Mobile Application – Page 3 – Create. Read. Update. Delete.

10 mobile content marketing tips posted by Castleford Staff.  Available from <http://www.castleford.com.au/blog/2016/10-mobile-content-marketing-tips>. [Posted on: 06/10/2016] Photos: Shutterstock

According to our Assistant Head of Strategy, 2017 is going to be the year of mobile content marketing.

And why not? Mobile has disrupted every aspect of our lives, with steadily more and more eyeball time moving to tablets and smartphones.

We check our phones 440 million times per day according to the Deloitte 2015 Mobile Consumer Survey and, in November last year, Nielsen reported that tablet use had outstripped desktop use in Australia for the first time.

Market leaders, including Google and Facebook, have adopted a “mobile first” mindset for their businesses. Maybe you’re doing the same with your own company.

But how do you do “mobile first” content marketing? Here are 10 suggestions to get you started…

1) Remove barriers to your mobile content

Successful content marketing for mobile depends heavily on search and that means keeping a close eye on changes to Google’s ranking algorithm. Sites offering a poor user experience (UX) on smartphones and tablets got bumped down the results pages in April last year, with the rollout of the “Mobilegeddon” update.

But more recently, Google has taken aim at the barriers websites put up between users and the content they’re trying to access. These “interstitials” might be pop-up ads or overlays asking for a newsletter sign-up. On mobiles – with smaller screens and no mouse – it can be especially difficult to get rid of them.

So, if you’ve got interstitials on your site, check out Google’s guidance to make sure you avoid a black mark that could hurt your site’s mobile search performance. You can take Google’s mobile-friendly test here.

2) Deliver a quicker, smoother mobile experience

Site speed has been a signal for Google’s main search algorithm for some time now. And how quickly your content loads on a smartphone is likely to have a noticeable impact on where your pages end up in mobile search results. Users have very little patience and any delays in opening links or launching content risks losing them.

To help website owners meet these rising expectations, Google launched Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) in November last year. AMP is an open-source initiative that promises users quicker load times and smoother scrolling on smartphones and tablets.

If you’re worried that your mobile experience is a little sluggish, AMP might be the answer. You can find out more about Google AMP here.

3) Avoid big blocks of text

This is good general UX advice, but it’s especially important when you’re doing content marketing for mobile. Huge chunks of unbroken text on your blog articles or landing pages make your content look ugly and impenetrable. Users will likely bounce straight back to their search results if Google didn’t already give you the boot for failing it’s mobile-friendly test.

4) Get to the point because the clock is ticking

A mobile first content marketing strategy requires copy that gets to the point. Attention spans on mobile devices are even shorter than on desktops, with mobile users giving pages less than 10 seconds to load before abandoning them, according to Kissmetrics, a web analytics company.

So, highlight your key takeaways early on in your blog articles. And don’t wait until the bottom of your landing pages to add your call-to-action. You want to make sure that your pages always scroll vertically, with all the content in the main body of the page, rather than in sidebars. This should help cut out horizontal scrolling, one of Google’s mobile quality signals and super important for your UX.

5) Create a simple, tap-friendly navigation

Space is a real premium on a smartphone screen making nav bars and other a menus a real challenge. Creating awesome content won’t do you much good if users can’t work out how to use the mobile versions of your menus or if the links are too close together for even the daintiest of digits.

Collapsing your menus under little icons consisting of three horizontal lines – sometimes called “hamburgers” – is a good way to save space. Hamburgers hide menu options when they’re not needed, but use the full width of the screen when they are.

6) Remember all mobile content marketing is local

Mobile first content marketing strategies give much more consideration to the location of their users. A desktop user is most likely at home or at work, but a smartphone or tablet user could be just about anywhere. So, just as you would create different types of content based on where a user is in a buying cycle, mobile first content marketing adjusts for where users are physically, as well as metaphorically.

7) Make sure your videos add to the mobile user experience

Rich media, such as video, photos, charts and graphics, can help users understand your content. It also provides a boost to engagement and other on-page metrics. But if you build your content marketing around these assets make sure they look good on mobile devices as well as desktops.

Videos that are slow to play or difficult to navigate will be a real turn-off. You should consider muting your videos by default for smartphones and tablets – something that has become the norm on social media. This video from the World Economic Forum proves you can be creative, informative and entertaining while on mute:

8) Cater for all devices (some people don’t like iPhones)

There’s more to mobile testing than pulling out your own smartphone to see what your latest blog post looks like. Apple’s iOS had a 65 per cent share of the Australian mobile market last month, with Google’s Android on 33 per cent, according to StatCounter, a statistics company. But globally those figures are in reverse, while in Canada, more than 4 per cent rather patriotically still use a BlackBerry. Mobile first content marketing means creating content for all mobile devices.

9) Add handy shortcuts like click-to-call

If you’re creating helpful and engaging content in the hope that users will give you a call you can make life a lot easier for them with little shortcuts like click-to-call. Rather than fiddly copying and pasting, trying to memorise your phone number or going to look for a pen, your potential customers are just a tap away from speaking to you.

10) Provide a consistent mobile user experience across your site

It’s natural that certain pages or sections of your site will be priorities when it comes to creating a mobile first content marketing strategy. But remember that where a user lands won’t necessarily be where they end up. If they stumble upon a clunky page buried deep in your sitemap or a bunch of infographics you never got around to formatting properly your good work elsewhere risks being undone.

