In case you hadn’t noticed, mobile video has well and truly exploded, over half of all online video views are on mobile, and mobile video consumption has consistently increased year on year on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.And while every major brand has a TVC or piece of branded content, not all video content has been optimised for the mobile environment. In a nutshell, mobile is where your customers watch everything.
‘But can’t we just reuse the content we already have on social?’
The Mobile news feed is very different to other audience touchpoints.
It’s frequent, it’s sound-off, and it’s fast, (Blink and you’ll miss it fast!) And the bar to capture and maintain attention has never been higher. Attention is no longer a passive activity and matching consumers’ behaviour on mobile is key if you want to drive cut through.
Here are 6 considerations when creating content for mobile
Length
Make the video as short as it can be and as long as it needs to be.
For standalone ads on the Facebook and Instagram news feed you need to condense the story. Shorter videos have proven to have higher completion rates and better brand recall.
The ideal length varies from industry to industry but anything below 15 seconds is a good starting point.
Capture Attention early
Start with your most captivating elements to hook people in – the traditional story arc needs to be reversed for social video, Avoid long establishing shots and get to the point quickly.
According to Facebook – 47% of the value in a video campaign is delivered in the first 3 seconds, while 74% of the value was delivered in the first 10 seconds.
Traditional TVC
Mobile Optimised
Bring the brand to the front
Ensure your brand is woven into the story upfront. Since the feed is so quick, leading with brand cues and messaging upfront can help make a brand impression. A Facebook study found that consumers were 23% more likely to remember which brand made the video if the brand was featured in the first three seconds and 13% more likely if the brand was featured after four seconds (compared to ads where the brand wasn’t explicitly shown in the video)
Design for Sound off
Tell your story visually –integrate your messaging into the content with text and graphics instead of a voice over. If you are repurposing an existing TVC or creative – add subtitles, dynamic supers and graphics that bring your story to life. Use sound as an added extra rather than to inform. Adding subtitles increases view times by 12% on average.
Build your content for a vertical format
Mobile is by far the biggest driver of vertical video. Consumers spend around three hours per day on their mobiles, and check them on average 150 times a day. Most of this time is spent within apps – not hundreds of apps, but a few. Namely, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube. By framing your asset to 4:3, 9:16 or 1.1, it will allow you to make the most of the available screen real estate.
In summary, you need to think holistically about creative and design with the screen in mind. Video content for social needs to be considered from the outset and not just an afterthought.
The way people interact with content on their mobile feed has changed dramatically in recent years and marketers should keep in mind this environment when developing creative.
Every time you create videos for social, you should consider how a mobile user will experience it. Will this appeal to someone who’s on the go? Will it make sense without sound? Does it look just as good on a smaller screen? Considering these factors will help ensure your mobile audience gets the full impact of your content.
If you need some help with you mobile advertising strategy, don’t hesitate to drop us a line.
Sources:
Facebook and Nielsen brand effects studies, December 2014 to mid-February 2015.
https://www.facebook.com/business/news/building-video-for-mobile-feed?ref=fbiq
