Editorial Articles

Smartphone users are looking for bite-sized content to consume on the go, says Paul Lyonette

In the last few years we have seen a tremendous growth and acceleration in the smartphone market, and mobile has become an important vehicle for marketers to reach their audience. Mobile offers access to a diverse, large and growing audience of affluent consumers and business people. 

Smartphone users are inherently looking for ‘snackable’ content, particularly in terms of video content (which should be no longer than 3 minutes long). The mantra for this content needs to be ‘quick and easy’ as most users will be digesting while they’re carrying on with their day, so it’s likely to be whilst they’re travelling, waiting for friends or in the queue buying a coffee. Marketers need to accommodate these brief windows of engagement time by creating slicker, easily digestible content.

In addition, this increased trend for accessing information on the go, rather than a PC or laptop, provides marketers with increasingly sophisticated location-based opportunities. A company's search marketing will need to evolve to take advantage of the new location-based relevancy and the associated new consumer behaviours. This year, it will become increasingly important for marketers to bear in mind that consumers will be accessing search engines via their phones, using different keywords and expecting different results from what they get on their PC.

Paul Lyonette, Head of Mobile Advertising, EMEA at Microsoft Advertising