Got a smartphone? Then you probably use Twitter. In the UK 12M of us do – that’s 80% of the total Twitter population of the UK.
Globally mobile access to Twitter stands at around 60%. Mobile users’ love of the platform is no doubt driven by the platform’s short-form style, its ability to aggregate news easily and its constantly up-dating news feed.
What piques our interest though is what it means to us video marketers. If mobile users are out and about, in and out of work, sitting in front of their TV, how can we make them take notice of whatever it is we want them to notice?
If we look at the statistics they tell an intriguing story. Stats from Unruly Media puts mobile above desktop in terms of video engagement. The click-through rate (CTR) for video stands at a staggering 13.64%, over a paltry 5.45% for desktop users. It is likely that the condensed mobile platform, as well as the times that users access online content – such as sitting on the bus with headphones in – plays to the strengths of mobile engagement. And, not only has the CTR increased but interaction with video through mobile has also as increased, now standing at 22.64%. This is over 5% higher than desktop interaction.
Image credit: William Hook
How to get users to stop watching TV and watch your video instead!
Twitter’s place in the social media eco-system appears to be settling into its natural circadian rhythm, indeed a strange morning and night effect is forming. Usage increases in the morning pre-work and again in the traditional TV primetime hours. I’ve mentioned before how Twitter has been positioning itself as a partner platform, specifically a second-screen platform, to complement television.
Recently it reached its highest ever tweets per second, standing at 143,199 tps during an airing of Hayao Miyazaki’s Castle in the Sky on Japanese TV. Peak times for mobile device use (including tablets) increases dramatically after 7pm, with a total of 25.7% of all device video engagement happening between the hours of 8pm and 11pm. Targeting the primetime is critical to getting that extra reach and increased engagement for your Twitter video campaign.
With that information in your hands what’s the best way to proceed? Well currently advertisers can use a bunch of different video platforms to create the best possible video campaign, from long-form YouTube to short-form Vine. Vine works well on Twitter because of auto-play features (currently not available on mobile) as well as providing something quick and appetising – again perfect for mobile.
But really, all eye-catching and interesting videos are worthwhile, as long as you fixate on giving your audience the most relevant piece of knowledge for them.
As for making mobile users click through to your video, the key is to write attention-grabbing copy.
Imagine you’re an Upworthy headline writer for the day, think ‘This man hasn’t seen his daughter in 15 years, you’re going to be shocked when you realise why’, rather than ‘check out this specious brand awareness ad’.
Except, obviously, make sure that the copy fits your ad and isn’t just a click-baity title for no reason. The point is though, give it some thought, test out different copy for your Tweets, measure the CTR, and when you think you’re near to perfect, tweak and tweak again.
Interested in marketing to social media? Take a look at previous blog posts on the future of marketing tech, or how Facebook is taking on TV at its own game, and how you can be a part of it.
If you want help with your video marketing campaigns then get in touch, or look for tips on our Twitter. Alternatively subscribe to our RSS feed for more from our blog.
Image Copyright: William Hook, licensed under Creative Commons