Mobile devices are poised to overtake desktop computers this year as the leading way to access the Internet. But when it comes to social media, that's already happened. Social networks already see a much higher percentage of mobile traffic than other websites. According to Statista, about 65 percent of all time spent on social networks is through mobile devices.
Despite this overall trend, there can be some variance among the actual usage rates an individual company may see among its followers or target audience. Understanding that usage rate is critical to determining the best practices for crafting social content, particularly when mobile and desktop devices offer a different user experience.
The Shift Toward Mobile
Some types of content experience much greater degrees of mobile engagement than others. As Statista notes, photos are the most popular type of content for mobile users, getting about 92 percent of all traffic. This isn't entirely surprising, since mobile users tend to gravitate to visual forms of content. News content, by comparison, gets only 38 percent of total views from mobile devices.
And even when businesses know about the high mobile usage rates, it doesn't automatically translate to change. Though about 40 percent of all emails are viewed on mobile devices, many businesses still don't take time to optimize these for mobile devices. This hurts engagement and reduces the value of those campaigns. But when companies do make efforts to craft mobile-specific content, particularly for mobile-friendly social networks, the results can be outstanding.
Crafting Mobile-Specific Content
If you're in an industry that enjoys a mobile-savvy audience, it's important to adapt to how they use technology. This is particularly true on social networks, where mobile usage is already high. In most cases, companies are catering to the majority when they craft mobile-optimized social content. While it's true that emojis and other unique types of content might not be readable to all consumers, they are highly effective on social networks and appear perfect for Twitter and other social users accessing the networks from mobile devices.
Consumers using iPhones, Android smartphones and other advanced products will have an easier time consuming this content, creating a better user experience that increases engagement. Other visual and mobile-optimized content should also be considered when crafting social content that mobile users will love.
Using Analytics to Track Your Success
Research is important to understanding how your social content might be received by followers, but this research is only predictive. Authoritative feedback can only be gained through trial-and-error, so when you commit to a certain type of content or content strategy, you'll want to be prepared for anything. The use of analytics will be instrumental in assessing the relative success of this content.
Say, for example, you commit to a social strategy that caters primarily to mobile users. Links shared take followers to mobile-optimized pages, the text content itself features emoji's, and so on. While desktop users will inevitably consume this content, you'll want to use Google Analytics via your Sendible social media analytics dashboard to get a better sense of how these efforts are performing.
If you focus on mobile and get a great response, including high engagement and click-through rates, you've probably made the right call. If not, you might want to reconsider your strategy. Whatever happens, analytics will help you figure out what's going right or wrong, giving you useful feedback to guide future decisions.
