I spend my days writing content from my desktop computer for people who will read the content on their smartphones and tablets.
Go figure.
Mobile devices are fast becoming the preferred method of reading, sharing, and engaging with online content. It’s strange to think that the content we create on desktops and laptops will end up on dozens of different screen sizes before all is said and done. It’s a good lesson to keep in mind.
When I share to social media, what will my sharing look like to the people who see it? Increasingly, they’ll be seeing my tweets and updates on a screen in the palm of their hand and not on a monitor.
Digital consumption is going mobile. Digital marketing should head there, too.
I’m really interested to learn what this means for those of us who share on social. What are the implications of a growing mobile audience? Where can we improve our social media profiles and social media updates? Here’s some insight into what I found.
Let’s Start With an Experiment…
I like to think I know the Buffer blog inside and out, backwards and forward. I imagine you know your website just as well.
Do you know how it looks on a mobile device?
Here’s the Buffer blog on an iPhone:
It’s a fascinating shift in paradigm for how to picture your website. When I think about how a blog post will look after I hit publish, my go-to view is the desktop view. Maybe it’s time to think outside the 15-inch widescreen box.
Ninety percent of Americans have a cell phone. Sixty-three percent use their cell phone to surf the Internet, and 34 percent claim that their phone is the predominant way they go online. Clearly, the way I think about the blog should include mobile.
(If you’re interested in seeing your own website on a dozen different mobile devices, I’d recommend Responsinator.com.)
OK, next experiment. I have a pretty good grasp on the look of my Twitter profile. It’s got a profile image atop the left sidebar. It’s got a main header image across the top. I’ve spent lots of time customizing it to look just the way I want it.
And wouldn’t you know, it looks quite different on a mobile device:
The same goes for Facebook and Google+ and LinkedIn (see below for the specifics). Desktop and mobile deliver the same content, but they do so in vastly different ways. It’s like eating a hamburger or eating four hamburger sliders; the food’s the same, but the experience is quite different.
Now that you see how different the views are on a mobile device compared to desktop, let’s see exactly why mobile is such an important area to focus on.
4 Stunning Social Media Stats for Mobile
Sharing From Mobile Happens Twice as Often as Sharing From Desktop
ShareThis performed a study of the 2.4 million websites in its network, examining more than 6 billion social signals to come to this conclusion:
The mobile web is twice as social as desktop
A mobile users spends nearly 8 percent of their total activity sharing content, whereas desktop users spend only 4 percent. The numbers are even greater for iPhone users who share at a three-times greater rate than desktop (12 percent to 4 percent).
Among ShareThis’s other interesting findings:
- Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest dominate the sharing numbers, accounting for nearly 75 percent of mobile shares
- iPhone users share more on Facebook. iPad users share more on Pinterest.
- Email sharing accounts for nearly 10 percent of sharing on desktop and less than 1 percent on mobile.
71% of Social Media Users Access Social Networks From a Mobile Device
That’s nearly three out of every four people, according to a consumer survey from Adobe. Facebook’s and Twitter’s numbers make this survey result seem pretty accurate, if not a bit conservative:
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