Copywriting for the Mobile Market

January 24^th 2013 Sally Ormond copywriting for mobile, mobile content, mobile websites

Towards the end of last year, Ofcom revealed that 27% of UK adults and 47% of teenagers owned a smartphone - a pretty strong message to all businesses that they can’t ignore mobile marketing any more. mobile copywriting

As more and more people are browsing the web for products and services it’s no longer acceptable to just hope they’ll find your normal website and buy from you. Now you have to invest in a mobile site that is tightly focused on their needs so they can find the information or product they need quickly.

A 2012 study by the marketing technology provider Unica (links to a PDF) shows that:

33% of companies are already using mobile messaging, apps and websites as part of their marketing strategy
24% plan to use these tactics within 12 months
13% plan to use them in more than the next 12 months
20% had no plans
10% didn’t know

Mobile copywriting that works

The job of the copywriter is to keep the reader interested and prevent them from being distracted by making the copy precise, simple and easy to understand.

When browsing on a smartphone, the user is likely to be more susceptible to distractions than a PC user because they could be interrupted by phone calls, texts and other push notifications not to mention chatting to friends and the other noise that’s in the environment around them.

Plus, because of the small screen they are using, the copy also has to be:

Tightly focused
Short
Easy to Understand

The copy for your mobile site must concentrate on the goal of each page and strip out everything else - it’s more like writing text messages or tweets, not in the casual sense but in its conciseness - every word must count, including your call to action.

As more and more people turn to mobile browsing it’s imperative your marketing strategy takes it into account and gives your customers what they want.