Smartphones are dominating the content landscape, but a new report by GWI has revealed they have a “domino effect.” During an online webinar today, the audience research company revealed that smartphones’ intelligent features made the technology more mainstream. As a result, watches and thermostats are relying on their apps.
Parents with young children (+22%) or divorced or widowed customers (+27%) increasingly use smartphones to shop online.
What does this mean? The potential marketing possibilities are ballooning.
Mobile phones continue to be the most popular device used by online customers. Research has found that “smart TVs overtook tablets in 2018, with smartwatches speeding past game consoles in 2022.”
E-commerce and s-commerce (social commerce) are part of everyday life for most customers. Using digital resources to make an online purchase is becoming increasingly popular. GWI warns companies to consider “which audiences use certain platforms” when advertising their products.
Social-commerce: Stories and Reels
Customers enjoy ‘Stories’ and ‘Reels’ and stay longer when the information is given in short snippets.
GWI points out that a wider shift is happening in Instagram’s marketing realm. “People are using social media more for entertainment and relatively less for personal sharing.”
What does this mean? Customers now stay longer on social media (specifically Instagram) for Reels. That’s where the “momentum” is.
“Short-form video is ultimately a great playground for creativity and an opportunity to drive powerful brand engagement.” Researchers have found that those who view short clips on social media are more likely to give this type of content the thumbs up (like) or comment than long-form content.
And it doesn’t stop here. These consumers are more likely (62%) to share this short content with family or friends.
Catchy content
So, we now know consumers use their smartphones to scroll through endless short videos on social media platforms.
But what kind of content must businesses put out there to compete with customers’ short attention spans?
Businesses should avoid “negative content” and Stories or Reels that create distrust. Those are the two main drivers for disengagement.
“Trust is especially relevant to US brands right now, as concerns around misinformation tend to rise before an election.” It’s found that Americans spend more time reading news ahead of an election.
Podcasting content is making a comeback. “Every medium has its golden age, where growth is rapid, investments are high, or competition is more scarce. Then, the hype dies down, and formats enter their next phase. That’s what’s happened with podcasts.”
This is impressive since it’s a longer form of content, however, advertisers capture a particular and unique niche market via podcasts. “There’s been a 93% rise in work decision-makers saying they use podcasts to keep up with developments and products in their sector since 2019,” according to the report.
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About the author
Mia is a multi-award-winning journalist. She has more than 14 years of experience in mainstream media. She's covered many historic moments that happened in Africa and internationally. She has a strong focus on human interest stories, to bring her readers and viewers closer to the topics at hand.
