Condensing content to eliminate distractions and push consumers along the buying cycle effectively will be key to driving engagement on mobile devices this year, according to a new list of marketing trends for 2017 published by news website Business 2 Community.
The “mobile first” world brought about by Google’s increasing focus on smartphones and the AMP initiative means that content marketers must opt for clear and compact storytelling to drive positive customer actions. Publishers can also expect to see an increasingly negative impact on their search rankings if they do not optimise their websites and other written and visual content for mobile this year.
“The volume and richness of content that visitors want to see when first exploring a topic on desktop is very different than what they need to see when they’re on their smartphone ready and willing to make a purchase,” content marketing expert Amanda Murray said. “Think of condensed content like your ‘elevator pitch’ that cuts directly to your core advantages.”
Providing relevant, bite-sized information with a strong message is ideal for people who prefer to consume content on smartphones and tablets. The need to tailor content for desktop and mobile is critical, but more than two-thirds of marketers claim that finding the right engagement tactics is one of their main challenges for the next 12 months.
One avenue that must be explored by marketers in 2017 is visual content. The majority of marketers used clips, graphics, images and GIFs in all of their published content in 2016, and it will become even more important to take advantage of visual aids to reach consumers this year, with 60.8 per cent revealing that it is “absolutely necessary” for their strategies. A further 31.7 per cent said that it is “very important.”
“It’s all about presenting content in a way that makes the most sense for the audience in that moment,” Business 2 Community COO Brock Murray said. “That might mean reading an in-depth case study on your work desktop, listening to a podcast on your commute home or watching an explainer video on your phone. That’s just one reason video content is going to be huge in 2017.”
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