Posted on Feb 19th 2014
in Mobile
Recent research from ShareThis has confirmed a trend that will come as no surprise to most: when it comes to sharing content with friends and family on social media, more people are pushing aside their computers and reaching for their mobile phones instead.
Encompassing huge amounts of social behaviour data from the desktop and mobile Web, the study revealed that internet users are almost twice as likely to share photos, videos and other content they find interesting via a mobile device than a PC or laptop. Unsurprisingly, the iPhone came out on top as the most social of all mobiles, with Apple fans up to 3 times more likely to share via their devices than on a computer, and 1.5 times more likely to share using an iPhone over any other device. Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest represented the Big 3 most popular social platforms for mobile sharing, with Facebook accounting for an impressive 60% of all social sharing on mobile, and Pinterest sharing almost 3 times more prevalent on mobile than desktop.
So how can you make the most of all these people sharing brand content from the palms of their hands? Here are some simple but effective optimisation tips you can get started on to capitalise on all that mobile social sharing.
Twitter Tips
- Include plenty of links, rich media and compelling calls to action within your tweets.
- Want your content shared? Don’t forget to ask! Industry data has shown that brands that aren’t afraid to ask for retweets are 23 times more likely to get that share.
- Social media audiences want and expect real-time information, so share your promotions and offers as they’re launched and encourage your followers to pass on the word.
- Brevity is best! Just because Twitter allows you to use 140 characters doesn’t mean you need to use all of them. Short, to the point posts work best for driving shares.
Facebook
- Incorporate lots of images into your content. Photos are one of the most shared types of content on all social media platforms, but particularly Facebook. In the case of mobile sharing, the right image can help your property entice a whole new audience. Images also take up more space in Facebook mobile news feeds than desktop feeds, which helps them stand out and garner even more attention.
- Keep it short! Exactly like Twitter, shorter posts are more effective when it comes to Facebook mobile. See if you can limit post copy to160 characters or less – that way you’ll avoid truncating your text with the dreaded “see more” link.
Don’t Forget…
Just because the entire world appears to have gone mobile, does not mean you should neglect the humble PC. Many people still, and perhaps always will, prefer to use the desktop web for sharing content online.
The key to creating share-worthy material for both desktop and mobile is to continually analyze and monitor the kind of content that your specific audience responds to best, that way you can fine tune your campaign for the best possible results.
Do not ignore the once mighty PC. Yes, it’s a mobile world after all — but that does not mean you should turn your back on your old pal, the desktop PC. Don’t suddenly shift all your focus to the mobile side of the aisle and lose track of the number of people who still use a PC and may always prefer a PC to mobile device for such things as sharing.
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