The 2017 Branded Content Benchmarks Report from Pressboard is the latest to highlight the ongoing shift from desktop to mobile after it found consumers are now spending more than three hours a day reading and watching blogs and videos on their smartphones.
Pressboard analysed 1,300 pieces of custom branded content to determine the latest trends. The major takeaway is that consumers are engaging more with content regardless of platform, as “active reading time” has soared from an average of 66 seconds to 73 seconds during the last year for a single article or video.
Completion rates are up too, as more than half of the content’s target audience read the whole piece, while the average consumer reads three quarters of it. The latest data suggests brands are now delivering the engaging, relevant content consumers want to read on a regular basis.
“This increase in engaged attention points to the rising quality of branded content as well as the advertiser’s and publisher’s understanding of how the branded storytelling space is maturing,” Pressboard co-founder, Jerrid Grimm said in a press release.
Average reading time on mobile devices has also increased from just one hour and 17 minutes five years ago, to three hours and two minutes today, so it appears Google is justified in its recent call to publishers to optimise their creative for smartphones.
Grimm added: “It’s clear that branded content is an increasingly powerful part of media, for players across all industries. By releasing this data publicly, we aim to help the entire industry to grow globally, and inspire both marketing and media professionals to craft amazing content.”
