Understanding Your Audience's Mobile Behavior
It seems like i think many businesses are too busy focusing on themselves to notice what is going on with their audience. So often, marketers and business leaders make the mistake of targeting content at their own demographic, completely ignoring how, when, and why their audience is browsing. I suppose it makes sense to want to bring your personal experience into it.
But that means youāre selling to yourself and not paying attention to your audienceās actual needs. It can be complicated to understand what a user wants - particularly in todayās digital world where everything is so fleeting. While it can be challenging, you need to try and get into the headspace of your audience and see things from their perspective.
The reality is that the majority of your mobile traffic will only visit your website for a brief amount of time - they donāt have time for long-form content or confusing navigation systems. Instead, think of them as speed dating candidates; if they donāt like what they see instantly, theyāll swipe left. Audiences browsing on mobile platforms are looking for convenience - quickly.
The good news is that data and analytics tools can help you better understand your audienceās mobile behaviour patterns. This can be extremely helpful in giving you valuable insights into how users interact with your website and content on mobile devices. For example, tracking metrics such as bounce rates, session duration, and page views can help you identify patterns in user engagement. And conducting surveys or interviews to gain deeper insights into the motivations behind users' mobile behaviour doesnāt hurt either.
Optimizing Your Mobile Site for Speed
Many people tend to think that a nice looking website means itās mobile ready. Bit of a myth that, isnāt it. We see brands slapping on minimal designs, stock photos and giant fonts and calling it mobile-optimized.
But all the frills mean nothing if your customers are more or less waiting forever for the page to load. There are several aspects to a siteās loading speed. Firstly, there is your server-side infrastructure - whether your servers can deliver files and data quickly enough is the first battle.
For this, a Content Delivery Network or CDN comes in handy, especially if youāre catering to an international audience. Not just that but you also need to reduce the number of redirects and cut down on unnecessary code. And then you have the actual content of your site - things like images, GIFs, videos and other media-heavy elements can slow down your mobile site considerably.
Itās not just about lazy loading but also how you manage these assets - using an effective asset management platform can make a world of difference in your workflow and speed. The way I see it, all of this is just brushing the surface - there is a lot more to optimising for speed than simply compressing assets or using slick animations (which actually slow down your site even more). If you are using WordPress or another CMS with plugins or extensions, then you have to consider how each plugin affects your load time. All in all, delivering content via mobile is all about keeping things streamlined and lightweight so that users donāt get tired before actually viewing what they came for.
Leveraging Push Notifications Effectively
Most people approach push notifications all wrong - itās not about bombarding your audience with sales-y messages or reminders that feel intrusive. Most people perceive push notifications as a sure-fire way to get noticed on a customerās device and as an easy win. Iāve seen many businesses fall into the trap of hounding their customers at all hours of the day.
The reality is that push notifications are tricky business and need to be handled with care. Context is everything and the app sending the notification must have something useful to offer. Oftentimes, less is more when it comes to engaging your target audience. Too many pings and you risk getting blocked or even uninstalled from a customerās phone.
It helps to know exactly what triggers a shopper into signing up for notifications in the first place because then you can customise the message based on location, preferences, previous actions and history. I mean, managing expectations versus reality with push notifications can get tricky because it really needs buy-in from both sides - the sender and receiver. The modern consumer is spoilt for choice and wants their shopping experience to be highly curated.
On one hand, you could lose big if youāre not sending enough messages, but on the other hand, going overboard could cost you a key customer. The best way forward is probably trial and error - because there isnāt a magic formula for all things mobile engagement-related. There are so many factors at play with push notifications that you need to constantly be testing new strategies so you donāt lose your audience in all the digital noise out there today.
Creating Engaging Mobile Content
Many people think they can just quickly take what works on desktop and shrink it down for mobile. Itās odd that this thinking still exists because thereās plenty of research showing mobile is possibly not just a smaller desktop device with a touch screen. Reminds Me Of sometimes even i used to think that for things like newsletters - until i found myself squinting at subject lines and large images sent to me in an email while i was on the go. Even something as simple as web pop-ups can be highly engaging on desktop but look intrusive when someoneās browsing your site on their phone.
People are more likely to be distracted and multi-tasking while using their phones compared to when theyāre browsing a website or checking emails on a computer. And because of that, content for mobile devices has to be attention-grabbing enough that it stops people from scrolling further or swiping through.
This doesnāt mean you have to create entertainment-style pieces for your brand though - engagement can hardly ever look different based on your customer journey stage, audience demographic, and value proposition. The way I see it, the key is to make sure whatever theyāre consuming is valuable to them and does what it set out to do. The value is sometimes determined by quality over quantity here - sometimes less is more, especially with words or visuals that have an impact without needing extra fluff. So knowing whatās essential to communicate in different channels whether email or SMS helps before setting out to write engaging content for mobile screens.
Using interactive elements in web and app content also contributes to engagement. This could be something as simple as a slider, an interactive calendar, buttons with user feedback, or live voting on an event. And then thereās tone of voice and formatting which builds interest and wins hearts when people come back for more of the value you provide rather than just clever jokes or quirky catchphrases.
Sometimes being too casual looks like brands are trying too hard - so thereās no real formula here except talking directly like a human instead of a machine canāt hurt. With new technology making this all easier now than ever before, consistently engaging content across owned channels has become more important than before too - after all the message should match across platforms, right.
Utilizing Social Media for Increased Engagement
Now and then, social media tends to get a bad rap. While thereās this big fuss about whether itās all fake news and bots, the reality is that everyone knows someone who āhatesā Twitter (X), TikTok, or Instagram but still checks it thrice daily. Thatās why some companies believe that simply having profiles on these platforms is the way to score major engagement points. Thereās a certain complexity in identifying where your brand should be seen.
With new platforms emerging seemingly every other week, it can usually seem overwhelming to know where to start. The way I see it, but finding the right place is generally fairly simple once youāve figured out your goals.
The solution is in learning where your intended audience hangs out online. After that, it becomes much easier to answer questions like: How often should you post. Are you sharing the right type of content.
What does your target audience want to see. Many brands make the mistake of using their corporate social media handles as a way to make sales pitches. But these are spaces where community and conversation hold sway over constant calls-to-action for people to shop your sale - unless youāre having one every week (then weād have to talk about how that affects your margins).
While there will likely always be some uncertainty about what will go viral, understanding how algorithms work can help you keep up. So, if you want to achieve improved mobile engagement through social media, think beyond direct sales. Instead, focus on encouraging your audience to interact with your posts and feel safe enough in your little corner of the internet to express their opinions about things they care about.
It isnāt as easy as some would have you believe but it isnāt impossible either.
Analyzing and Adapting Based on User Feedback
I think most businesses believe that all they have to do is launch a website and the customers will come. It's as if the entire process is a one-way street with consumers waiting to be shown what to do next. In truth, it's more like a conversation, and this means that there are rarely multiple rounds of feedback and new iterations that need to happen before you get it right.
Now, this can be tricky for a lot of reasons. The most obvious one being that businesses may not always have the resources to make sweeping changes based on feedback. Or perhaps the feedback isn't as clear as one might want it to be, which means making decisions based on uncertainty or speculation. It feels like everything is allegedly changing so fast, even as you make an effort to keep up.
The way I see it, but this is just one side of it. On the other hand, users genuinely appreciate a product or service that's tailored for them. This means paying attention to what users want and adapting your offerings accordingly.
Not only does this improve engagement, but it also brings about higher levels of customer satisfaction in the long run. You know, it really seems like there's no way around it, but to change with the times. By learning more about your users and their behaviours, you can work towards creating a product that keeps them coming back for more.