Mobile content marketing in summary

So, you’re all set to launch into a mobile first content marketing strategy. Here’s a quick recap of our 10 tips:

Remove barriers between your users and your content
Make speed a priority
No big, impenetrable blocks of text
Key points and CTAs in the main body of your pages, no horizontal scrolling
Menus that users can expand, with plenty of space between the links
Create content for users on the go
Auto-play videos but set them to mute
Check compatibility across multiple devices
Add shortcuts like click-to-call
And apply your mobile first content marketing strategy across your entire website

10 mobile content marketing tips posted by Castleford Staff.  Available from <http://www.castleford.com.au/blog/2016/10-mobile-content-marketing-tips>. [Posted on: 06/10/2016]; Photos: Shutterstock

9 Pre and Post Launch Tips for Successfully Launching Your Mobile App by Boaz Amidor.  Available from <http://www.business.com/mobile-marketing/9-pre-and-post-launch-tips-for-successfully-launching-your-mobile-app/>. [August 09, 2016]

As of July 2015, Google Play housed 1.6 million apps, the Apple Store housed 1.5 million apps, and Windows and Amazon app stores housed about a million or so apps each.

This is indicative of not only booming mobile app growth and variety but also an insane amount of clutter. One in four apps are downloaded and never used again.

The average user takes a reported 35 seconds to judge if they like an app or not before deleting it. While it is a brutally competitive market, there are plenty of factors at play that contributes to app success outside of market saturation level.

Particularly, how you market and build launch hype can give your mobile app that additional sense of credibility and visibility in the growing marketplace. Here, we’ll go over some of these strategies that you as a developer can do to ensure a successful launch.

1. Tracking Customer Milestones

By having a set of milestones, you can easily track where your customers are in onboarding, for example, have they signed up yet? Have they stalled at any point? Track total download numbers, average star ratings and your active install rate, which is basically your app retention. Track your App churn for signs of product deficiency. A quick 30-second turnover indicates some serious problem with the app itself. This way, your team knows when to jump in and contact your customer or potential customer, and give them the extra nudge to move further along in their SaaS journey.

2. Know the Rules and Protocols of Your Launch Platform

Each store has its own rules and protocols that need to be conformed to from usability and UX requirements to payment models. Google Play, for example, will let you change your app from a paid model to a free app, but not vice versa. If you’re planning to release an app for both platforms, it may be prudent to focus and fine-tune one platform instead of juggling two or more unless your company has the resources and dedicated split teams to handle such a task.

3. Craft Story-Type Content to Create Pre-Launch Buzz

Demo videos are only one part of your content creation process. It’s important to prepare stories regularly leading up to the launch, and then doubly so during launch week. Update multiple times a day letting your users know your product is finally out and ready for them to get their fingers on. The stories should be produced in a video, text and images.

More in-depth blog posts explain why and how users should use your product. Your value proposition should be made very clear. Highlight what makes your product special and different from the competition. Having this content available is important for pre-launch buzz, and to support customers over the long term.

4. Secure Product Reviews and Testimonials

Getting your product out to a professional reviewer is an excellent way to generate more visibility. Reviewers already have trusted followers and their opinions are seen as more objective as well. Do not limit yourself to large reviewers such as CNET. Nowadays there are plenty of independent micro-bloggers and tech review sites that review all kinds of apps and technology. Find one relevant to your sphere.

5. Create Social Media Presence Linked Back to the App Store

Creating a social media presence gives you a place to showcase your demo videos, blogs, third party reviews etc. Don’t forget to create a portal straight back to the landing site on the app store for your app. You want to give yourself as many opportunities as possible to drive downloads. All social media and blog content should lead directly back to the app.

6. Shoot a Demo Video to Help Users Navigate the UI

In addition to app screenshots, app marketplaces allow for short multimedia clips. Before you discount this idea as only applicable to larger companies with fully fledged production teams, know that you can create a demo video using a basic smartphone screen emulator with voiceover capabilities. A good demo video will smoothly take a user through the interface and show workflow capabilities and features. Creating longer more immersed product tutorials and walkthroughs for YouTube are another option.

7. Paid Advertising During Launch Week, Esp. on Facebook

Creating additional visibility during launch week can give your launch numbers a boost. Setting up paid targeted ads on Facebook can lead users through your Facebook portal straight to your app. You can additionally connect with related app developers and advertise through their apps or sites. Advertising with well-established related apps gives your product a sense of legitimacy.

Linking up with other developers also does not have to cost you anything. You can offer to host related apps to advertise with you in exchange for advertising space on their app. If it is an app with a similarly sized user base this could be a mutually beneficial affair.

8. Integrate a Sharing Feature to Secure Referrals

Leverage the power of social networks by integrating a sharing widget into your product that invites the user to share the application with their friends. At WalkMe, where I work we use our own technology WalkMe Apps to incorporate social sharing widgets that allow the user to invite his/her friends to download the app, but there are other libraries to find them as well. Just make sure that you only integrate with the accredited and secured 3rd parties. Some of the social channels that are available are Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter etc. Users can also share the App via personal email.

9. Integrate a User Feedback Feature to Gain Credibility

Integrate an Applet that lets users rate your app so that you can begin to build a reputation within the developer community. User feedback is the primary way that users decide whether you’re worth their time and can be trusted. Reviews not only drive your downloads but also give you insights into pressing problems that need to be addressed.

Provide incentives to leave feedback, such as unlocking extra features. Star ratings, reviews, and download numbers are the first thing a new user pulling up your app will see, and this will drive their decision whether to download or not. This is especially true for users finding your app through an organic search, which of course your app should be optimized for.

9 Pre and Post Launch Tips for Successfully Launching Your Mobile App by Boaz Amidor.  Available from <http://www.business.com/mobile-marketing/9-pre-and-post-launch-tips-for-successfully-launching-your-mobile-app/>. [August 09, 2016]