platforms, while always offering engaging and smart content, you will be able to tell a story that consumers want to hear again and again.